Hello,

Though not considered Sacred Scripture, It is considered historical, the Maccabee’s was/ in the Septuagint, copied into the Greek between 350 to 200 b.c. and was read by Greek speaking Jews, Jesus never said not to listen to the teachings of the Temple Priests or In the synagogues of his day or past, and never did forbid reading any of the known scriptures.

The Septuagint was Paul’s Bible!

So we find Jesus’ Jewish predecessors making:

Expiation for the Dead.
2 Macc 12:
38
Judas rallied his army and went to the city of Adullam. As the seventh day was approaching, they purified themselves according to custom and kept the sabbath there.
39
On the following day, since the task had now become urgent, Judas and his companions went to gather up the bodies of the fallen and bury them with their kindred in their ancestral tombs.
40
But under the tunic of each of the dead they found amulets sacred to the idols of Jamnia, which the law forbids the Jews to wear. So it was clear to all that this was why these men had fallen.f
41
They all therefore praised the ways of the Lord, the just judge who brings to light the things that are hidden.
42
* Turning to supplication, they prayed that the sinful deed might be fully blotted out. The noble Judas exhorted the people to keep themselves free from sin, for they had seen with their own eyes what had happened because of the sin of those who had fallen.g
43
He 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 in mind;
44
for if he were not expecting the fallen to rise again, it would have been superfluous and foolish to pray for the dead.
45
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.
46
Thus he made atonement for the dead that they might be absolved from their sin.

The easiest way to turn from catholic teachings is to throw the book that have precedence to Catholic teachings.

the Maccabees believed that expiation could be made for certain sins of otherwise ‘good’ men – soldiers who had given their lives for God’s cause. Thus they could share in the resurrection .

If they’re in heaven they don’t need our prayers, if they’re in hell there is nothing our prayers can do for them!

Catholics believe that there is a middle ground in which our prayers and personal sacrifice do help, we call it purgatory.

2 Macc was included in the early KJV’s, it was left out for no other reason but to print bible’s smaller and less expensive!

The Jews still to this day pray for their dead for 11 months after their departed die.

Jesus says “I hold the keys to death and the netherworld [sheol]” (Revelations 1:18 – sheol in Greek is hades). Jesus is not holding the keys to something that no longer exists, but to something that still exists. But if it still exists, what is it for? Do any souls still go to sheol even after Jesus’ resurrection? If so, are any of these souls righteous?

Early Christian inscriptions on Catacomb walls to include “A prayer here and there for the dead: ‘May God refresh thy spirit'” (Hislop, The Two Babylons, 8, note).

St. John Chrysostom: Offerings for the Faithful Departed
“Let us help and commemorate them. If Job’s sons were purified by their father’s sacrifice (Job 1:5), why would we doubt that our offerings for the dead bring them some consolation? Let us not hesitate to help those who have died and to offer our prayers for them.

God bless,
John