34th Week, Ordinary Time, Wednesday, Nov 29
Daniel 5:1-6, 13-14, 16-17, 23-28 / Luke 21:12-19
Words appear on the palace wall; Daniel explained the words.
The New York Times Book Review carried a fascinating article about Oscar Wilde. The article was entitled “He Resisted Everything Except Temptation.” One might say of this talented English writer what Daniel said of the king in today's reading: "Hej rebelled against the Lord of heaven" and "did not glorify [him).”While in jail on a morals charge, Wilde wrote: “Sometimes there is sunlight in my cell and every day someone whose name is Love (meaning the Lord of heaven) comes to see me, and weeps so much through prison bars that it is I who have to comfort him.”
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Recall a time when we, too, "rebelled against the Lord of heaven." "The life of every man is a diary in which he means to write one story and writes another; and his humblest hour is when he compares the volume as it is to what he hoped to make it.” James Matthew Barrie
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The message of hope of the previous days continues in today’s readings. The Syrian king oppressed the Jews and declared himself “Epiphanes,” that is, “God become visible”; God will soon judge him and his kingdom will come to an end. He appears here disguised, under the name Belshazzar. On the other hand, the persecuted Christians will bear witness to God and to his Son, Jesus Christ, by their fidelity.
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Graffiti is writings or drawings scribbled, scratched, or sprayed illicitly on a wall or other surface in a public place. In this country, graffiti is a crime as it is the damage to property caused by: spraying, writing, drawing, marking or applying paint or another marking substance to a person's property without their consent. And there can be no question of doing graffiti in high-security places like Parliament House, military headquarters and other dignified places.
In the 1st reading, there was graffiti in, of all places, the royal palace, where king Belshazzar was having a great banquet with his noblemen, their wives and singing women, and they were using the sacred vessels looted from the Temple of Jerusalem.
But that was no ordinary graffiti. It is what is understood as "the writing on the wall", done by the hand of God. Those words " Mene, Mene, Tekel, Parsin" were meant for king Belshazzar and he would know what it was all about and what was going to happen.
In the gospel, Jesus tells of another hand, but not that of God. It is the hand of injustice and persecution. It is the hand of evil and hate that wants to stop the Good News from spreading. It is a hand to be reckoned with, but Jesus will also be at hand to defend us and help us bear witness to Him. We just have to hold on to the hand of Jesus, and He will write His name on the walls of our hearts.
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Our baptism has made us witnesses of Christ. But it is not always an easy path, especially in times of great change, and even more so for missionaries. Difficulties will come from those closest to us. But we may rest assured that Christ is with us and that through his Spirit he will make us eloquent and give us the wisdom what to say and do. Do not be afraid!
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Prayer
God, our Father, we believe that your plans for us are for peace and courage, and not for fear. Keep us open-eyed to the signs of the constant coming of Jesus, your Son. Help us to commit ourselves untiringly to the growth of your kingdom among us by carrying out your plans for peace and love and for all that makes our world more your world and the way to your home. We ask this through Christ, our Lord. Amen
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Nov 29, Wed
Saint Hubert, Bishop Confessor (c. 656 - 727)
Saint Hubert was grandmaster at the palace of Pepin of Heristal and, upon being widowed, left the court of Austrasia and lived the life of a hermit for some years in the forest of the Ardennes before being ordained a priest. Having worked under St Lambert of Maastricht for some time, he was chosen his successor to the See of Tongerer-Maastricht after his murder in 705 and is credited with the conversion of the last of the pagans in the Ardennes.
In c.718 he had his See, together with the remains of his predecessor, moved to Liege, thus becoming the first Bishop of that great Belgian city. An eloquent preacher, he extirpated the last trace of idolatry among the people with such zeal that he has come to be called the Apostle of the Ardennes.
From the 15th century legend, which attributed the Good Friday conversion of this passionate hunter and worldly courtier to the apparition of a luminous crucifix in the antlers of a hunted stag, he is regarded as the patron of hunters and the healer of hydrophobia.
