The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) - Day 300: Conversion of Heart (2023)

Episode Date: October 27, 2023

Fr. Mike provides context to the God-centered perspective of 2 Maccabees and compares it to the more secular perspective provided by 1 Maccabees. He challenges us to reflect on our days with the lens of 2 Maccabees - acknowledging God’s presence in each moment of our story. Additionally, Fr. Mike shares the miraculous conversion story of St. Mary of Egypt. Today’s readings are 2 Maccabees 3, Sirach 45-46, and Proverbs 24:10-12. 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. Guess what day it is? It is day 300. Take it in. Soak it in. You've reached day 300. There are, according to my mathematical skills, 65 days left and you've gotten this far. This is

incredible. Anyways, kudos to you. We're reading 2 Maccabees chapter 3, Sirach chapter 45 and 46, as well as Proverbs chapter 24 verses 10 through 12. 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-ear reading plan, and you would already have known that today is day 300, you can visit ascensionpress.com slash Bible in-ear. You can print it out. It's in color, and you can mark it off like I do with a blue marker. You can also subscribe to this podcast to receive daily episodes and daily updates on day 300, where we're reading 2nd book of Maccabees chapter 3, Sirach 45 and 46, Proverbs chapter 24, verses 10 through 12.

The second book of the Maccabees, chapter 3, arrival of Heliodorus in Jerusalem. While the holy city was inhabited in unbroken peace, and the laws were very well observed because of the piety of the high priest Onias and his hatred of wickedness, it came about that the kings themselves honored the place and glorified the temple with the finest presents, so that even Seleucus, the king of Asia, defrayed from his own revenues all the expenses connected with the service of the sacrifices. But a man named Simon of the tribe of Benjamin, who had been made captain of the sacrifices. But a man named Simon of the tribe of Benjamin, who had been made captain of the temple, had a disagreement with the high priest

about the administration of the city market. And when he could not prevail over Onias, he went to Apollonius of Tarsus, who at that time was governor of Coel Syria and Phoenicia. He reported to him that the treasury in Jerusalem was full of untold sums of money, so that the amount of the funds could not be reckoned and that they did, so that the amount of the funds could not be reckoned, and that they did not belong to the account of the sacrifices, but that it was possible for them to fall under the control of the king. When Apollonius met the king, he told him of the money about which he had been informed. The king chose Heliodorus, who was in charge of his affairs, and sent him with commands to effect the removal of the aforesaid money. Heliodorus

at once set out on his journey, ostensibly to make a tour of inspection of the aforesaid money. Heliodorus at once set out on his journey, ostensibly to make a tour of inspection of the cities that coiled Syria and Phoenicia, but in fact, to carry out the king's purpose. When he had arrived at Jerusalem, and had been kindly welcomed by the high priest of the city, he told about the disclosure that had been made, and stated why he had come, and he inquired whether this really was the situation.

The high priest explained that there were some deposits belonging to widows and orphans, and also some money of Hyrcanus, son of Tobias, a man of very prominent position, and that it totaled in all 400 talents of silver and 200 of gold. To such an extent, the impious Simon had misrepresented the facts.

And he said that it was utterly impossible that wrong should be done to those people who had trusted in the holiness of the place and in the sanctity and inviolability of the temple which is honored throughout the whole world. But Heliodorus, because of the king's commands which he had, said that this money must in any case be confiscated for the king's treasury. So he set a day and went in to direct the inspection of these funds. There was no little distress throughout the whole city. The priests prostrated themselves before the altar in their priestly garments and called toward heaven upon him who had given the law about deposits, that he should keep them safe for those who had deposited

them. To see the appearance of the high priest was to be wounded at heart, for his face and the change in his color disclosed the anguish of his soul. For terror and bodily trembling had come over the man, which plainly showed to those who looked at him the pain lodged in his heart. People also hurried out of their houses and crowds to make a general supplication because the holy place was about to be brought into contempt. Women, clothed with sackcloth under their breasts, thronged the streets. Some of the maidens who were kept indoors ran together to the gates and some to the walls while others peered out of the windows. And holding up their hands to heaven, they all made entreaty. There was something pitiable in the prostration of the whole populace and the anxiety of the high priest in his great anguish. The Lord protects his temple. While they were calling upon

the Almighty Lord that he would keep what had been entrusted safe and secure for those who had entrusted it, Heliodorus went on with what had been decided. But when he arrived at the treasury with his bodyguard, then and there the sovereign of spirits and of all authority caused so great a manifestation that all who had been so bold as to accompany him were astounded by the power of God and became faint with terror. For there appeared to them a magnificently caparisoned horse with a rider of frightening mane, and it rushed furiously at Heliodorus and struck at him with its front hooves. Its rider was seen to have armor and weapons of gold. Two young men also appeared to him, remarkably strong, gloriously beautiful, and splendidly dressed, who stood on

each side of him and scourged him continuously, inflicting many blows on him. When he suddenly fell to the ground and deep darkness came over him, his men took him up and put him on a stretcher and carried him away. This man, who had just entered the aforesaid treasury with a great retinue and all his bodyguard, but was now unable to help himself. And they recognized clearly the sovereign power of God. While he lay prostrate, speechless, because of the divine intervention and deprived of any hope of recovery, they praised the Lord who had acted marvelously for his own place. And the temple, which a little while before was full of fear and disturbance, was filled with joy and gladness now that the Almighty Lord had appeared.

Onias prays for Heliodorus. Quickly, some of Heliodorus' friends asked Onias to call upon the Most High and to grant life to one who was lying quite at his last breath. And the high priest, fearing that the king might get the notion that some foul play had been perpetrated by the Jews with regard to Heliodorus, offered sacrifice for the man's recovery. While the high priest was making the offering of atonement, the same young men appeared again to Heliodorus, dressed in the same clothing, and they stood and said, Be very grateful to Onias the high priest, since for his sake the Lord has granted you your life. And see that you, who have

been scourged by heaven, report to all men the majestic power of God. Having said this, they vanished. The Conversion of Heliodorus Then Heliodorus offered sacrifice to the Lord, and made very great vows to the Savior of his life, and having bidden Onias farewell, he marched off with his forces to the king, and he bore testimony to all men of the deeds of the supreme God, which he had seen with his own eyes. When the king asked Heliodorus what sort of person would be suitable to send on another mission to Jerusalem, he replied,

if you have any enemy or plotter against your government, send him there, for you will get him back thoroughly scourged if he escapes at all. For there certainly is about the place some power of God. For he who has his dwelling in heaven watches over that place himself and brings it aid, and he strikes and destroys those who come

to do it injury. This was the outcome of the episode of Heliodorus and the protection of the treasury. The Book of Sirach, Chapter 45. From his descendants the Lord brought forth a man of mercy, who found favor in the sight of all flesh, and was beloved by God and man, Moses, whose memory is blessed. He made him equal in glory to the holy ones, and made him great in the fears of his enemies. By his words he caused signs to cease. The Lord glorified him in the presence of kings. He gave him commands for his people, and showed him part of his glory. He sanctified him through faithfulness and meekness and chose him out of all mankind. He made him hear his voice and led him into the thick darkness and gave him the commandments

face to face, the law of life and knowledge to teach Jacob the covenant and Israel his judgments. He exalted Aaron, the brother of Moses, a holy man like him of the tribe of Levi. He made an everlasting covenant with him and gave him the priesthood of the people. He blessed him with splendid vestments and put a glorious robe upon him. He clothed him with superb perfection and strengthened him with the symbols of authority, the linen breeches, the long robe, and the ephod. And he encircled him with pomegranates, with very many golden bells round about, to send forth as a sound as he walked, to make the ringing heard in the temple

as a reminder to the sons of his people, with a holy garment, of gold and blue and purple, the work of an embroiderer, with the oracle of judgment, Urim and Thummim, with twisted scarlet, the work of a craftsman, with precious stones engraved like signets, in a setting of gold, the work of a jeweler. For a reminder, in engraved letters, according to the number of the tribes of Israel. With a gold crown upon his turban, inscribed like a signet with holiness.

A distinction to be prized, the work of an expert, the delight of the eyes richly adorned. Before his time, there never were such beautiful things. No outsider ever put them on, but only his sons and his descendants perpetually. His sacrifices shall be wholly burned twice every day continually. Moses ordained him and anointed him with holy oil. It was an everlasting covenant for him and for his descendants all the days of heaven to minister to the Lord and serve as priests and bless his people in his name. He chose him out of all the living to offer sacrifice to the Lord,

incense and a pleasing odor as a memorial portion to make atonement for the people. In his commandments, he gave him authority in statutes and judgments to teach Jacob the testimonies and to enlighten Israel with his law. Outsiders conspired against him and envied him in the wilderness, Dathan and Abiram and their men and the company of Korah in wrath and anger. The Lord saw it and was not pleased. And in the wrath of his anger they were destroyed. He wrought wonders against them to consume them in flaming fire. He added glory to Aaron and gave him a heritage. He allotted to him the first of the first fruits. He prepared bread of first fruits in abundance,

for they eat the sacrifices to the Lord, which he gave to him and his descendants. But in the land of the people he has no inheritance, and he has no portion among the people, for the Lord himself is his portion and inheritance. Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, is the third in glory, for he was zealous in the fear of the Lord and stood fast when the people turned away, in the ready goodness of his soul and made atonement for Israel. Therefore, a covenant of peace was established with him, that he should be leader of the sanctuary and of his people, that he and his descendants should have the dignity of the priesthood forever. A covenant was also established with David, the son of Jesse, of the tribe of Judah. The heritage of the king is from son to son only,

so the heritage of Aaron is for his descendants. May the Lord grant you wisdom in your heart to judge his people in righteousness, so that their prosperity may not vanish, and that their glory may endure throughout their generations. Chapter 46. Joshua, the son of Nun, was mighty in war, and was the successor of Moses in prophesying. He became, in accordance with his name, a great savior of God's elect, to take vengeance on the enemies that rose against them, so that he might give Israel its inheritance. How glorious he was when he lifted his hands and stretched out his sword against the cities! Who before him ever

stood so firm? For he waged the wars of the Lord. Was not the sun held back by his hand, and did not one day become as long as two? He called upon the Most High, the Mighty One, when enemies pressed him on every side, and the great Lord answered him with hailstones of mighty power. He hurled down war upon that nation. And at the descent of Beth-haron, he destroyed those who resisted, so that the nations might know his armament, that he was fighting in the sight of the Lord. For he wholly followed the Mighty One. And in the days of Moses, he did a loyal deed, he and Caleb, the son of Jephunneh. They withstood the congregation, restrained the people from sin, and stilled their wicked murmuring. And these two alone were preserved out of the six hundred thousand people on foot,

to bring them into their inheritance, into a land flowing with milk and honey. And the Lord gave Caleb strength, which remained with him to old age, so that he went up to the hill country and his children obtained it for an inheritance, so that all the sons of Israel might see that it is good to follow the Lord. The judges also, with their respective names, those whose hearts did not fall into idolatry and who did not turn away from the Lord, may their memory be blessed. May their bones revive from where they lie, and may the name of those who have been honored live again in their sons. Samuel, beloved by his Lord, a prophet of the Lord, established the kingdom

and anointed rulers over his people. By the law of the Lord, he judged the congregation, and the Lord watched over Jacob. By his faithfulness, he was proved to be a prophet, and by his words he became known as a trustworthy seer. He called upon the Lord, the Mighty One, when his enemies pressed him on every side, and he offered in sacrifice a sucking lamb. Then the Lord thundered from heaven, and made his voice heard with a mighty sound, and he wiped out the leaders of the people of Tyre and all the rulers of the Philistines. Before the time of his eternal sleep, Samuel called men to witness before the Lord and his anointed. I have not taken anyone's property, not so much as a pair of shoes.

And no man accused him. Even after he had fallen asleep, he prophesied and revealed to the king his death and lifted up his voice out of the earth in prophecy to blot out the wickedness of the people. The book of Proverbs chapter chapter 24, verses 10 through 12. say, behold, we did not know this. Does not he who weighs at the heart perceive it? Does not he who keeps watch over your soul know it? And will he not repay man according to his work? Father in heaven, we give you praise. Thank you, God. Thank you so much. Gosh, Lord, God, you are present always. And sometimes we can see your work and sometimes we can't. Sometimes we can see your presence in your action and sometimes we can't. And so just please, Lord God, today, give us the grace. Give us the grace to be able to see that even when you're hidden, you're still present. And even when it can, like we prayed before, when it seems like you're not doing anything, that you are always active. And so we praise your name.

Help us to have eyes to see, but even when we don't see, help us to have the heart that trusts. Help us to have a heart that trusts even when we don't see. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Okay, gosh, you guys, day 300, so good. Okay, did I not say that 2 Maccabees is massively different than 1 Maccabees, as we expected that to be the case? They're kind of telling two different sides of the story. And ah, it's so good. These first three chapters already, you guys, they're going to get better and better.

Because as we said, in the first book of Maccabees, it is just telling the story from kind of a, I don't want to say secular point of view, but the point of view that doesn't necessarily acknowledge the fact that God is active and present in all these things versus second Maccabees, that is making it absolutely clear that God is completely active in all of this. And so we have, right, the story, here's Onias, the high priest, who was, he was holy. He was good. He did a lot of good things. And yet there's this man, Simon of the tribe of Benjamin, who'd been made a captain of the temple, had disagreement with Onias about the administration of stuff. And so basically he, oh gosh, just think about the ways in which this happens to us.

There's some kind of argument, some kind of disagreement. And someone says, you know what? If I can take this person down in any way, shape or form, I'm going to take them down. And that's what Simon of the tribe of Benjamin tries to do. He goes to Apollonius of Tarsus, who was the governor of the whole area of Kuala Siria and Phoenicia, and basically says, yeah, you know, the temple has a bunch of money that they're not giving to the king because the king Seleucus had defrayed costs and all these kinds of things. And so he says, let's send Heliodorus because Apollonius goes to the

king and says, actually, they've got all this money. So he sends Heliodorus with a command to bring back money. Onias meets him and says, yeah, we don't have a ton of money. We're actually the temple treasury that is not dedicated to the Lord. That is for the well-being. Basically, they're the bank saying, we're keeping this kind of money for widows and orphans. And there's a couple of people here like, um, Horkanus, son of Tobias. He's got some money here too, but we're holding it in trust for him in that we can't just give it away because he gave it to us, trusting us that we care for it. And this money goes to widows and orphans. We can't just give it away to the King because it goes to take care of the people who are disadvantaged here, the people who are needing this. And so there's all this distress and it's just incredible because what it shows, again,

we didn't get this in first Maccabees, but what it shows is the people then go to the temple, they prostrate themselves before the Lord and they're weeping, they're wailing. Even, you know, says women coming out, even young maidens come out, even if they have to keep indoors, they're, they're going to the windows and they're praying towards the temple to that God hears their prayer. And here's the thing he does. He actually hears their prayer and the Lord protects his temple. So what happens? Heliodorus is there and he has this massive vision and the vision actually beats him up and he is in danger of death. And then, you know, of course, Onias offers the sacrifice and the same vision returns to him and says, listen, buddy, you better praise the Lord. You better thank Onias because he interceded on your behalf and now you'll be healed essentially. And so then Heliodorus has a

conversion. Heliodorus basically says, I worship no God, but the God alone, more or less. I'm paraphrasing, obviously. Now we can hear this and we can say, that's amazing. We heard the story in first Maccabees, not this particular story, but we heard stories in first Maccabees that didn't involve God do anything miraculous, just involved people like Judas Maccabeus going to battle and his brothers going to battle. We didn't necessarily see, here's the Lord fighting for his people. And so part of us can realize this is how we do this. Sometimes we look at our lives and we look at them like first Maccabees. Here's just the details. I'm looking at this with a worldview that simply says, yep, this would

happen today, but we're called to look at our lives through the vision of second Maccabees, where we say, God, this is my day. Yep. This is what happened in the course of this day. Where were you? Where were your, were your, your small moments of grace? Because every single one of us has these moments of grace every single day of our lives. Now, maybe not big, massive visions, but there could be small promptings of grace where the Lord respects our free will and he nudges us this way or nudges us away. And if we might be in danger of saying, does God really do that? I mean, here's Heliodorus.

Does God really have those kinds of big moments? And we have to say, absolutely. In fact, I know there are people in this community, the Bible in the Year community. This has been part of your experience. Part of your experience has been the Lord has given you an unmistakable sign. Here's, you know, St. Paul or, you know, Saul. He's on the way to persecute Christians. And on the way there, Jesus appears to him and

stops him from doing this, essentially. There's a story that is just so incredible. There's a saint named St. Mary of Egypt. And the story of St. Mary of Egypt, just to be really, really brief, is at one point, Mary was a prostitute. And the reason why she was a prostitute, and she even says this in her own biography, in her own words, essentially, she says, there are some people who enter into prostitution because they're forced into it. Some because they're desperate. Some are forced into it against their will. And we all know, right, the reality of sex trade, sex slavery kind of thing. But Mary of Egypt, she said that I did it because I enjoyed it. And she said, I was bound by this. And at one point, Mary of Egypt, she decided to go on a

pilgrimage to Jerusalem, to the Holy Land. And you think, that's crazy. Why would you do this? She just kind of had an impulse to want, she wanted to go and visit Israel. She wanted to visit Jerusalem. And so this is, it gets really dark. It's already dark, but it gets even darker. So she joins up with a group of pilgrims who are leaving from wherever she lived in Egypt. And, uh, I think it was Egypt and she goes to Jerusalem. She pays her way on this pilgrimage by prostituting herself to other pilgrims, which, as I said, it gets dark because we realize you would think, wait a second, you're on a pilgrimage to go to the Holy Land for crying out loud. How is this even that happens?

And in this case, you would say, you know, broken people take pilgrimages, broken people take retreats, broken people pray on a daily basis. And some of that brokenness remains broken. I remember when I read that, I thought, oh my gosh, really? That is, it just so? It broke my heart to realize that. But here's Mary. She finally gets to Jerusalem and she's going to walk into the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, if you ever get to Jerusalem, it's a big church built over the spot of Golgotha where Jesus was crucified and over the tomb. So

it's this massive church because between Golgotha and the tomb, you could throw a rock. I mean, people can. I'm not a very good throw, but other people could throw a rock from Golgotha to where the tomb is. It's not that far apart. So there's this big church built over the tomb and over Golgotha, Calvary. Mary tries to walk in to the Holy Sepulcher and she's prevented. She can't actually walk into the church. She's physically prevented.

It's kind of like Heliodorus here. He's walking into the temple and he's going to seize the property. And what happens is the Lord God stops him. The Lord God stopped Mary because it was one of those things of she was going to continue on her way. She was bound by this sin. This was, you know, as I said, it wasn't a thing she was forced into. It wasn't something she was desperate to do.

It was something that she herself was bound by. She said it, she was bound by lust and that had to hold on her. And she was prevented from going in. And she began, she realized, oh my gosh, for the first time ever, she realized this is what my sin has done to me. This is what I've done to myself in this, in choosing this sin over and over and over again. I've made it, access to God has been made impossible for me. I no longer have access to the Lord. So she, it broke her heart and she begins weeping because she realizes I'm on the outside. And if I die like this, I will die on the outside. I will spend my entire eternity away from God. And what does she do? She, there was this, I think there was this image of our lady, this image of Mary, the

mother of God, mother of Jesus. And, and she saw it and she said, Mary, Mary, please pray for me. Intercede for me with your son, Jesus. Intercede for me with the father in heaven. And, um, and she had a conversion right there. She had this massive moment where, uh, her heart was broken by the mercy of Jesus Christ through this intercession of Our Lady. And she went to confession and she was reconciled to the Lord. She was reconciled to the church

and she spent the rest of her life in the desert, which is why she's named Mary of Egypt. That's why I can't remember where she originally came from. I should have looked it up, but she spent the rest of her life doing penance in the wilderness, doing penance in the desert in Egypt. And at one point, there was a priest who was in the wilderness, living in retreat, essentially. And he came upon this woman, Mary, and she told him her story. And that's how we have the story of Mary of Egypt, Saint Mary of Egypt, because the Lord interceded and intervened on her behalf in a miraculous way, just like the Lord interceded and intervened on her behalf in a miraculous way, just like the Lord interceded against Heliodorus for his sake, but also for the sake of the people. I hope that makes sense.

You know, what a gift. Also last little gift in Sirach chapters 45 and 46. Also, we started before in verse 44. We're going to keep going in 48 and following. We have the story of these people that we all, we know their stories. We know the story of Samuel. We know the story of Aaron. We know the story of Moses. And it's great to hear Sirach recover, recovering over, recovering? Sirach talking once again about these incredible people of faith, because now we know their stories.

We've been listening to the word of God for 300 days, and we know who these people are and what a gift it is for us and for everyone who gets to hear and read the word of God that we get to know our inheritance, our patrimony is this story. And so, gosh, what a gift. Anyways, the long story about St. Mary of Egypt. Hopefully it blessed you today because what God has done for her and what God has done for Heliodorus and what God has done for so many people, Saul, now St. Paul, he wants to do for you and for me. We have some things maybe we're holding on to that make it so we can't have access to

the Father's heart or we can't have access to the temple. Obviously, parenthetically, we always have access because if you've been baptized, you may need God's adopted sons and daughters, but there might be some things we're holding on to that are preventing us from getting close to the Father. And so what do we do? We appeal to Jesus' name. We actually can pray. We can ask for our brothers and sisters to pray for us.

We can ask for Mary, who was given to us from the cross, as our mom, we can ask her to pray for us. And we can pray for each other, that we have access to the Father. I know that I am praying for you. Please pray for me. My name is Father Mike. I cannot wait to see you tomorrow.

God bless.