November 19, 2013

Tuesday of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time 
Lectionary: 498
Reading 1 2 MC 6:18-31

 This reading continues from yesterday when the Jews of Jerusalem were being forced to disobey the laws of God.

Eleazar, one of the foremost scribes,
a man of advanced age and noble appearance,
was being forced to open his mouth to eat pork.

Eleazar,   a very influential man in Jerusalem and noble, was being forced to eat pork.

But preferring a glorious death to a life of defilement,
he spat out the meat,
and went forward of his own accord to the instrument of torture,
as people ought to do who have the courage to reject the food
which it is unlawful to taste even for love of life.

 But he preferred to die than to disobey God.

Those in charge of that unlawful ritual meal took the man aside privately,
because of their long acquaintance with him,
and urged him to bring meat of his own providing,
such as he could legitimately eat,
and to pretend to be eating some of the meat of the sacrifice
prescribed by the king;

 Some of his friends suggested that he pretend to eat the pork but eat his own meat  instead.

in this way he would escape the death penalty,
and be treated kindly because of their old friendship with him.

 And that way he would escape death.

But Eleazar made up his mind in a noble manner,
worthy of his years, the dignity of his advanced age,
the merited distinction of his gray hair,
and of the admirable life he had lived from childhood;
and so he declared that above all
he would be loyal to the holy laws given by God.

But Eleazar  preferred to obey God than man.

He told them to send him at once
to the abode of the dead, explaining:
“At our age it would be unbecoming to make such a pretense;
many young people would think the ninety-year-old Eleazar
had gone over to an alien religion.

 He said, "at our age we would make a bad example for the young people who would think that we had gone over  to an alien  religion."

Should I thus pretend for the sake of a brief moment of life,
they would be led astray by me,
while I would bring shame and dishonor on my old age.

 Why should I dishonor my old age and lead the youth astray by my example.

Even if, for the time being, I avoid the punishment of men,
I shall never, whether alive or dead,
escape the hands of the Almighty.

 And even if I should escape man's punishment, I will never escape God's Judgment.

Therefore, by manfully giving up my life now,
I will prove myself worthy of my old age,
and I will leave to the young a noble example
of how to die willingly and generously
for the revered and holy laws.”

 Therefore I would rather die and leave an example of obedience to the laws of God.

Eleazar spoke thus,
and went immediately to the instrument of torture.
Those who shortly before had been kindly disposed,
now became hostile toward him because what he had said
seemed to them utter madness.

 And when he said this those were once his friends turned against him because it seemed to them that he spoke madness.

When he was about to die under the blows,
he groaned and said:
“The Lord in his holy knowledge knows full well that,
although I could have escaped death,
I am not only enduring terrible pain in my body from this scourging,
but also suffering it with joy in my soul
because of my devotion to him.”
This is how he died,
leaving in his death a model of courage
and an unforgettable example of virtue
not only for the young but for the whole nation.

 And he died leaving a glorious example for the nation of Israel.

Responsorial Psalm PS 3:2-3, 4-5, 6-7

R. (6b) The Lord upholds me.
O LORD, how many are my adversaries!
Many rise up against me!
Many are saying of me,
“There is no salvation for him in God.”

R. The Lord upholds me.
But you, O LORD, are my shield;
my glory, you lift up my head!
When I call out to the LORD,
he answers me from his holy mountain.

R. The Lord upholds me.
When I lie down in sleep,
I wake again, for the LORD sustains me.
I fear not the myriads of people
arrayed against me on every side.
R. The Lord upholds me.

 Although we have many troubles in this life, the Lord will hold us up.

Gospel LK 19:1-10

At that time Jesus came to Jericho and intended to pass through the town.
Now a man there named Zacchaeus,
who was a chief tax collector and also a wealthy man,
was seeking to see who Jesus was;
but he could not see him because of the crowd,
for he was short in stature.

 When Jesus was passing through Jericho, Zacchaeus,  the tax collector heard of him. But he could not see him over the crowd because he was short.

So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree in order to see Jesus,
who was about to pass that way.

 So he ran ahead and climbed a tree in order to see Jesus.

When he reached the place, Jesus looked up and said,
“Zacchaeus, come down quickly,
for today I must stay at your house.”

 When Jesus came to the tree he looked up at Zacchaeus and said, " come down quickly because today I stay at your house."

And he came down quickly and received him with joy.
When they saw this, they began to grumble, saying,
“He has gone to stay at the house of a sinner.”

 When the people heard this they were surprised and angered saying, "he's going to stay with a sinner?!"

But Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord,
“Behold, half of my possessions, Lord, I shall give to the poor,
and if I have extorted anything from anyone
I shall repay it four times over.”

But Zacchaeus  said to Jesus, "I will give half of my money to the poor and if I have taken any money from anyone illegally I will repay it four times over."

And Jesus said to him,
“Today salvation has come to this house
because this man too is a descendant of Abraham.
For the Son of Man has come to seek
and to save what was lost.”

 And Jesus said, "today salvation has come to this house because this man also is a son of Abraham."