33rd Week in Ord. Time, Thursday – 23rd November 2023 – 1 Macc 2,15-29; Lk 19,41-44
Rebellious Antagonist
The first reading describes the difficult choices Mattathias and his family and friends make in being faithful to God rather than giving into the enticements and demands of the Hellenist oppressors. Mattathias was a noble man of the town of Modein. In that town, a decree had been proclaimed demanding all people under the Hellenistic rule to forsake their native religion and worship the king. While many of the Israelites complied with the government order and joined in the sacrifices, Mattathias and his sons stood apart. Jewish opposition to Hellenism took the form of physical violence, passive resistance, and ultimately a war of religion under the leadership of Mattathias. Being filled with a holy rage, he not only kills a Jew who starts to follow the royal command, but also slays an official who was enforcing the decree. He destroys the altar set up to worship the king. He then invites the faithful Jews to join him in a rebellion by first leaving everything behind and then escaping to the south to the barren hill country. Indeed, Mattathias is to be admired for his zeal, his courage and his total dedication to God’s Law and in leading others to follow the same. Although he is an outlaw according to the Hellenists, yet he lived firmly in the law of God until the end of his life.
