Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, Religious
Monday of week 33 in Ordinary Time
Reading: 1 Maccabees 1:10-15, 41-43, 54-57, 62-63 41-43. 54-57. The reading from Maccabees presents a stark and heroic witness: there were men and women who preferred to die rather than profane the holy covenant. Their courage exposes the depth of fidelity that true faith demands, a fidelity that does not bend to pressure, convenience, or cultural trends. They knew that the covenant was not merely a set of rules, but their very relationship with God, the treasure of their identity. Saint Elizabeth of Hungary embodies this same unwavering devotion in a very different way: not through martyrdom, but through a life of radical charity, humility, and fidelity to the Gospel amid the temptations of wealth and privilege. Both the martyrs of Maccabees and Saint Elizabeth remind us that holiness often requires costly choices, choices that protect the sacred space of our relationship with God from anything that would dilute or dishonor it. Fidelity is not dramatic heroism alone; it is the daily willingness to choose God over compromise, love over indifference, truth over comfort. Let’s reflect: Do I value my relationship with God so deeply that I choose fidelity over convenience, even when the cost feels high?
Don Giorgio