The Virtue Series: Hope Part 3

The Virtue Series:

Hope Part 3         THE MOTHER OF HOPE AND COURAGE.

In the book of 2 Maccabees, we discover the ghastly persecution of the Jews by the Greeks.  The Gentile King decided to try to force the Jews to accept Greek customs, which would cause them as a consequence to defile themselves and deny their God.  In 2 Maccabees 7, it includes the story of a heroic mother and her seven sons trial.

The King was enraged with the sons and their mother because they refused to eat flesh of the swine which is forbidden by Mosaic Law, since to eat it is considered tantamount to denying God.  This could be considered similar to a catholic committing mortal sin to save his life, which is forbidden, since it is better to lose this life than to forfeit blessedness in the next. The mother encouraged her sons to face the torture by reminding them that their earthly lives are a gift from God as is eternal life if they die for His laws.  Verse 20 says that she accepts the death of her children 'because of her hope in the Lord".

After watching the death of her 6 sons, the tormentors decided to let the seventh son go if he gave in to their demands.  As a mother, she reminded her seventh son to accept death nobly so that she will be with him and his brothers in Heaven.  She had hope in God's power to make things right and to give eternal life. This mother is a model of courage and hope because she:

·                      encouraged her children to remain faithful to God and to accept the consequences of their faithfulness (martyrdom).

·                     kept her mind and heart on the promises of God and reminded her children of them as they faced their darkest trial.

I wonder if I was in the same situation whether my hope would be quite as firm as this mother. How would you fare? We may not have the same situation, but many of us face dark trials on a daily basis in our work, in relationships in our families and parishes. This is our opportunity to this virtue of hope into practice in our lives.

Whether we are successful or not in meeting our dark trials, the great news of hope for all of us though is we can always seek God's grace to grow in this virtue of hope. During this coming week, we may like to reflect on what practical steps we might take to assist us in growing in this virtue.

May God increase in you the grace of the virtue of hope. Let us pray for one another for an increase in this virtue.

Next week, we will continue the journey exploring the virtue of love.