By His Eminence, Raymond Cardinal Burke
From Catholic Action for Faith & Family
On the traditional Feast of the Seven Holy Maccabee Martyrs (8/1/22), His Eminence, Raymond Cardinal Burke said that Old Testament saints give heroic witness of the grace of redemption. By refusing to eat unclean foods, the Maccabee brothers and their mother refused to betray the law of Our Lord and the sacred covenant and so anticipate the ultimate Sacrifice of Christ, who refused to betray His Father.
Here are several excerpts from the Cardinal’s inspiring homily:
“These brothers of the Maccabee and their mother understood the witness, which we give to the love of God in our hearts, which knows no compromises, it cannot know any compromise. It must be stronger than death itself. They accepted death rather than break the sacred covenant.”
“They are a wonderful example and wonderful intercessors for us today in the church which also suffers from attacks by the godless secularism, which would violate the law of God even in its most fundamental tenants. But also, from an attack within from those who would compromise the sacred teaching of the faith, in order to be acceptable to a secular culture, in order to falsely accommodate our faith with a culture in so many respects, is so hostile to our faith.”
“We as Rosary Warriors – those who are praying so fervently for the church and the world, in these most troubled times, we ask for the intercession of the Maccabee brothers and their mother, that we in our time, will give an unmistakable witness to the love of Christ that is in our hearts, an unmistakable witness to the law of God, which disposes our hearts to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit and to cooperate most fully with that gift, even to the shedding of our blood if necessary, in order to be true to Our Lord. Knowing that indeed, Our Lord promises us in today’s Gospel, that if we remain faithful to Him, He will remain always faithful to us. And that although we seem to be defeated – and even annihilated in the eyes of the world, we will have eternal life. We will have the ultimate victory, the victory which Our Lord Jesus Christ has already won for us. The victory which He desires to share with us in His Holy Church.”
