Saturday of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time
November 20, 2021
Daily Reading from the USCCB: 1 Maccabees 6:1-13
About the same time that the Jewish temple was being rededicated, things were not going well for King Antiochus Epiphanes–“god manifest”. His plans for conquest and pillage came to nothing. His armies in the field were being defeated. His accomplishments were being reversed.
Antiochus fell into depression and knew that he was dying. He attributed his troubles to the sufferings he had inflicted on the Jews. Finally he died in December, 164 B.C.
The death of King Antiochus was seen by the Jews too, as retribution for his mistreatment of God’s people. We may not always see God’s punishment inflicted or recognize it as such, but we know that God is a god of justice, and that God’s enemies never have the last word.
