Friday of the Thirty-third
Week in Ordinary Time
(I Maccabees 4:36-37.52-59, Lucas 19:45-48)
Although the Books of Maccabees do not have a place in the
Jewish Bible, they contain some of the greatest testimony to the Law and the
Temple. Today’s passage from the First
Book of the Maccabees relates the founding event of the Jewish feast of Hanukkah.
In the reading Mattathias Maccabeus’ son Judas declares an
annual celebration for the Jews. He has
just led a successful uprising against the foreign rulers. With the war exacting its terrible price the
whole nation has learned the value of religious freedom.
Although the situation is not really comparable today, the bishops
of the United States are concerned about religious freedom. They regard some government rules regulating medical
care as conflicting with traditional Catholic morals. They rightfully will not allow Catholic
hospitals to perform abortions or sterilizations. And they cannot justify supplying medical
insurance that subsidizes contraceptive services. Hopefully the Church will not have to close
its hospitals or stop purchasing insurance for employees. Yet that is one alternative in its ongoing dispute
with the federal government.
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