Reading and meditation on the Word of God, Thursday of the 34th week of ordinary time, November 28, 2019. Daniel 6, 12-28; Luke 21, 20-28. Voice: father Peter sdb (reading) and sister Maria Fe Silva fma (meditation)
Our meditation today has the theme: Passing the Needle’s Hole. The experience of exile and being captive is very unpleasant. Living in a strange place and you do not have anyone to feel close, it is greatly sad. For anyone who wants to endure and survive, he must go through all challenges and difficulties. He must rely on God he believes. His life like having to go through a needle’s hole is a reality should be faced with patience and struggle.
The experience of being captive and in exile was experienced by the young Daniel as told to us by today’s first reading. This Jewish youth is an all-out enemy by haters who wanted to destroy him. But the King Darius, who respected God, was the one on the Daniel’s side. After it was proven that Daniel’s punishment of being destroyed in the lion’s den was unsuccessful, Daniel was finally released and the recognition of the just and true God was made by the King and his kingdom, while the criminals and haters were put to death.
In these days leading us to the end of our liturgical year, the proclamation of God’s word about the end of time illustrates a frightening and trembling emotion. This atmosphere can be understood as a transitional or a shift moment. Every transition or shift has more critical situation compared to calm and pleasant condition. People have to go certain extent to prepare everything. People must decide to leave the unnecessary, and they are filled with shadows about the next steps that are not certain.
A transition period can be seen as a state such as having to pass through a needle’s hole. In difficult circumstances and seemingly only little hope of release, the call to freedom and salvation becomes so important. There, one’s faith is tested so that it becomes stronger and able to survive. One’s expectation also becomes stronger for the promise of beautiful and extraordinary achievement will come true. This is the characteristic of our Christian faith, which comes from the way of the cross of Jesus Christ.
The cross of the Lord Jesus Christ is the principle sign of victory. In the cross the Lord institutes a total earthly destruction and death. But God at the same time creates victory and life as a divine gift that will never again destroyed or perished. All the horrifying images in transition, as portrayed in the Gospel passage today as an event of the fulfillment of time, are opportunities that we must face and pass through in our Lord Jesus Christ.
Let’s pray. In the name of the Father … O Lord, in a needle’s hole and difficult situation, may we always see and find You. Our Father who art in heaven… In the name of the Father …