The Homily Continues

From the 47 biblical passages listed in the funeral guide, Robert selected the three passages that were read earlier, because they spoke of Catholic thoughts, doctrines, and dogmas that he considered important.

The First Reading(s)

Use below only if the funeral is during the Easter season.

The first reading was a very short reading from “The Revelation to John,” which is often referred to as just “Revelation.” The passage, just one verse of 37 words, was so short that I will now repeat it for us to consider once again.

The passage reads, “I heard a voice from heaven say, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Yes,” said the Spirit, “let them find rest from the labors, for their works accompany them.”

In the first volume of his “A Catholic Prays Scripture” series, Robert wrote a chapter entitled “A Prayer for Revelation.” In that chapter he wrote about apocalyptic literature in general, and some of the many scholarly interpretations of “The Revelation to John.” 

In his book, Robert suggested that John, the author of “The Revelation to John,” had bobbed and weaved throughout his book – on ten themes; and that every verse in Revelation related to one of those ten themes. 

·         The first five themes relate to God: God’s transcendence (GT), God’s lordship (GL), God’s victory over evil (GV), God’s judgement for the wicked (GJ), and God’s salvation for the faithful (GS). 

·         The next two themes relate to Jesus: Christ’s oneness with God (JG), and Christ’s oneness with the Church (JC). 

·         The last three themes relate to Christian hope (CH), Christian endurance (CE), and Christian discipleship (CD).

In his book, Robert slots the verses from Revelation into these ten themes. He characterized the verse in our first reading (Revelation 14:13) as a comment on the theme of Christian endurance. Robert wrote the following in his book:  

“Remember that Father John was preaching to potential martyrs. In the letters to the seven churches in Chapters 2 and 3 of Revelation, suffering and endurance (or a lack of), were frequently noted. Father John needed to buck up the troops. He had given them some hope. Now he needed to give them the endurance to stay the course. … They would have to endure until God’s plan was fully implemented.”

Likewise, Robert had to endure evil during his lifetime, and we must also in ours, but be assured, according to our first reading today, that blessed are the dead who die in the Lord for their works accompany them. We too must endure until God’s plan is fully implemented. 

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Use below only if the funeral is NOT during the Easter season. 

The first reading was taken from the Second Book of Maccabees. Some of you may not be familiar with that book, as it is not always found in Protestant Bibles. Thus, a little history might be in order, before I reflect on today’s first reading.

In the first volume of his “A Catholic Prays Scripture” series, in a chapter entitled “… Scripture,” Robert noted that, “the early Greek translation of the Old Testament was called the Septuagint … and that this translation was used by our Lord, his apostles, and by the early Christians.”

The Septuagint was completed in Alexandria about 100 years before Christ, for the large Jewish community of that Egyptian City. Thus, it is sometimes also referred to as the “Alexandrine canon” or as the LXX – the Roman numeral “70” – the number of scholars that helped in the translation. 

The Septuagint was used widely in Palestine during and after the time of Christ – by Jews and the first generation of Christians. Biblical scholars have ascertained that roughly 300 of the 350 citations from the Old Testament – in the New Testament – are quoted according to the Septuagint.

The Septuagint was the Old Testament transcribed by the monks for centuries during the Middle Ages, the Old Testament printed by Gutenberg in his first Bible, the Old Testament for all Christians – until the time of the Reformation. It remains the Old Testament of the Catholic Church to this day.

As regards today’s reading, Robert wrote about the history of the first and second books of Maccabees in his book A Catholic Prays Scripture: concerning the sacraments, in a chapter interestingly titled “A Hanuka” Prayer. 

First Maccabees was written about 100 BC, in Hebrew, but the original was lost. What exists today is an early, pre-Christian, Greek translation full of Hebrew idioms. The unknown author was probably a Palestinian Jew. Second Maccabees was probably written shortly before second century BC, in Greek.

The first book of Maccabees celebrates the successful revolt of the Jews against the Seleucid Greeks, the inheritors of the Syrian chunk of Alexander the Great’s collapsed empire. In 168 BC, Seleucid armies installed an idol in the Temple in Jerusalem and appointed Jewish apostate priests to sacrifice swine to the Greek god in the courts of Solomon. In 165 BC, Jewish loyalists, led by Judas Maccabee recaptured the Temple and began eight days of purifying and rededicating ceremonies, which the Jewish faith observes today as “Hanuka.” The first book of Maccabees records that story.

The second book of Maccabees continues the story and provides early models of martyrology (the story of Eleazar, the story of the “unnamed mother and her seven sons), which gave great witness to the early followers of Christ, who were undergoing their own forms of persecution. 

Robert noted in his book that three other theological doctrines were expressed in 2 Maccabees. They are the resurrection of the just, the intercession of the saints, and prayers for the dead. He further notes that these three doctrines are embedded in Catholic dogma, were opposed by some Jewish factions (e.g., the Sadducees), and are areas of religious contention among Christians today. 

In the verses leading up to today’s reading (2 Maccabees 12: 39-45), it was noted that when Judas and his men went to gather up the bodies of their dead soldiers, they found that all of them had sinned – having amulets sacred to the idols of Jamnia, which Jewish law forbid them to wear. The last verse before today’s passage stated, “Turning to supplication, they prayed that the sinful deed might be fully blotted out.” 

Then, per today’s reading, Judas Maccabee provides for an expiatory sacrifice for his soldiers who had died in battle – because he had the resurrection of the dead in view – noting that if he were not expecting them to rise again, it would have been foolish for him to pray for those that had gone to their rest in godliness, or to make atonement for dead, those wearing the amulets, that might be freed from sin.

In Robert’s book A Catholic Prays Scripture: concerning some biblical characters, Robert wrote of both history and salvation history. Judas Maccabee was a major player in salvation history. If he and his men had not recaptured the Temple, the Jewish faith might have withered away. If Judas Maccabee had not recaptured the Temple, a Jewish baby Jesus may have never been dedicated in the Temple. 

Pulitzer Prize winner Herman Wouk put it this way, by first noting that Hanuka, “the last and least of the minor [Jewish] holidays” has been overwhelmed by Christmas, the “colossal jamboree of the department store.” Wouk further noted that: “Had Antiochus succeeded in obliterating Jewry a century and a half before the birth of Jesus, there would have been no Christmas. The feast of the Nativity rests on the victory of Hanuka.

As noted before, Judas Maccabee was a major player in salvation history. His thoughts on the dead should be in every Bible. 

Via today’s first reading, Robert requests your prayers – to God on his behalf.

+++ The Homily Will Continue Tomorrow (Part 9)