By Rev. Joe McCloskey, SJ
It happened that seven brothers with their mother were
arrested and tortured with whips and scourges by the king, to force them to eat
pork in violation of God's law. One of
the brothers, speaking for the others, said:"What do you expect to achieve by questioning us? We are ready to die rather than transgress
the laws of our ancestors."
2 Maccabees 7:1-2
Jesus said to them, "The children of this age
marry and remarry; but those who are deemed worthy to attain to the coming age and
to the resurrection of the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. They can no longer die, for they are like
angels; and they are the children of God because they are the ones who will
rise. Luke 20:34-36
Piety
Piety is the statement
that our life is worth living. Piety says with more than words that we believe in
Christ and he is our life and our truth and our way to the Father. Piety is how we ask people to see Christ when
they see us. Piety gives life to Christ
again in our world and especially in us. It is not just what we are doing. It is who we
are in Christ that our piety speaks to the world. Piety is the wherewithal that
allows one to give their life for the sake of another. It is the flame that
burns in the hearts of truly great and generous people. It is not the job that piety speaks through. It is the love of Christ that is spoken by
how hard we give ourselves to the tasks of life. It is the force that burns through tiredness. It is the guts that are poured out by those
who give their lives for others. It is
the love that Christ has modeled for our world. It is the resemblance to Christ that lives in
all the saints and makes us truly Christian.
Study
The story of the seven brothers
and the mother who gave their lives for what they believed in is worthy of
imitation. It is the story of hearts
that belonged to God. The letter of the
law gives way to the spirit of the law. The
law puts words on how to love the Lord our God with all our hearts, minds,
souls, strength. We all called by the
story of the brothers and their mother to put force into how well we live our
lives in the name of Christ. Our study
builds up our confidence in the word of the Lord. The Lord directs our hearts to the love of God
and to the endurance of Christ who has loved us and given us everlasting
encouragement through his example and his words.
Action
We must try to live our
lives in the hope of the Resurrection. We
all have our stories of men and women who poured out their lives in the service
of others. We all have to ask ourselves
whether we are fleeing the victory already won by Christ. We might yearn for colors and freedom, but we
are married to the job God has given us. We are all part of the master plan of
salvation. No one gives the gift of
genuine love in vain. God is in all the
acts of love of our lives even when we are bored stiff by our job and those we
work with hide the goodness that is God’s life within them. We have to light a fire that our world will
see. We have to make statements with our
lives that show life is worth living in his name. We belong to each other by belonging to
Christ. Our growing older sees weakness
of our bodies grow. But we live our
lives as statement of the blueprint God has for us in the immortality of our
lives. Wherever there is love, God is
there. Even as we are faithful in the
little things of our lives, we fit into the divine plan God has for all of us. That plan makes every little thing we do
worth doing because we do it in his name and in his love. Death, where is thy sting? It is the ring of Christ!
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