In today’s readings we hear about two violent tyrants. In the first reading the Greek King or Tyrant Antiochus uses violence and torture to try to force the Jews to violate God’s law. In the Gospel Jesus tells a parable that is taken from the real-life example of the Tyrant Archelaus who was made ruler over Judea and Samaria after King Herod. As we hear in today’s Gospel the people “despised him and sent a delegation after him to announce: “We do not want this man to be our king.’” When he did become tyrant, he exacted violent retribution: “Now as for those enemies of mine who did not want me as their king, bring them here and slay them before me.”
In spite of this violence the Jews responded with perseverance and faith in the reading from Maccabees. The seven brothers and their mother were all martyrs who put their faith and trust in God and refused to violate God’s law even when it cost them their life. The mother of these seven brothers exhorted them to remain steadfast in these words:
“the Creator of the universe who shaped the beginning of humankind and brought about the origin of everything, he, in his mercy, will give you back both breath and life, because you now disregard yourselves for the sake of his law.”
This mother calls her sons to remain steadfast and to trust in God the Creator who gave them life. This God “in his mercy” will give them new life after their death.
Like Kings Antiochus and Archelaus in today’s reading there have been tyrants throughout history who have been quick to resort to violence and unspeakable torture to control people and even to forced their “conversion”. Jews, Christians, and Moslems have all experienced religious persecution often time from one another and in the name of God. The late Pope Francis denounce religious persecution especially in the name of God:
“The religious person knows that among the greatest blasphemies is to invoke God as the justification for one’s own sins and crimes. To invoke him in order to justify killing, mass murder, enslavement, exploitation in whatever form, oppression and persecution of individuals and entire populations…The religious person knows that God is the Holy One, and that no one can claim to use his name in order to perpetrate evil.” (February 2, 2018).
Image: “Baracks at Auschwitz-Birkenau (Oświęcim, Poland 2014)” by paularps is licensed under CC BY 2.0.