WEBVTT

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paralyzed man who was healed, his sins forgiven.

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But I'd like to speak mainly today about the

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cross and the Maccabeans. These Maccabean martyrs,

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these seven young men, along with their mother

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and their father, are called the martyrs before

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the martyrs. And why is that? Well, let me read

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to you something. That was said by Eleazar. First,

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I'll set the context very, very briefly since

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this is not a history lesson. But, you know,

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the Old Testament is our history too. Never forget

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that. It's not the cruel God of the Old Testament

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and the sweet Jesus of the New Testament. It's

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one set of scripture for us. One leading to the

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other. Well, sometime in the second century B

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.C., Greeks and then again at another time Romans

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were invited into Palestine, the Holy Land, by

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certain Jewish leaders. Needless to say, that

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invitation did not go well. On the horizon here

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comes a king, a Greek king. who gave himself

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the name Epiphanes. Antiochus, this is how he

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was called, Antiochus Epiphanes. In other words,

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Antiochus after the big city and manifestation.

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He called himself the manifestation of the God.

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So, you know this man has an ego problem from

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the beginning. He mandates, that in Jerusalem

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and in all that area, which we call the Holy

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Land, all Jewish laws, all practices, all religion

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is now outlawed. Now, when we say that, it doesn't

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mean that he replaced worship in the temple,

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which he did, with some, like, oh, let's say

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an Episcopalian church suddenly became a Methodist

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church, and, you know, their services. No, nothing

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like that. Out of the temple came all the valuables.

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Into the temple came pigs, which the Greeks used

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for sacrifices. This is why the Jews were forbidden

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to eat pigs. They were animals of pagan sacrifice.

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And along with the sacrifice of all these pigs

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came rites of fertility, which I won't go into.

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but you can imagine what they were. Temple prostitution.

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In the temple. All of this repression, along

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with mothers being executed, thrown off the city

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walls for having their male children circumcised.

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All of this led to the Maccabean revolt, and

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you know about Hanukkah. Judas Maccabeus. The

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word Maccabee, do you know what that means? Any

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scholars in here? Judas the Hammer. He led a

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revolt and he was able to rededicate the temple

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to God. But what led to that revolt is this incident

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that we focus on today of the Maccabean young

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men, their mother and their teacher. The martyrs

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before the martyrs. The teacher was arrested,

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and he was forced to eat pork, which the authorities

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said, look it, we're going to substitute out

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some beef for you. No one will know. He wouldn't

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do it. This is what he says. For to pretend such

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things is not worthy of the time of life. Lest

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many of the young should suppose that Eleazar,

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he's talking of himself, in his 90th year of

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life has gone over to a foreign religion, and

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because of my pretense for the sake of living

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a brief moment longer. They should be led astray

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through me, while I earn only pollution and defilement

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in my old age. For even if the present I should

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avoid the punishment of men, yet whether I live

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or die, I shall not escape the hands of the Almighty.

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Therefore, by manfully giving up my life now,

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I will show myself worthy of my old age and leave

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to the young a noble example of how to die a

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good death willingly and bravely for the venerable

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and holy laws. And as he said this, he went straight

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to the rack, and those who had just demonstrated

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goodwill toward him now showed hostility because

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they took the words he had spoken to be madness.

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And one after another of his disciples, the young

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man, we have their names, were killed in the

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most horrendous, the most sickening, the most

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violent way. And the mother was forced to watch.

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Young man, if you only would renounce your religion,

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your brothers will not be killed. Your mother

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will not be killed. Well, you can't negotiate

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with someone who offers you that kind of deal.

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The martyrs know that because they will always

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betray you. The mother says to one of the sons,

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the last son that's left. I do not know how you

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came into being in my womb. It was not I that

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gave you breath and life, nor I who arranged

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and ordered the elements within each of you.

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Therefore, the creator of the world, who formed

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man in the beginning and devised the origin of

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all things, will give both breath and life back

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to you in his mercy. since you now disregard

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yourselves for the sake of his laws. I beseech

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you, my child, to look at heaven and earth and

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see everything in them and know that God made

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them out of nothing. So also he made the race

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of mankind in this way. Do not fear the executioner,

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but be worthy of your brothers and accept death,

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that in God's mercy I may receive you back again

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with your brothers. They're called the martyrs

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before the martyrs because They witness to the

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resurrection. They began to take the words of

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the prophets seriously at that time in that oppression

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that they were enduring. And so today, we celebrate

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their memory, their steadfastness, but we might

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say, well, so what? I look at the cross, and

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I say, that's what. In our human weakness, in

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our fear, anxiety, in the terror of life, which

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now, more than any generation, I think, we see.

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The cross stands as the witness, yes, of our

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weakness, but the world's foolishness. God's

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wisdom. for finding a way to save us, to enter

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into death, to become men, so that we, as heroes

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from the dead, can also rise from the grave.

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in like manner that he did. And not just in some

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future date of an apocalypse, no, but brothers

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and sisters, we share in the divine life of the

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kingdom, the resurrection, now through the divine

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liturgy and through our prayer and through the

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Eucharistic offering, the holy mystery in which

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we become one with the one who rose from the

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dead, who gave power to those Maccabean youths,

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their mother, Solomonia, and their... Teacher

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Eleazar. So, on this day, in ancient times, the

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cross was taken throughout the whole city of

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Constantinople, one quarter to another quarter,

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all month long, because it was a time of epidemic.

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It was a time of sickness in the hot summer months.

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The power of the cross is not just a word of

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power. It's not just some motion. I make through

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the air above you or myself. It's not just a

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decoration. The power of the cross is sanctity,

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which is streaming out from that shape for those

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who want to be healed of sin, for those who want

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to follow the Redeemer. for those who want to

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stand fast in their faith like those young men

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and that mother and that teacher. And of course,

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the martyrs above all martyr, and the word martyr

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simply meant witness, the one who gives testimony,

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and that is Christ. Let us worship the Lord who

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gave us the power of the cross. so that we could

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be saved. When you make this sign over yourself,

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brothers and sisters, don't do it sloppily. Don't

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do it thoughtlessly. When you put your cross

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on, meditate on the power of the resurrection.

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To the world it looks like death, to us it's

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life. To our Lord be glory, now and ever, to

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ages of ages.