Page:PracticalCommentaryOnHolyScripture.djvu/407

 heaven ... I hope to  receive  them  again  from  Him”  — “That  I may receive thee  again  with  thy  brethren.”  They  raised  their  eyes  beyond the perishable  things  of  this  earth,  to  those  things  which  are  heavenly and eternal;  and  they  looked  to  being  rewarded  by  God  in  another world. They gave  up  their  earthly  life,  in  order  to  gain  eternal  life.

From their  firm  faith  proceeded  a great  fear  and  love  of  God: “We are  ready  to  die  rather  than  transgress  the  laws  of  God.”

2. Their  firm  hope  in  the  promises  of  God. They believed  in  the future Redeemer;  and,  on  account  of  this  faith,  God  assisted  them  by His  grace,  without  which  no  one  can  keep  the  commandments.

Unlawful obedience.  The  example  of  these  holy  martyrs  teaches  us that  we  must  not  obey  our  superiors  when  they  command  us  to  do anything  which  God  has  forbidden,  or  when  they  forbid  anything  which God has  commanded. In such  cases  we  must  say,  as  did  the  Machabean brothers: “The  law  of  God  forbids  it;  we  will  not  do  it.”

The commandment  of  abstinence.  The  seven  Machabees  died  martyrs of obedience  to  God’s  commandments. They preferred  to  suffer  fhe most cruel  tortures  rather  than  transgress  the  commandment  not  to touch  swine’s  flesh. Jesus Christ,  through  his  Church,  has  given  us  a similar  law  in  the  Third  Commandment  of  the  Church.

The duty  of  parents  in  the  education  of  their  children.  Parents should learn  from  the  mother  of  the  Machabees  to  bring  up  their children in  the  fear  and  love  of  God,  and  to  care  for  their  souls  more than for  anything  else,  so  that  they  may  look  to  meet  them  again  in eternal  life. “What doth  it  profit  a man  if  he  gain  the  whole  world and suffer  the  loss  of  his  own  soul!”

Commemoration of  the  holy  Machabees.  The  Church  commemorates these martyrs  on  August  1st:  “For”,  says  St.  Gregory  Nazianzen,  “what would not  these  men,  who  suffered  martyrdom  before  Christ  suffered, have endured  if  they  had  been  called  to  suffer  persecution  after  His Incarnation, and  had  present  before  their  eyes  the  Death  which  He suffered  for  our  salvation  1 Yes,  I think  I may  assume,  in  union  with all friends  of  God,  that  there  was  a certain  mysterious  communion between the  martyrs  of  the  Old  Testament  and  Jesus  Christ,  without belief in  whom  none  of  those  martyrs  before  the  Incarnation  could  have attained to  such  a glorious  end.”

Put yourself  in  the  place  of  the  youngest brother, and  imagine  the  king  speaking  to  you, making  you splendid promises  on  the  one  hand,  and,  on  the  other,  threatening you with  death  by  torture. Would you  remain  firm,  and  suffer a lingering martyrdom  rather  than  offend  God  by  committing  a grievous  sin? “We will  rather  die  than  transgress  God’s  law”  had been the  maxim  of  these  brothers’  lives  from  their  earliest  youth,