We lost so much when the gates of Paradise were closed to us! Even if we have become accustomed to it and no longer perceive it with great pain, it is a deep misery into which man plunged when he fell into sin. But in the depths of our souls there is still a longing for Paradise, which can become an incentive for us to seek God. Read More
Showing all posts dated November 21, 2023
Faithful till the death
2 Macc 6:18-31
Eleazar, one of the foremost teachers of the Law, a man already advanced in years and of most noble appearance, had his mouth forced open, to make him eat a piece of pork. But he, resolving to die with honour rather than to live disgraced, walked of his own accord to the torture of the wheel, having spat the stuff out, as befits those with the courage to reject what is not lawful to taste, rather than live. The people supervising the ritual meal, forbidden by the Law, because of the length of time for which they had known him, took him aside and privately urged him to have meat brought of a kind he could properly use, prepared by himself, and only pretend to eat the portions of sacrificial meat as prescribed by the king; this action would enable him to escape death, by availing himself of an act of kindness prompted by their long friendship.