Tuesday of the 33rd Week
in Ordinary Time
November 17, 2015 8:30am Middle School
Today’s first reading from the
Book of Maccabees catches my attention.
The context is that the Greeks
have occupied the land of Israel around 175 years before the birth of Jesus.
The Greeks are trying to get the
Jews to forsake their religion.
So, today, they are trying to
force this old religious man Eleazar to eat pork.
Eating pork was against the
Jewish faith and so Eleazar refuses to eat it.
(Something like someone trying to
make us eat a hamburger on Ash Wednesday when we know that we Catholics are not
to eat meat on that day)
Some friends of his want to sneak
in some chicken or beef for Eleazar to eat.
That way the Greek commander will
think he has eaten pork, even though he has not done so, and this will save
Eleazar’s life.
Eleazar, with great dignity and
integrity and faith, refuses to do this because it would be a scandal.
In other words, others would
think he had eaten pork and that could lead them to forsake their faith.
Eleazar is willing to suffer
death rather than cause scandal and lead others astray.
He is a wonderful example for us
today.
It is good for us to recall the
power of good example and the harm of scandal.
Students have prepared examples,
such as:
Other possibilities:
The way we respect/obey/talk to
our parents gives example to our brothers and sisters
The same goes with our conduct toward
teachers in school
The things we say about ethnic
groups or anyone may lead our peers astray and to say things they don’t even
mean
The things we do can lead others
to do the same
So it is not just what is right
or wrong for us.
It is also what example we give
by what we do.
