16/11/2021

The resilience to brute force showed by Eleazar is somethig that I do not to have to try to emulate. Not only was it brute force that he resisted but there was also the mental pressure of his contempories who had chosen to obey although they had tried to disguise their apostasy in the way out that they suggested to him.

We have been told that when we are persecuted for Christ's sake the words to defend ourselves will be given to us; and so it was with Eleazar whose elequence inspired the remnant who revolted against the edicts of the King. There are places in the world where Christians are subjected to legal pressure and persecution. We  have to have questions about the treatment of our Church in China where something is not quite right about the Vatican's diplomatic efforts.

The man in the sycamore tree is an easily remembered image but do we always remember the social pressure that was put upon Jesus as a result of accepting an invitation to eat at the house of a sinner. All organised religion has its human social conventions but in the Israel of Jesus' day not only were there strict dietary laws but the law restricted whom you could eat with. Those dietary laws abolished by our Saviour still exist in Islam and Judaism.

The social pressure that Jesus was always under is as nothing to the torture he was to undergo on Calvary. All of us who feel socially isolated because  of our beliefs must take heart from Jesus' words when he tells us "that he comes to seek out and save what was lost". We must also pray that what we believe about our isolation is truly the Word of Father, Son and Holy Spirit and that we are also known to the Mother of God and all the saints in Eternity.

Dear Lord the Communion of the Saints is the Holy Spirit feeding us with the love of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. May my soul always be open to that Love and may I learn to also share it with all peoples on earth. May your Holy Mother and Saints reach out to support those who are in desperate straits.