1 Maccabees 16: Seek Kindness
Wednesday, November 6, 2024
Adapted from a reflection written on November 15, 2009. In memoria for my mother who always preached Killing with Kindness
The name Maccabees means the hammer and as we read through these books in scripture we experience a great deal of violence in the name of God. These books are stories about “the attempted suppression of Judaism in Palestine in the second century B.C. . . . [The author’s] purpose in writing is to record the salvation of Israel which God worked through the family of Matthias . . . Implicitly the writer compares their virtues and their exploits with those of the ancient heroes, the Judges, Samuel, and David”. (Senior 550) Portions of this book may be used when dedicating an altar . . . or when praying for persecuted Christians. The lesson here is that living the life of an apostle of Christ will inevitably include bloodshed – whether it be spiritual, mental or physical. Each time I pray to my Mother for a special intercession, I find myself in this story. She, the gentlest of shepherds, realized real battles in her life. Her slogan was: Kill them with kindness.
There is no avoiding the central message of Jesus’ life: When in doubt, exercise kindness and compassion . . . and listen for the word of God to tell us which way to turn, when to pause, when to proceed. Tomorrow is the Feast Day of St. Gertrude. My mother and my sister – both deceased – are named for this saint. Both of these women had a plodding, patient persistence when confronted with evil, and they were formidable and unmoved when it came to right and wrong. The Morning Prayer for tomorrow begins with a verse from Isaiah (30:15): By waiting and by calm you shall be saved, in quiet and in trust your strength lies. I reflect on the betrayal and carnage we witness when we read Maccabees. The deception of the son of Abubus who gives the faithful a deceitful welcome shakes me to the core. There is nothing more wicked than luring in the innocent to later spring up, weapons in hand, to rush upon the loyal servant of God – thus repaying good with evil.
What do we do when we are witness to this? We are utterly astounded as is John in today’s reading. We go to God who tells us to shake the dust of the unfaithful from our feet and move on. And we do as my mother always recommended: Kill them with kindness.
Images from: http://www.ourcatholicprayers.com/prayers-for-souls-in-purgatory.html and http://www.catster.com/lifestyle/st-gertrude-patron-saint-of-cats-history-prayer-patricks-day
Gertrude the Great was a German Benedictine mystic with a special dedication to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. A number of her writings are still in publication today. Gertrude of Nivelles founded an abbey with her mother, Itta, in present day Belgium. She is the patron saint of gardens and cats.
Senior, Donald, ed. THE CATHOLIC STUDY BIBLE. New York, Oxford University Press, 1990.550. Print.
Cameron, Peter John. “Prayer for the Morning.” MAGNIFICAT. 16.11 (2009). Print.
The Noontimes 