COLLECT
O God, who in martyrdom
have brought true faith to its highest expression
graciously grant
that, strengthened through the intercession
of Saints John Fisher and Thomas More,
we may confirm by the witness of our life
the faith we profess with our lips.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity
of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
R.) Amen.
A READING FROM THE SECOND BOOK OF MACCABEES
(I AM GLAD TO SUFFER BECAUSE THE AWE WHICH HE INSPIRES IN ME.)
ELEAZAR,
one of the foremost teachers
of the Law,
a man
already advanced in years
and of most noble appearance,
was being forced
to open his mouth wide
to swallow pig’s flesh.
THOSE IN CHARGE
of the impious banquet,
because of their
long-standing friendship
with him,
took him aside
and privately urged him
to have meat brought of a kind
he could properly use,
prepared by himself,
and only pretend
to eat the portions
of sacrificial meat
as prescribed by the king.
“SUCH PRETENCE”
he said
“does not square with
our time of life;
many young people
would suppose
that Eleazar
at the age of ninety
had conformed
to the foreigners’
way of life,
and because
I had played this part
for the sake of a
paltry brief spell of life
might themselves
be led astray
on my account;
I should only bring
defilement and disgrace
on my old age.
EVEN THOUGH
for the moment
I avoid execution by man,
I can never,
living or dead,
elude the grasp of the Almighty.
THEREFORE
if I am man enough
to quit this life here
and now
I shall prove myself worthy
of my old age,
and I shall have left the young
a noble example
of how to make a good death,
eagerly and generously,
for the venerable and holy laws.”
WITH THESE WORDS
he went straight to the block.
HIS ESCORTS,
so recently well disposed
towards him,
turned against him
after this declaration,
which they regarded
as sheer madness.
JUST BEFORE HE DIED
under the blows,
he groaned aloud
and said,
“THE LORD
whose knowledge is holy
sees clearly that,
though
I might have escaped death,
whatever agonies of body
I now endure
under this bludgeoning,
in my soul I am glad to suffer,
because of the awe
which he inspires in me.”
THIS WAS HOW HE DIED,
leaving his death
as an example of nobility
and a record of virtue
not only for the young
but for the great majority
of the nation.
The word of the Lord.
R.) Thanks be to God.
responsorialpsalmcatholic 