“Let’s get with the times.”
Today’s first reading from 1 Maccabees was very relatable to the times we live in now.
There are some Israelites who are trying to get others to “get with the times.”
These men break God’s law and they want to get on board with what the pagan Gentiles are doing. Even the king, Antiochus Epiphanes, is telling all the people in his kingdom that it’s time to abandon customs and just merge together—Gentile and Jew.
Don’t we feel this today?
All around us people are encouraging Christians to abandon the “old ways.”
“We are more modern now, more enlightened. We know things that God doesn’t know. See, He never really meant for us to hold to the things in the Bible anyway, or at least, He wanted us to progress with the times.”
For the Israelites, these encouragements to abandon their covenant with God and be more Gentile-like didn’t come from outsiders. No, it came from their own who should have known better.
We feel this, too. Chastised by our own brethren, it feels like the world can be against those of us trying to hold onto the true and timeless faith.
In Maccabees it says, “But many in Israel were determined and resolved in their hearts not to eat anything unclean; they preferred to die rather than to be defiled with unclean food or to profane the holy covenant.”
We must have this kind of resolve, Catholic Pilgrims. Not to fracture and splinter off from Mother Church, not to despair, not to think ourselves better than those that have abandoned Christ and the teachings of His Church, but to hold on and display obedience to Christ’s Church to those that would will otherwise.
Will we suffer because of it? Yes. If you never have to suffer for the truth of Christ, the Christianity you practice most likely looks similar to the secular world.
Live the Faith boldly and travel well, Catholic Pilgrims.
