The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) - Day 296: Know Your Heart (2023)

Episode Date: October 23, 2023

As we begin to wrap up 1 Maccabees, Fr. Mike directs our attention to how 2 Maccabees will tell the same story in a different way. In Sirach, we are encouraged to know our own hearts, so that we can know our strengths, weaknesses, and where we might need healing. The readings are 1 Maccabees 15, Sirach 36-37, and Proverbs 23:26-28. For the complete reading plan, visit ascensionpress.com/bibleinayear. Please note: The Bible contains adult themes that may not be suitable for children - parental discretion is advised.

Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz, and you're listening to the Bible in a Year podcast, where we encounter God's voice and live life through the lens of Scripture. The Bible in a Year podcast is brought to you by Ascension. Using the Great Adventure Bible timeline, we'll read all the way from Genesis to Revelation. Discovering how the story of salvation unfolds and how we fit into that story today, it is day 296. We're reading 1 Maccabees chapter 15, also Sirach chapters 36 and 37, as well as Proverbs chapter 23, verses 26 through 28.

As always, the Bible translation I'm reading from is the Revised Standard Version, Second Catholic Edition. I'm using the Great Adventure Bible from Ascension. If you want to download your own Bible in a Year reading plan, you can visit ascensionpress.com slash Bible in a Year. You can also subscribe to this podcast and receive daily episodes and daily updates, and automatically you will be enrolled in the... I don't know what you're enrolled in. I'm just kidding.

You get the updates on your podcast, wherever you listen to podcasts. As I said, it's day 296. We're reading 1 Maccabees chapter 15. We're almost at the end. We only have one more chapter after this, and then we go into 2 Maccabees, which is going to be, gosh, you guys, you're going to love it. I'm telling you right now. 1 Maccabees chapter 15, Sirach 36 and 37, as well as Proverbs 23 verses 26 through 28.

The first book of Maccabees chapter 15, letter of Antiochus the seventh. Antiochus, the son of Demetrius, the king sent a letter from the islands of the sea to Simon, the priest and ethnarch of the Jews and to all the nation. Its contents were as follows. King Antiochus, to Simon the high priest and ethnarch, and to the nation of the Jews, greeting. Whereas certain pestilent men have gained control of the kingdom of our fathers, and I intend to lay claim to the kingdom, so that I may restore it as it formerly was, and have recruited a host of mercenary troops, and have equipped warships, and intend to make a landing in the the country so that I may proceed against those who have destroyed our country and those who have devastated many cities in my kingdom. Now, therefore, I confirm to you all the tax remissions that the kings before

me have granted you and release from all the other payments from which they have released you. I permit you to mint your own coinage as money for your country, and I grant freedom to Jerusalem and the sanctuary. All the weapons which you have prepared and the strongholds which you have built and now hold shall remain yours. Every debt you owe to the royal treasury and any such future debts shall be canceled for you from now on and for all time. When we gain control of our kingdom, we will bestow great honor upon you and your nation and the temple, so that your glory will become manifest in all the earth. In the 174th year, Antiochus set out and invaded the land of his fathers. All the troops rallied to him, so that there were few with Trifo. Antiochus pursued him, and he came in his flight to Dor, which is by the sea. For he knew that troubles had converged upon

him, and his troops had deserted him. So Antiochus encamped against Dor, and with him were 120,000 warriors and 8,000 cavalry. He surrounded the city, and the ships joined battle from the sea. He pressed the city hard from land and sea and permitted no one to leave or enter it. Rome supports the Jews. Then Numenius and his companions arrived from Rome with letters to the kings and countries, in which the following was written. Lucius, consul of the Romans, to King Ptolemy, greeting. The envoys of the Jews have come to us as our friends and allies to renew our ancient friendship and allegiance.

They had been sent by Simon the high priest and by the people of the Jews, and have brought a gold shield weighing a thousand minus. We therefore have decided to write to the kings and countries that they should not seek their harm or make war against them and their cities and their country or make alliance with those who war against them. And it has seemed good to us to accept the shield from them. Therefore, if any pestilent men have fled to you

from their country, hand them over to Simon the high priest that he may punish them according to their law. The consul wrote the same thing to Demetrius the king, and to Attalus, and Ariathes, and Arsaces, and to all the countries, and to Sampsames, and to the Spartans, and to Delos, and to Mindos, and to Sycon, and to Caria, and to Samos, and to Pamphylia, and to Lycia, and to Heliconassus, and to Rhodes, and to Phasaelis, and to Kos, and to Cyde, and to Eridas, and Gortynaus and to Rhodes and to Phasaeles and to Kos and to Sidie and to Eridas and Gortyna and Senudus and to Cyprus and Cyrene. They also sent a copy of these things to Simon the high

priest. Antiochus VII threatens Simon. Antiochus the king besieged Dor-Anu, continually throwing his forces against it and making engines of war. And he shut Trifo up and kept him from going out or in. And Simon sent to Antiochus two thousand picked men to fight for him and silver and gold and much military equipment. But he refused to receive them, and he broke all the agreements he formerly had made with Simon and became estranged from him. He sent him to Athenobius, one of his friends, to confer with him, saying, estranged from him. He sent him to Athenobias, one of his friends, to confer with him, saying, You hold control of Joppa and Gezerah, and the citadel in Jerusalem. They are cities of my kingdom. You have devastated their territory, you have done great damage in the land, and you have

taken possession of many places in my kingdom. Now then, hand over the cities which you have seized, and the tribute money of the places which you have conquered outside the borders of Judea, or else give me for them five hundred talents of silver, and for the destruction that you have seized and the tribute money of the places which you have conquered outside the borders of Judea, or else give me for them five hundred talents of silver and for the destruction that you have caused and the tribute money of the cities five hundred talents more. Otherwise, we will come and conquer you. So Athenobius, the friend of the king, came to Jerusalem, and when he saw the splendor of Simon and the sideboard with its gold and silver plate and his great magnificence, he was amazed. He reported to him the words of the king.

But Simon gave him this reply. We have neither taken foreign land nor seized foreign property, but only the inheritance of our fathers, which at one time had been unjustly taken by our enemies. Now that we have taken opportunity, we are firmly holding the inheritance of our fathers. As for Joppa and Gazara, which you demand, they were causing great damage among the people and to

our land. For them, we will give you a hundred talents. Athenobius did not answer him a word, but returned in wrath to the king and reported to him these words and the splendor of Simon and all that he had seen. And the king was greatly angered. Victory over Sendebius Now Trifo embarked on a ship and escaped to Orthosia. Then the king made Sendebius commander-in-chief of the coastal country and gave him troops of infantry and cavalry. He commanded him to encamp against Judea

and commanded him to build up Kedron and fortify its gates and to make war on the people. But the king pursued Trifo. So Sendebius came to Jamnia and began to provoke the people and invade Judea and take the people captive and kill them. He built up Kedron and stationed their horsemen and troops so that they might go out and make raids along the highways of Judea as the king had ordered him. The Book of Sirach, Chapter 36. A prayer for God's people, wise sayings. foreign nations and let them see your might. As in us you have been sanctified before them,

so in them may you be magnified before us. And let them know you as we have known, that there is no God but you, O Lord. Show signs anew and work further wonders. Make your hand and your right arm glorious. Rouse your anger and pour out your wrath. Destroy the adversary and wipe out the enemy. Hasten the day, and remember the appointed time, and let people recount your mighty deeds. Let him who survives be consumed in the fiery wrath, and may those who harm your people meet destruction. Crush the heads of the rulers of the enemy, who say, There is no one but ourselves. Gather all the tribes of Jacob, and give them their inheritance as at the beginning. Have mercy, O Lord, upon the people called by your name, upon Israel, whom you have likened to a firstborn son.

Have pity on the city of your sanctuary, Jerusalem, the place of your rest. Fill Zion with the celebration of your wondrous deeds and your temple with your glory. Bear witness to those whom you created in the beginning and fulfill the prophecies spoken in your name. Reward those who wait for you and let your prophets be found trustworthy. Listen, O Lord, to the prayer of your servants, according to the blessing of Aaron for your people, and direct us in the way of righteousness, and all who are on the earth will know that you are the Lord, the God of the ages. The stomach will take any food, yet one food is better than another.

As the palate tastes the kinds of game, so an intelligent mind detects false words. A perverse mind will cause grief, but a man of experience will pay him back. A woman will accept any man, but one daughter is better than another. A woman's beauty gladdens the countenance and surpasses every human desire. If kindness and humility mark her speech, her husband is not like other men. He who acquires a wife gets his best possession, a helper fit for him, and a pillar of support. Where there is no fence, the property will be plundered. And where there is no wife, a man will wander about and sigh. And where there is no wife, a man will wander about and sigh. For who will trust a nimble robber that skips from city to city?

So who will trust a man that has no home and lodges wherever night finds him? Chapter 37. Concerning good counsel, reason, and moderation. Every friend will say, I too am a friend. But some friends are friends only in name. Is it not a grief to the death when a companion and friend turns to enmity? O evil imagination, why were you formed to cover the land with deceit? Some companions rejoice in the happiness of a friend, but in time of trouble are against him.

Some companions help a friend for their stomach's sake and in the face of battle take up the shield. Do not forget a friend in your heart and be not unmindful of him in your wealth. Every counselor praises counsel, but some give counsel in their own interest. Be wary of a counselor and learn first what is his interest, for he will take thought for himself lest he cast the lot against you and tell you your way is good and then stand aloof to see what will happen to you. Do not consult with one who looks at you suspiciously. Hide your counsel from those who are jealous of you. Do not consult with a woman about her rival or with a coward about war,

with a merchant about barter or with a buyer about selling, with a grudging man about gratitude, or with a merciless man about kindness, with an idler about any work, or with a man hired for a year about completing his work, with a lazy servant about a big task. Pay no attention to these in any matter of counsel, but stay constantly with a godly man, whom you know to be a keeper of the commandments, whose soul is in accord with your soul and who will sorrow with you if you fail. And establish the counsel of your own heart, for no one is more faithful to you than it is. For a man's soul sometimes keeps him better informed than seven watchmen sitting high on a watchtower. And besides all this, pray to the Most High that he may direct your way in truth.

Reason is the beginning of every work, and counsel precedes every undertaking. As a clue to changes of heart, four turns of fortune appear, good and evil, life and death. And it is the tongue that continually rules them. A man may be shrewd and the teacher of many, and yet be unprofitable to himself. A man skilled in words may be hated, yet he will be destitute of all food. For grace was not given him by the Lord, since he is lacking in all wisdom. A man may be wise to his own advantage, and the fruits of his understanding may be trustworthy on his lips. A wise man will instruct his own people, and the fruits of his understanding will be trustworthy. A wise man will have praise heaped upon him,

and all who see him will call him happy. The life of a man is numbered by days, but the days of Israel are without number. He who is wise among his people will inherit confidence and his name will live forever. My son, test your soul while you live. See what is bad for it and do not give it that. For not everything is good for everyone and not every person enjoys everything. Do not have an insatiable appetite for any luxury and do not give yourself up to food for overeating brings sickness and gluttony leads to nausea. up to food, for overeating brings sickness, and gluttony leads to nausea. Many have died of gluttony, but he who is careful to avoid it prolongs his life. The book of Proverbs chapter 23 verses 26 through 28. My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes observe my ways. For a harlot is a deep pit, an adventurous is a narrow well. She lies in wait like a robber and increases the faithless among men.

Father in heaven, we give you praise. Thank you so much once again for your word. Thank you for Jesus Christ, your son of God, the word made flesh that dwells among us and has dwelt among us and has sent us your spirit. Help us to live by the spirit. Help us to listen to your word and help us to be formed by what we hear. Help us to live by what we hear. Help us to do your will on everything. Gosh, thank you, Father.

In your name, in the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen. In the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen. So we're coming to a conclusion, essentially, of the first book of Maccabees, where your name, in the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen. In the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen. So we're coming to a conclusion, essentially, of the first book of Maccabees. We're, again, still battling. Here's Antiochus, here's Numenius, here's Lucius, here's Trifo, King Ptolemy, all these folks, as well as Simon, right? We had Judas and Jonathan, and now Simon. We're going to be introduced to John, who's Simon's son. But Simon's been, he's been a pretty good leader.

And this recognition of Judas was, was a great fighter and Jonathan was a great fighter. And here's Simon who knows how to lead yet. There's all this drama. This Simon's a great leader, but all this, this drama where people are fighting. In fact, not only this, you, you have Antiochus who essentially says that, um, this is now my land. I want my land back and, uh and give it to me at this price. And Simon's response is really good because he appeals to the fact that actually before this land was conquered by

the Assyrians, before this land was conquered by the Babylonians, it was our land. And so we're not taking it from you. We're taking it from those other countries that took it from us. And gosh, isn't this kind of the way of the world? It's like, who does this belong to? This reality basically extends all the way down to 2021 or 2022. Whenever we are right now, this is the battle. This land was given to the Jews by the Lord God. And those of us who believe in the covenant, those of us who believe in the promises of God to Abraham, recognize that, yeah, there is something divine about this. There's something about the claim that the people of Israel have to Israel. And that's a remarkable thing. But this was the history a couple hundred

years before Jesus. And we're going to have one more chapter left in the first book of Maccabees. And then what we're going to do is we're going to take another lap and we're going to look at what happened, not just from the macro perspective of here are all the battles and here is all the conflicts, essentially. And here's the rise and fall of other kings. We're going to look kind of more on the ground. And it's still going to be conflicts with kings and whatnot, obviously. But on the ground, what were people doing? How are they choosing faithfulness over faithlessness?

How are they choosing God over being false to God? And so we're going to look at that the day after tomorrow. but we'll conclude the first book of Maccabees tomorrow with the conclusion of the story. But we go back to Sirach and there's, gosh, you know, hopefully for you all, for all of us, this journey through Sirach has been a journey of just, again, accumulating wisdom and accumulating, gaining a perspective from the Lord when it comes to, okay, here's what's my next step. You know, for example, in chapter 37, there's this, once again, revisiting what a good friend is. Every friend will say, I too am a friend, but some friends are friends only in name.

And it asks the question, is it not a grief to the death when a companion and friend turns to enmity? They're so true. I love this. This is verse seven in chapter 37. Every counselor praises counsel, but some give counsel in their own interest and be wary of a counselor. That's just wise. In fact, earlier on in the book of Sirach, we heard that test a friend. Whenever someone presents themselves to be your friend, test them first. And that can seem kind of cynical on our part, but it's not. It's wise. And so the same thing with a counselor. He's going to tell you

your way is good and then stand aloof to see what happens to you. But there's something even more, gosh, I just think something even more powerful than the testing of a friend, testing of a counselor is in chapter 37, verse 11. It says, do not consult with a woman about her rival or with a coward about war or with a merchant about barter or with a buyer about selling, with a grudging man about gratitude or with a merciless man about kindness.

And it goes on a couple more examples. That's a sense of like, here's a person who has demonstrated themselves not to have a clear sense of what is right or even how to do the right. So I'm not gonna ask someone who is grudging and can't get over grudges about, hey, how do you grow in gratitude? Because they might not actually have any wisdom when it comes to that.

I might not be able to consult a merchant about bartering because they're going to maybe not give me good advice. Or a lazy servant about a big task. Pay no attention to these in any matter of counsel, but stay constantly with a godly person, godly man, whom you know to be a keeper of the commandments, whose soul is in accord with your soul and who will sorrow with you if you fail. And then here is the kicker of the whole thing. And establish the counsel of your own heart, for no one is more faithful to you than it is. Establish the counsel of your own heart.

To learn your own heart, to learn my own heart is, I don't know, it's priceless. It is invaluable. The worth of knowing your own heart and to know like, what are the movements of my heart? How do I hear the Lord's voice? What are the wounds of my heart? What are the inclinations of my heart? Where are the holes, the gaps, the cracks in my heart? And where is my heart fortified? Where's my heart wise? Where's my heart foolish? So that we can be on guard in some areas and that we can be led in other areas. For no one is more faithful to you than it is. No one's more faithful than your own heart. For a man's soul sometimes keeps him better informed than seven watchmen sitting high in a watchtower. A man's soul sometimes keeps him better informed than seven watchmen sitting high in a watchtower.

A man's soul sometimes keeps him better informed than seven watchmen sitting on a high watchtower. And then he goes, besides all this, pray to the most high. Besides all this, pray to the most high God that he may direct your way in truth. And that's just such a, man, I'm so grateful. We only have a few more chapters. When I say a few more, I mean like, I don't know, 12 more chapters to go in the book of Sirach, but it has been a gift of a journey. So as for a lot of us, journeying through the book of Maccabees has been a gift. And I cannot wait to introduce you all to Second Maccabees, because I'm telling you, if you liked First Maccabees, hopefully you did, hopefully you have. Second Maccabees is just this,

it's a word that the kids use here on the campus is, it is juicy. It is full of goodness, like a juicy orange or something like that. With that image, it's the conclusion of our day today. Man, what an image to leave everyone with. I'm so sorry. But I'm grateful you're sticking around. I'm grateful to be back tomorrow, day 297, because we have more days to come. I'm praying for you. Please, please pray for me.

My name is Father Mike. I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God bless.