1 Macc 2:15-29
‘The king’s commissioners who were enforcing the apostasy came to the town of Modein for the sacrifices. Many Israelites gathered round them, but Mattathias and his sons drew apart. Read More
Incredible bravery
2 Macc 7:1,20-31
It also happened that seven brothers were arrested with their mother. The king tried to force them to taste some pork, which the Law forbids, by torturing them with whips and scourges. But the mother was especially admirable and worthy of honourable remembrance, for she watched the death of seven sons in the course of a single day, and bravely endured it because of her hopes in the Lord. Read More
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. Read More
Keeping fidelity
1 Macc 1:10-15, 41-43, 54-57, 62-64
‘From these there grew a wicked offshoot, Antiochus Epiphanes son of King Antiochus; once a hostage in Rome, he became king in the 107th year of the kingdom of the Greeks. It was then that there emerged from Israel a set of renegades who led many people astray. Read More
Think about the end
Mk 13:24-32
‘But in those days, after that time of distress, the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light, the stars will come falling out of the sky and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory. Read More
Pray persistently
Lk 18:1-8
‘Jesus then told them a parable about the need to pray continually and never lose heart. ‘There was a judge in a certain town,’ he said, ‘who had neither fear of God nor respect for anyone. In the same town there was also a widow who kept on coming to him and saying, “I want justice from you against my enemy!” Read More
The unfreedoms (IV): SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION
Today I would like to conclude this series in which we have addressed some of the so-called “unfreedoms” that can overshadow the true freedom that Christ offers and grants us (cf. Jn 8:36). I will return to this theme of the unfreedom in more depth in a lecture that I plan to publish on my YouTube channel before the beginning of the Advent Season. Read More
The unfreedoms (III): EXCESSIVE INFLUENCIBILITY, FALSE PLIABILITY AND DEPENDENCE ON PUBLIC OPINION
In the last two meditations, we had looked at two different deficiencies of freedom: fear and human respects. In addition, we had talked a little about inferiority complexes. On our path of following Christ, we are called to overcome – with God’s help – all these limitations to our freedom, so that they do not become an obstacle on this path and do not prevent the freedom that faith gives us from shining forth in our Christian witness. Today we will look at three other forms of unfreedom, which have a certain similarity. Read More
The unfreedoms (II): HUMAN RESPECTS
I am doing this series of meditations on the “unfreedom” because, in my opinion, it is important that our Christian witness be permeated by that freedom which only the Lord can grant us: “if the Son sets you free, you will indeed be free…” (Jn 8:36). Read More
The unfreedoms (I): THE FEAR
If you are familiar with my daily meditations, you will notice that I try to offer a help to deepen the way of following Christ, based on Sacred Scripture and the authentic teaching of the Church. Occasionally, I interrupt the usual rhythm of the biblical meditations to deal with a theme that I consider important in the form of a “series”. In this way, certain topics related to the spiritual life can be dealt with in greater depth. Read More