April 16, 2010 – Maccabees 1-1:28

Happy Birthday Michelle

So, here are a couple of Wikipedia links to give you an idea of the time we are talking about and some general background.  Alexander the Great is mentioned at the beginning.   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_the_Great.  Antiochus Epiphanes is the main ruler that will be discussed throughout the Maccabean Revolt.    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antiochus_Epiphanes.  If you ever wondered about the origin of “drawing a line in the sand”, evidently it came from Antiochus’ invasion of Egypt.  My notes say that this reading is here because it relates to Jesus talking about a desolating sacrilege in our Gospel tomorrow.  It must be talking about the Jews that begin to leave their beliefs for more secular things in this reading.  They are known as Hellenistic Jews.