a reading from the second book of maccabees eleazar one of the foremost scribes a man of advanced age and noble appearance was being forced to open his mouth 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 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 sacrifice prescribed by the king in this way he would escape the death penalty and be treated kindly because of their old friendship with him
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
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 pretence many young people would think the ninety-year-old eleazar had gone over to an alien religion
should i thus pretend for the sake of a brief moment of life that they would be led astray by me while i would bring shame and dishonor on my old age
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
therefore my 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
eleazar spoke thus and went immediately to the instrument of torture those who shortly before had been kindly disposed now became hostile towards him because what he had said seemed to them utter 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 the 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.
The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.