Tuesday in the Octave of the Assumption
1 Maccabees, Chapter 4, Verse 8
Judas said to the men with him: Do
not FEAR their numbers or dread their
attack.
Why fear you? As God saved
you from Egypt at the red sea surely, he will defend us was Judas’ cry. Thus, Israel experienced a great deliverance that day. Then
again being attacked by a force ten times as large, Judas cried out, “Blessed are you, Savior of Israel, who crushed the attack of the
mighty one by the hand of your servant David and delivered the foreign camp
into the hand of Jonathan, the son of Saul, and his armor-bearer. When
Lysias saw the tide of the battle turning, and the increased boldness of Judas,
whose men were ready either to live or to die nobly, he withdrew. Then Judas
and his brothers said, “Now that our enemies have been crushed, let us go up to
purify the sanctuary and rededicate it.” So, the whole army
assembled, and went up to Mount Zion. They found the
sanctuary desolate, the altar desecrated, the gates burnt, weeds growing in the
courts as in a thicket or on some mountain, and the priests’ chambers
demolished. Then they tore their garments and
made great lamentation; they sprinkled their heads with ashes and prostrated themselves. And when the signal was given with
trumpets, they cried out to Heaven. They repaired the
sanctuary. On the anniversary of the day on which the
Gentiles had desecrated it, on that very day it was rededicated with songs,
harps, lyres, and cymbals. All the people prostrated themselves and adored
and praised Heaven, who had given them success. For eight days they
celebrated the dedication of the altar and joyfully offered burnt offerings and
sacrifices of deliverance and praise. Then Judas and
his brothers and the entire assembly of Israel decreed that every year for
eight days, from the twenty-fifth day of the month Kislev, the days of the
dedication of the altar should be observed with joy and gladness on
the anniversary. This was the institution of the feast of Hanukkah, also called
the Feast of Dedication. Josephus calls it the Feast of Lights (Ant.
12:325).
Let There Be Light![1]
According
to Jewish Talmudic tradition, when the Maccabees recaptured the Temple, they
found only a day’s supply of consecrated oil with which to light the golden
lamp stand, the menorah. Miraculously, this oil burned for eight full days,
until a new supply could be consecrated. Therefore, Hanukkah is also known and
celebrated as the Feast of Lights. This Hanukkah, ask the Holy Spirit to pour
fresh oil into your lamp.
When enduring a dark season, be
encouraged, for God says, “Let there be light.” At the appointed hour you will
see His deliverance. When you faithfully worship the one true God, do not be
dismayed if anti-Christ powers are enraged. These powers operate only within
divinely set limits. God is teaching us how to receive by faith, day-by-day,
the anointing to not love our own lives so as to shrink from death (Revelation
12:11).
Israel’s
dark tribulation culminating with the Hanukkah victory in many ways parallels
the future Great Tribulation leading to Yeshua’s return. The holiday
commemorating the rededication of God’s Temple calls upon us to rededicate ourselves
to Him as the bodily temples in which His Spirit now dwells. (See 1Corinthians
6:19)
Daily Devotions
·
Make
reparations to the Holy Face-Tuesday
Devotion
·
Pray Day 6 of
the Novena for our Pope and Bishops
·
Tuesday:
Litany of St. Michael the Archangel
·
Offering to
the sacred heart of Jesus
·
Rosary.
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