The Gentler Call

A Reflection on the First Reading for November 6th, 2022:
Thirty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

---

2 Maccabees
7.1-2, 7, 9-14

It happened that seven brothers and their mother were arrested and were being compelled by King Antiochus, under torture with whips and thongs, to partake of unlawful swine’s flesh. One of the brothers, speaking for all, said, “What do you intend to ask and learn from us? For we are ready to die rather than transgress the laws of our ancestors.”

After the first brother had died, they brought forward the second for their sport. And when he was at his last breath, he said to the King, “You accursed wretch, you dismiss us from this present life, but the King of the universe will raise us up to an everlasting renewal of life, because we have died for his laws.”

After him, the third was the victim of their sport. When it was demanded, he quickly put out his tongue and courageously stretched forth his hands, and said nobly, “I got these from Heaven, and because of God’s laws I disdain them, and from God I hope to get them back again.”

As a result the king himself and those with him were astonished at the young man’s spirit, for he regarded his sufferings as nothing.

After the third brother too had died, they maltreated and tortured the fourth in the same way. When he was near death, he said to his torturers, “One cannot but choose to die at the hands of humans and to cherish the hope God gives of being raised by him. But for you, there will be no resurrection to life!”

To be honest, martyrdom is hard for me to relate to. When I feel ungenerous over my time and energy in serving God and His people, when I don’t want to give up my Wednesday night, giving up my life simply seems out of reach.
 
The first reading for this Sunday provides an example of heroism and sacrifice. The brothers who give up their lives have a powerful focus, a clear vision about salvation and a relentless faith that God will deliver them. Their mother exemplifies the same extraordinary conviction; she encourages her sons to defend their faith even unto death. 

Two elements of this story really stand out: sacrifice and mentorship. 

Very seldom will any of us be asked to sacrifice our lives for our faith in the way described. Nonetheless, we will all be called to serve and be a witness to our faith in some unique capacity. Moreover, we are called to give up our time, our energy and our resources to sacrifice and serve others and, in this way, to serve God.

Mentorship in a faith setting can be intimidating. There is risk in challenging our friends and family to strive for greatness in their relationship with God. Still, at some point in our journey, we will be presented with an opportunity to take on this risk – to decide whether we will be a witness and encourager to those we love or whether we will shy away from defending the faith.

The first reading invites us to reflect (perhaps with some discomfort) on hard sacrifices, mentorship and the gifts God may want to use and to pray about how we can best serve the people in our life by encouraging them in their faith.



Theresa Langley

---