A reading from the second book of Maccabees
Judas the ruler of Israel
then took up a collection among all his soldiers,
amounting to two thousand silver drachmas,
which he sent to Jerusalem
to provide for an expiatory sacrifice.
In doing this he acted in a very excellent and noble way,
inasmuch as he had the resurrection of the dead in view;
for if he were not expecting the fallen to rise again,
it would have been useless and foolish
to pray for them in death.
But if he did this
with a view to the splendid reward
that awaits those who had gone to rest in godliness,
it was a holy and pious thought.
Thus he made atonement for the dead
that they might be freed from this sin.
The word of The Lord