20211124 AN OPPORTUNITY TO WITNESS
24 November, 2021, Wednesday, 34th Week, Ordinary Time
First reading |
Daniel 5:1-6,13-14,16-17,23-28 © |
The writing on the wall
King Belshazzar gave a great banquet for his noblemen; a thousand of them attended, and he drank wine in company with this thousand. As he sipped his wine, Belshazzar gave orders for the gold and silver vessels to be brought which his father Nebuchadnezzar had looted from the sanctuary in Jerusalem, so that the king, his noblemen, his wives and his singing women could drink out of them. The gold and silver vessels looted from the sanctuary of the Temple of God in Jerusalem were brought in, and the king, his noblemen, his wives and his singing women drank out of them. They drank their wine and praised their gods of gold and silver, of bronze and iron, of wood and stone. Suddenly the fingers of a human hand appeared, and began to write on the plaster of the palace wall, directly behind the lamp-stand; and the king could see the hand as it wrote. The king turned pale with alarm: his thigh-joints went slack and his knees began to knock.
Daniel was brought into the king’s presence; the king said to Daniel, ‘Are you the Daniel who was one of the Judaean exiles brought by my father the king from Judah? I am told that the spirit of God Most Holy lives in you, and that you are known for your perception, intelligence and marvellous wisdom. As I am told that you are able to give interpretations and to unravel difficult problems, if you can read the writing and tell me what it means, you shall be dressed in purple, and have a chain of gold put round your neck, and be third in rank in the kingdom.’
Then Daniel spoke up in the presence of the king. ‘Keep your gifts for yourself,’ he said ‘and give your rewards to others. I will read the writing to the king without them, and tell him what it means. You have defied the Lord of heaven, you have had the vessels from his Temple brought to you, and you, your noblemen, your wives and your singing women have drunk your wine out of them. You have praised gods of gold and silver, of bronze and iron, of wood and stone, which cannot either see, hear or understand; but you have given no glory to the God who holds your breath and all your fortunes in his hands. That is why he has sent the hand which, by itself, has written these words. The writing reads: Mene, Mene, Tekel and Parsin. The meaning of the words is this: Mene: God has measured your sovereignty and put an end to it; Tekel: you have been weighed in the balance and found wanting; Parsin: your kingdom has been divided and given to the Medes and the Persians.’
Responsorial Psalm | Daniel 3:62-67 © |
Sun and moon! bless the Lord.
Give glory and eternal praise to him!
Stars of heaven! bless the Lord.
Give glory and eternal praise to him!
Showers and dews! all bless the Lord.
Give glory and eternal praise to him!
Winds! all bless the Lord.
Give glory and eternal praise to him!
Fire and heat! bless the Lord.
Give glory and eternal praise to him!
Cold and heat! bless the Lord.
Give glory and eternal praise to him!
Gospel Acclamation | Lk21:36 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Stay awake, praying at all times
for the strength to stand with confidence
before the Son of Man.
Alleluia!
Or: | Rv2:10 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Even if you have to die, says the Lord,
keep faithful, and I will give you
the crown of life.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Luke 21:12-19 © |
Your endurance will win you your lives
Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Men will seize you and persecute you; they will hand you over to the synagogues and to imprisonment, and bring you before kings and governors because of my name – and that will be your opportunity to bear witness. Keep this carefully in mind: you are not to prepare your defence, because I myself shall give you an eloquence and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to resist or contradict. You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, relations and friends; and some of you will be put to death. You will be hated by all men on account of my name, but not a hair of your head will be lost. Your endurance will win you your lives.’
AN OPPORTUNITY TO WITNESS
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [Dn 5:1-6, 13-14, 16-17, 23-28; Dn 3:62-67; Lk 21:12-19]
In the work of evangelization, some of us are waiting for the right opportunity to witness. We are waiting for the right time. Some say that they will start getting involved in the Church when they have accumulated enough savings for their retirement years. Some wait for their children to grow up before they give more time to the Church. Some are even waiting for their grandchildren to grow up before they would consider giving some time to the Church and the gospel. We all have our reasons and excuses to delay in giving our life to Christ and to the spread of the gospel.
Yet, the best opportunity to witness is not when the conditions are right, when things are doing well, when we are living in comfort and security. The most impactful time to witness to Christ is when we are going through difficult times, challenging situations and even persecution. This is the real moment of test in determining whether our faith in Christ is mere lip service or a real conviction of the heart. The worth of the person is measured by the way he handles the challenges, sufferings and opposition from his enemies and detractors. Jesus said to His disciples, “Men will seize you and persecute you; they will hand you over to the synagogues and to imprisonment, and bring you before kings and governors because of my name – and that will be your opportunity to bear witness.” Indeed, earlier on, as also in today’s gospel, the Lord did not mince His words when He said that the disciples will face great trials and tribulations, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and plagues; and there will be dreadful portents and great signs from heaven.” (Lk 21:10f)
We would think that such negative happenings work against us and our faith. On the contrary, Jesus made it clear that such natural and historical events would be opportunities for us to vouch for Him and for His Father. We should not be surprised that as Christians, we would have to go through all these trials in life. Jesus had already warned His disciples many times that “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.” (Mt 16:24f) The way to the resurrection always goes through the cross. We must be wary of those Christians that preach Christianity as the way to acquire comfort, riches, wealth and every form of earthly blessings. No true Christian can be too wealthy because if they are truly wealthy, they will become poorer when they start sharing their blessings with those who are without even the basic needs of life. A Christian is truly rich only when he gives his wealth away to enrich others who are poor.
We must therefore make use of these tragic events in our lives as opportunities to bear witness to Christ. Natural disasters such as pandemic, earthquakes, drought, typhoons and flooding are opportunities for us to stand with those who are suffering even if we are among those who are victims as well. When we reach out to these desperate people who are injured, hungry and without shelter, they will see the compassion and mercy of Christ in us. When we are dealing with human selfishness manifested in civil disorder, wars and terrorist activities, we are called to be peacemakers, and when we are victims, to forgive and to heal others with the wounds we are carrying ourselves. When we are like Jesus and Mary, able to forgive our enemies and pray for them, we transcend evil, selfishness and revenge. We should ourselves to be truly Christ-like, like St Stephen. Our non-retaliatory reaction will one day touch and move the hearts of evil people who have committed all kinds of atrocities against humanity. This is equally true when we are persecuted for our faith. Jesus reminds us to use these opportunities to bear witness to His name, which was what the early Church did when the apostles were arrested and brought before the Sanhedrin, or Paul before governors and kings.
This is the irony of the Christian Faith. The Church grows through trials, suffering, scandals and opposition. Indeed, in the early Church, as recounted in the Acts of the Apostles from chapter 3 onwards, we read that the apostles and the disciples of Jesus were arrested, put in prison and flogged. St Paul recounted all his trials in his missionary journeys. “Five times I have received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I received a stoning. Three times I was shipwrecked; for a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from bandits, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers and sisters; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, hungry and thirsty, often without food, cold and naked. And, besides other things, I am under daily pressure because of my anxiety for all the churches.” (2 Cor 11:24-28) Because of his suffering with Christ, the faith was spread to the whole world.
The truth is that complacency due to affluence is what hinders the work of evangelization. When we study the history of the Church, we will come to realize that when she was poor and under persecution, the faith of the people remained strong and there were many conversions. But when the Church became an established Church, especially in the Middle Ages, the Church, clergy and laity fell into moral decadence. When the Church enjoys political and religious power, very soon, we forget our humble beginnings. We take pride in our achievements, in our wealth, in our power to influence the great and mighty. We become too sure of ourselves and instead of relying on God, we rely on our ingenuity. This is also what is happening in our time. Established churches that are wealthy and powerful tend to succumb to the temptations of the world, be identified with worldly powers and achievements. We share in the luxuries of the world and their pleasures. Very soon, we forget about the poor, the suffering and marginalized. Living like Dives the rich man, we become oblivious to the suffering, the privation and injustices that many people are going through. As Pope Francis said many times, even our clergy and religious are not exempted from spiritual worldliness; clinging to power, honour, a life of luxury. We have become proud and arrogant.
This was what happened to King Belshazzar in the first reading. He was living too comfortably a life. He had no respect for the sacred or for God. He “gave orders for the gold and silver vessels to be brought which his father Nebuchadnezzar had looted from the sanctuary in Jerusalem, so that the king, his noblemen, his wives and his singing women could drink out of them.” But the Lord took him to task. Writing on the wall, the judgement was meted out. “God has measured your sovereignty and put an end to it; you have been weighed in the balance and found wanting; your kingdom has been divided and given to the Medes and the Persians.” He was oblivious to the fact that the Medes had already captured some of his cities and were closing in on Babylon. “That very night Belshazzar, the Chaldean king, was killed. And Darius the Mede received the kingdom, being about sixty-two years old.” (Dn 5:30)
We too must be careful, otherwise when the time comes, we too will be found wanting and we too will be destroyed. We must be prepared by staying close to our Lord. Jesus told His disciples, “Keep this carefully in mind: you are not to prepare your defence, because I myself shall give you an eloquence and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to resist or contradict. You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, relations and friends; and some of you will be put to death. You will be hated by all men on account of my name, but not a hair of your head will be lost. Your endurance will win you your lives.” Only united with our Lord and relying on the Holy Spirit can we overcome the trials and persecution of this world. On our own we will fail. The way to victory is not just fortitude but finding faith in the Lord. Only knowing Christ, His passion, death and resurrection will give us the strength and the endurance to fight the good fight until the end. Jesus assures us that He will give us the Holy Spirit to overcome the trials of life when the time comes. We should not be too worried whether we can find the courage and strength to do His tasks. But if we have faith in Him, He will supply us the necessary graces to accomplish His work. With St Paul, we must say, “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” (Phil 4:13)
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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