When glory appears

“Lord, when your glory appears, my joy will be full” is the response today to the psalm in the Roman Catholic Lectionary This praise proclamation is appropriate for the texts from the Second Book of Maccabees and from the Gospel of Luke. The second book of Maccabees, which is only in the Roman Catholic and Orthodox canon, tells individual stories of the decision of Jewish believers to accept martyrdom instead of submitting to the demands of the Greek rulers to practice pagan rituals including the eating of ``unclean`` food. The glory for which the faithful await is their return to God in resurrection.Friar Jude Winkler reminds us that this faith in resurrection is also a sustaining hope for full joy in the Christian journey when we are beset with the twists and turns of life that can so often steal our joy. The history ofthe Land of Israel in the period 166 - 129 BCE was one of struggle against the Hellenist Seleucids which culminates in the triumph of the Maccabees (Hebrew for hammer)/Hasmoneans (family name) and the restoration of worship in a purified Temple which is celebrated in Jewish tradition as the holiday of Chanukah. The ruler character in the parable told by Jesus in the Gospel of Luke who goes away and leaves the administration of his kingdom in the hands of those who work for him isinterpreted by some as Jesus preparing His disciple for the long time between His death and return in the final days. During this time, Robert P. Heaney, John A. Creighton University Chair, advises that we be alert to the directive that we are responsible to God to use our gifts to bring return on the investment of God in us to His people. The action of making our gifts work for the benefit of others requires faith. The apparent unfairness of those who have the most coins in the parable getting more applies to faith. Faith which is not exercised in action and reaction with the people of God dies and strips us of the joy which the psalmist knows can be ours in the Presence of God.