Glory and Praise
(Dan 1:1-20; Dn 3:52-56; Lk 21:1-4)
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When Bad Things Happen to Good People is a book written by Rabbi Kuschner, appropriate for the readings today that invite us to trust God totally in good times and bad.
The psalm response from the Book of Daniel puts it succinctly: Glorify and praise God at all times.
Certainly, King Jehoiakim in the first reading from Daniel would have appreciated such a book. His situation addresses the mystery of evil in our lives, and the question of who God is in the face of tragedy. We read in this passage that “The Lord let King Jehoiakim fall into the power” of the king of Babylon. Without passing moral judgment on the king, certainly the Jewish people must have asked themselves why they were suffering so much in spite of their faith in God.
Daniel and companions
Part of the answer to this mystery of suffering begins to emerge almost immediately in the persons of Daniel and his companions. The answer is that God does not prevent suffering, but always draws good out of evil, whatever that evil might be.
In this case, the faith of Daniel and his companions leads them to request a special diet to remain faithful to their beliefs, and miraculously, they defy all expectations, thrive and become the kings favored consultants. God was already drawing good out of the tragedy of defeat, oppression and exile.
The psalm response from the Book of Daniel reminds us that our faith response to seeming tragedy in our lives is to glorify and praise God at all times.
In the gospel, Jesus observes the rich people putting money into the temple treasury, but takes special notice of the poor widow whose faith empowered her to give, not from her surplus like the others, but from her substance, what she needed to live on, and so, in the eyes of Jesus, she gave more than any other person that day. She stands as a model for us of how to deal with adversity in our lives.
The widow’s mite
Corrie ten Boom and her sister in a concentration camp during the war are also examples of faith at work in times of suffering and deprivation. Huddled with other captives in deplorable conditions, they did not question God but kept on believing, praying even for their captors, sharing their faith with others, leading bible study and glorifying and praising God always. Eventually, they realized that they could even be grateful for the fleas that were tormenting them, because those fleas kept the guards from inspecting them too closely and preventing them from gathering to pray, which is what sustained them in this darkness.
The couples who attended a Marriage Encounter recently that I helped to conduct are also examples of a faith response to life. Working on their relationship, growing closer to God by growing closer to each other, they responded exceedingly generously to the financial talk – with one couple giving enough to cover the cost of the whole weekend, and many others offering enough to cover the cost for other couples who might not be able to afford a weekend. The team couples and I were deeply moved and touched by their generosity that resembled that of the widow on the gospel.
The Eucharist is a celebration of Jesus’ total and complete gift of himself to humanity, to redeem us, sanctify us and above all, reveal to us the depth of the Father’s love, magnanimity and generosity.
May our celebration today strengthen our faith to be like that of the poor but generous widow. May it empower us to respond to suffering, hardship and even tragedy in our lives by giving praise and glory to our God, and generously giving of ourselves in service to others, thus helping God draw good out of every incident of “bad’ in our lives.
Bishop Lavoie, Please pray for my uncle David who had a minor stroke 4 months ago. He was exercising and all the sudden his heart stopped beating and he collapsed on the floor. Now he has a memory loss he cannot write or type on the computer and read any books. He does not remember the words and what to say. He asked me if I have messenger or Skype and Yes: I do , I accepted his request. I tried to start a conversation with him and I was waiting for his reply . I was waiting for his response for several days. I already had a feeling he difficulty writing or he does not know what to say. He lives in Vancouver, not Edmonton and he trying to find friends to talk. to him. He is only doing speech therapy., I just know about. We called him over the phone the other day. He is been having heart diseases years ago. Praise the Lord .
I always pray for you no matter what the intentions are , you are always a good friend who will help other people. I am trying to find ways to help Uncle David besides praying for him. Many blessings!