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2 Maccabees 12:39-41
New Catholic Bible
2 Maccabees 12:39-41
New Catholic Bible
39 The Sacrifice for the Dead.[a] On the following day, since the need had now become urgent, Judas and his men went to collect the bodies of those who had fallen and to bury them with their kindred in their ancestral tombs. 40 However, under the tunic of each of the dead, they found amulets that were sacred to the idols of Jamnia, which the law forbids the Jews to wear. Thus it was clear to everyone that this was the reason that these men had been slain. 41 And so they all praised the acts of the Lord, the just judge who reveals things that are hidden,
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- 2 Maccabees 12:39 Judas has a sacrifice of expiation celebrated that God may pardon the sins of the dead. From the viewpoint of the faith, this passage is of great importance. First of all, it bears witness in an explicit manner to belief in the resurrection of the dead. Secondly, it gives weight to the conviction of the Church concerning a purification after death, that is, during that provisional condition in which the deceased—before living fully in God—expiate their sins and can be aided by the prayer of the living. Thirdly, the passage also offers testimony on behalf of the communion of saints, that is, that spiritual exchange that unites all the faithful with one another.
