The Procession with the Holy Relics of the Precious and Life-Giving Cross of the Lord; the Seven Holy Martyred Maccabees, Their Mother Solome and Their Teacher Eleazar
Beginning of the Dormition Fast
Read
1 Corinthians 10:28-11:7; Matthew 16:24-28
Today is the feast of the Maccabee martyrs, seven brothers who lived in the second century BC when pagan Greeks were persecuting Israel: they refused to break the Jewish Law and were put to death by their pagan rulers. These saints put Christ’s words in today’s gospel into practice. Christ asks his disciples: “What profit is there for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? Or what can one give in exchange for his life?” When they were being tortured for their faith, the seven brothers were offered positions of power and authority in the kingdom of the Greeks if they would give up their Judaism. But they knew that to betray their conscience was far worse than death, that there is no profit in giving up one’s commitment to the truth, even for the sake of avoiding torture and death, since a life lived without truth (in other words, without God) is no life at all.
The Maccabees lived at a time when not all Jews believed in the resurrection: they were taking a leap of faith, laying down their lives with the hope that they might receive them again. In today’s gospel, Jesus assures us of the same thing: if we lay down our lives for his sake, we will receive them back. Few of us will die as martyrs, but we have many chances to lay down our lives in smaller ways. Let’s have the courage of the Maccabees as we face today’s choices so that we can share in their glory.