Please read the passage before the homily.
“Terrible affliction was upon Israel.” Alexander the Great brought Greek control to the Fertile Crescent, the Holy Land and its environs. We should call it by its right name, colonialism. A dominant force comes upon a weaker force, sees its wealth, subjugates its population, seizes its wealth and enslaves its people: such is colonialism.
Greek generals gained control over Jerusalem and tried to make the Jewish people be like the Greeks. The Romans colonized Europe. European powers colonized the American Continents. The Books of Maccabees are about Greek colonization of the biblical lands and the fight to the Jews to remain faithful to God.
The Maccabee family was an important force in keeping the Jewish people faithful to God. Their perseverance prepared the way for the coming and the work of Jesus Christ.
Because the books were written in Greek, many have not accepted them as part of the inspired sacred Scriptures, They are important for us for telling us the story of how God worked to save God’s people in a time of great distress.
God is with us, even when we have struggles to stay alive during government shutdowns and rising prices.
As we hear from the books of Maccabees, we may perhaps see similarities between the colonization endured by the Maccabees and the colonization prevalent in our world and that perhaps we have also experienced.