Faithful and brave mothers are awe inspiring!

November 19, 2025 Wednesday of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time
Daily Readings: 2 Maccabees 7:1, 20-31; Luke 19:11-28

The time of Hellenistic persecution continues. A faithful and brave mother is arrested together with her seven sons. They were tortured with whips and thongs in the process of persuading them to partake of unlawful swine’s flesh. The author of the book of Maccabees describes this mother as admirable and worthy of honourable memory. She is known for her good courage, her hope in the Lord. She is possessed with a noble spirit. She lost six of her sons one by one to most gruesome death. We truly admire the language of faith of the mother coupled with a woman’s reasoning and a man’s courage. She educates her youngest son, “I do not know how you came into being in my womb. It was not I who gave you life and breath, nor I who set in order the elements within each of you”. Thus she teaches her son that God is the creator of the world. He shaped the entire humanity. It is to Him we owe our being. It is in Him that we live and move. The words of King Antiochus filled with empty promises and oaths did not mean anything at all to the boy. The words of his mother inspired him to tread the path of his brothers courageously and attain martyrdom. 

The Gospel Reading of the day presents the parable of the ten pounds or minas. Through this parable, Jesus teaches that the believers have to learn to use God-given gifts such as time, life, word of God and the like responsibly and without fear, complacency and procrastination. The master or the noble man in the parable is Jesus. His return is likened to Parousia or the Second Coming of Jesus. We are accountable to everything that God has bestowed upon us. The ones who faithfully put their money to work multiplied and reaped a great harvest. They are capable of more and more. It is a reward for faithfulness and hard work. One has to learn not to compare the gifts with others. Every individual is precious. The servant who hid his talent in a napkin represents those people who find fault with others not realizing their own. They judge others without any consideration. 

Call to Action: We are called to receive the gifts of God with both hands gleefully and multiply them for the welfare of the Church. Justice is done when we are able to share them with others.