20211122 SURRENDERING TO GOD’S SOVEREIGNTY
22 November, 2021, Monday, 34th Week, Ordinary Time
First reading |
Daniel 1:1-6,8-20 © |
Daniel and his companions are trained to be the king's servants in Babylon
In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched on Jerusalem and besieged it. The Lord delivered Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hands, with some of the furnishings of the Temple of God. He took them away to the land of Shinar, and stored the sacred vessels in the treasury of his own gods.
The king ordered Ashpenaz, his chief eunuch, to select from the Israelites a certain number of boys of either royal or noble descent; they had to be without any physical defect, of good appearance, trained in every kind of wisdom, well-informed, quick at learning, suitable for service in the palace of the king. Ashpenaz himself was to teach them the language and literature of the Chaldaeans. The king assigned them a daily allowance of food and wine from his own royal table. They were to receive an education lasting for three years, after which they were expected to be fit for the king’s society. Among them were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, who were Judaeans. Daniel, who was most anxious not to defile himself with the food and wine from the royal table, begged the chief eunuch to spare him this defilement; and by the grace of God Daniel met goodwill and sympathy on the part of the chief eunuch. But he warned Daniel, ‘I am afraid of my lord the king: he has assigned you food and drink, and if he sees you looking thinner in the face than the other boys of your age, my head will be in danger with the king because of you.’ At this Daniel turned to the guard whom the chief eunuch had assigned to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. He said, ‘Please allow your servants a ten days’ trial, during which we are given only vegetables to eat and water to drink. You can then compare our looks with those of the boys who eat the king’s food; go by what you see, and treat your servants accordingly.’ The man agreed to do what they asked and put them on ten days’ trial. When the ten days were over they looked and were in better health than any of the boys who had eaten their allowance from the royal table; so the guard withdrew their allowance of food and the wine they were to drink, and gave them vegetables. And God favoured these four boys with knowledge and intelligence in everything connected with literature, and in wisdom; while Daniel had the gift of interpreting every kind of vision and dream. When the period stipulated by the king for the boys’ training was over, the chief eunuch presented them to Nebuchadnezzar. The king conversed with them, and among all the boys found none to equal Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. So they became members of the king’s court, and on whatever point of wisdom or information he might question them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his entire kingdom.
Responsorial Psalm | Daniel 3:52-56 © |
To you glory and praise for evermore.
You are blest, Lord God of our fathers.
To you glory and praise for evermore.
Blest your glorious holy name.
To you glory and praise for evermore.
You are blest in the temple of your glory.
To you glory and praise for evermore.
You are blest on the throne of your kingdom.
To you glory and praise for evermore.
You are blest who gaze into the depths.
To you glory and praise for evermore.
You are blest in the firmament of heaven.
To you glory and praise for evermore.
Gospel Acclamation | 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!
Or: | Mt24:42,44 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Stay awake and stand ready,
because you do not know the hour
when the Son of Man is coming.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Luke 21:1-4 © |
The widow's mite
As Jesus looked up, he saw rich people putting their offerings into the treasury; then he happened to notice a poverty-stricken widow putting in two small coins, and he said, ‘I tell you truly, this poor widow has put in more than any of them; for these have all contributed money they had over, but she from the little she had has put in all she had to live on.’
SURRENDERING TO GOD’S SOVEREIGNTY
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [Dn 1:1-6, 8-20; Dn 3:52-56; Lk 21:1-4]
The story of the Widow’s mite is often told to underscore the generosity of the woman. Although poverty-stricken, she put in two small coins into the treasury. This made the Lord remark, “this poor widow has put in more than any of them; for these have all contributed money they had over, but she from the little she had has put in all she had to live on.” Indeed, we cannot dispute what the Lord observed, that she had given the most compared to the many richer people who gave much more in terms of amount to the Temple treasury, for the value of the gift is not measured by how much one gives but how much sacrifice it entails. Even when a gift is not worth much in terms of monetary value, it can be more priceless because it means lots of sacrifice on the part of the giver.
In the case of the widow, the two little coins represented her only possessions. In giving away the two little coins, which was insignificant as a contribution to the temple treasury, she was surrendering her life to God. She gave everything including herself and her life. Her giving was therefore perfect. In a sense, she anticipated the passion of Christ when He gave up His life in obedience to the will of His Father for the salvation of the world. “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (Jn 15:13)
We, too, are called to do the same. But can we? Few of us can give everything to God or to the poor. What was her secret? It presupposes that we believe in the sovereignty of God. In other words, we believe that all we have belong to God and everything we have is due to God’s blessings and generosity. So long as we think that we own what we have and that we have worked for it, we will feel entitled to make use of all we have for ourselves. But if we come to realize that all we have comes from Him alone, and that He is the sole sovereignty, then we will be ready to surrender all we have back to Him. We will use them responsibly for the good of His people and for His greater glory.
The religious leaders paid lip service to God’s sovereignty. Earlier on, the Lord warned the disciples, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, and to have the best seats in the synagogues and places of honour at banquets. They devour widows’ houses and for the sake of appearance say long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.” (Lk 20:45-47) Before the series of debates that Jesus had with the Jewish authorities, the Lord cleansed the Temple and drove out the merchants saying, “My house shall be a house of prayer’; but you have made it a den of robbers.” (Lk 19:45) They were working in cahoots with the priests in charging exorbitant fees for the exchange of coins and the animals sold for sacrificial worship. They were using God to enrich themselves and to give them a standing before the people. Their hearts were not with God.
This emphasis on God’s sovereignty is underscored in the book of Daniel. Even though Israel lost her kingdom and Temple to the Babylonians, it was not because the Babylonians were militarily more powerful. Rather, it was God who was making use of them to punish His people for their infidelity. The Lord already warned them, “if you spurn my statutes, and abhor my ordinances, so that you will not observe all my commandments, and you break my covenant, I in turn will do this to you: I will bring terror on you; consumption and fever that waste the eyes and cause life to pine away. You shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it. I will set my face against you, and you shall be struck down by your enemies; your foes shall rule over you, and you shall flee though no one pursues you.” (Lev 26:15-18) In this context, the author wrote, “the Lord delivered Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hands, with some of the furnishings of the Temple of God.” It was not within the power of Babylon.
God’s sovereignty is often accomplished in a paradoxical manner. God allowed the Babylonians to take away the sacred vessels of the Temple and stored them “in the treasury of his own gods.” It was a custom in those days that when a battle was won, the deities were also captured and put alongside the pagan gods to signify that their god was greater than that of their captives. So God allowed them to capture the sacred vessels, giving the appearance that their enemies’ gods were greater than Him. But in truth as we read in the Book of Samuel, when the Philistines captured the Ark of God, they took the ark of God and placed it beside Dagon. However, early the next day, Dagon had fallen on his face to the ground before the ark of the Lord. So they took Dagon and put him back in his place. The next morning, Dagon had fallen on his face to the ground before the ark of the Lord, and the head of Dagon and both his hands were lying cut off upon the threshold; only the trunk of Dagon was left to him. Then God struck them with tumours and when they saw how things were, they said, “The ark of the God of Israel must not remain with us; for his hand is heavy on us and on our god Dagon.” (1 Sm 5:1-12) This too was the case of our Lord’s passion, death and resurrection. His death seemed like a failure but it was the means by which God showed His victory over sin and death.
God’s sovereignty is also manifested in unseen ways. God does not always manifest His power publicly. This was again true in the case of the four young men that were selected to serve the King in the royal court. Although they were Israelites, they were recruited to serve in the court. This was the work of God; that even when they were under the rule of the Babylonians, God was in charge of Israel and He had put intelligent and capable Israelites to advise the king and his court. In the eyes of the King, he chose the best Israelites to serve him, those “without any physical defect, of good appearance, trained in every kind of wisdom, well-informed, quick at learning, suitable for service in the palace of the king.” They were given the best training and formation in the culture of the Chaldeans; and the best food and wine from the King’s own royal table.
However, lest we think that it was the Babylonians who were responsible for the excellent formation they gave to the Israelites, Daniel asked that they be put on a vegetarian diet. Scholars are not too clear why it was necessary because strictly speaking, it was not required, especially when they were in captive lands. Even if they did not want to take the meat from the king’s table in line with Kosher law, yet the truth was that even the vegetables came from the King’s supply. And most of all, there was no prohibition from taking wine. What could be the reason for Daniel’s request? Scholars think that it was more to underscore the power of God than to observe the Jewish dietary laws. In other words, it was God who was responsible for the four young Israelites in building them up and making them acceptable to the king. They did not consume the food from the royal table and yet they “were in better health than any of the boys who had eaten their allowance from the royal table.” And it was God who caused the chief eunuch and the guard to be sympathetic to Daniel’s request.
Most of all, God was the one who blessed the young men with intelligence, knowledge and wisdom. In the case of Daniel, he was blessed with “the gift of interpreting every kind of vision and dream” as was in the case of Joseph interpreting the dreams of Pharaoh. “So they became members of the kings’ court, and on whatever point of wisdom or information he might question them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his entire kingdom.” None of them ever thought they owned all these.
Indeed, today’s theme reminds us that all that happens in our lives are within God’s control. Even when God punished His people, He never truly left them. He would work in His own ways to reform His people and bring them to repentance. But for those who are faithful to Him, like the four young men, God would continue to make use of them for the salvation of Israel. Indeed, God works in mysterious ways, sometimes even using negative events to lead us back to Him. We must recognize His hands at work in our lives. If we surrender everything into His hands, just like the poor widow and our Lord, God will work wonders in our lives.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
No comments:
Post a Comment