REFLECTIONS

“After the Israelites were allowed to return to their land they lived in relative peace until around 336 before the common era (BC), Alexander the Great swept across Asia, conquering nations and extending the rule of a new power, Greece. He aimed to unify the world under Greek language and culture–a process known as hellenization that required peple to abandon their religions and allegiances and submit to him.

“The Israelites refused.

“In 332 BC, Alexander came to Jerusalem intending to punish them. Impressed by what he saw, he instead allowed them to keep their own laws.

“Alexander died suddenly in 323 BC and the Greek empire was divided among his generals. First the Ptolemies from Egypt and then the Seleucids from Syria took control over Palestine.

“During this time hellenization contiued and the Israelites began to feel pressure to conform. While the Ptolemies were tolerant of Jewish Law and religion, the Seleucids were not. In 175 BC, Antiochus Epiphanes came to power and began a policy of radical hellenization under which he determined to eradicate the Jewish religion. This sets the scene for the events described The First Book of Maccabees.” (See Ascension Press.)

Instead of adapting to the conquerors as in previous eras, Judas Maccabeus and his family rebel against the sacrileges of hellenization.  They refused to worship hellenistically, but to keep the law of their faith. They would crush their enemies, then turned their attention toward home for restore the Temple. The Days of Dedication (Chanukah).

‘While reading the Maccabees story there came a nagging comparison of hellenization to secularization of today. While in western historiography there is not any rule about repetition of itself, but mankind often repeats its wrongheaded pride with the usual results. Hellenization is deceptively familiar to the secularization pressuring upon us now.

I am left wondering of whom today is our Judas Maccabeus?

The big lesson to me about Chanukah is when we find a power to help us to be rid of secularization, will we follow how the Israelites put down the Greek generals. They invited in the Romans (1 Mc 8). Succinctly, the cure can become worse than the sickness.

In these holy days of two great religions, let us again become active in our keeping God’s law, we need to remain in trust and in joy of his everlasting Truths; we do not back away for proclaiming our love in faith and in hope for our Lord.