DAILY HOMILIES #Daniel

How can we rise above worries and the cares of life? Jesus tells us: “Watch at all times, praying that you may have the strength to escape all these things that will take place.” Prayer is the key to avoiding worry. When we don’t pray enough, we begin to carry unnecessary burdens. Remember that song: “What a friend we have in Jesus…” A line in that song says, “Oh, what needless pains we bear, all because we do not carry our burdens to Jesus.”

God is a king who can never be destroyed. He is greater than anything we can imagine or think of. He is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the one who made us and sustains our lives. Jesus assures us today, “Heaven and earth may pass away, but my words will not.” Let us renew our faith and confidence in Him daily, casting off our fear of evil spirits, for we know that no one is greater than God.

By “raising your head high”, Jesus wants us to remain faithful like Daniel, who refused to be intimidated by the threat of being fed to the lions. This is not the time to stay away from the church. This is not the time to relax in your prayer life. Prayer itself is power. Whether or not you get what you are asking for, learn to enjoy prayer. Cherish the moments you spend with God. Daniel went so far as to open his windows so that everyone could see clearly that he didn’t stop praying.

While Nebuchadnezzar’s dream was about the future, we also see Jesus, in our Gospel passage, discussing the future: the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem and the rise of many false prophets claiming they are the Christ. This teaches us one lesson: The only person who knows the future is the one who is already in the future – God. Humans can only guess based on calculations from the past.

The fact that “everybody is doing it” does not make it right. Stay true to your beliefs. By prioritising Him, God did not fail Daniel and his friends. Learn to give God His proper honour, and He will never let you down. Even if others mock or call you names, remain steadfast and different.

The power and working of the Angels are a testimony to God’s greatness and the fact that nothing is impossible with him. In today’s Gospel passage, Jesus said to Nathanael, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” This statement shocked Nathanael; it revealed to him the power of God, and he was converted instantly. Angels also reveal to us the power of God at work among men. Just as Nathanael couldn’t understand how Jesus was able to see him under the fig tree, we cannot fully understand how the angels work, but we know that they are real.

In our Gospel passage, Jesus speaks to his disciples about his imminent death, followed by betrayal, agony, rejection, and shame. Jesus’ disciples could not understand because they were taken over by fear. It was only after the resurrection that they came to understand what Jesus had been saying. You feel paralysed with fear now because you find it hard to imagine a better tomorrow; you still cannot see any light at the end of your tunnel, but know this: if Jesus rose from the dead, your trials will end one day.

When all hope was lost for Susanna, God sent Daniel and endowed him with such wisdom and eloquence that no one could withstand him. The same judges who confessed to seeing this woman with a man gave conflicting answers when asked the name of the tree under which they saw the woman, proving they were telling lies.

The Transfiguration was an eye-opening experience for Peter, James, and John that convinced them beyond doubt and strengthened their Faith. This experience can be likened to the case of Thomas after touching Jesus’ resurrected body. “My Lord and my God.” (John 20:26). After witnessing the Transfiguration, Peter, in today’s Second Reading, confessed: “It was not any cleverly invented myths that we were repeating when we brought you the knowledge and power and the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (2 Peter 1:16).

Why worry when you have Jesus as your friend? You may ask: “I prayed in the past, but things have not changed?” Continue to pray. Jesus says, pray at all times. Pray not because you have problems; pray in obedience to Jesus’s command – at all times, regardless of how things may be for you.

Daniel’s vision can be likened to a blind man trying to describe an elephant by touching one part of its body. God is beyond scientific observation or explanation. God is Father, Son, and Spirit. God is Love. Don’t try to intellectualise God, worship Him.

Do not be so concerned about knowing the future that you forget the present. Jesus says, “Yes, the world will end, but for now, just get busy.” Make full use of the gifts and talents God has bestowed upon you. Spread the kingdom of God so that upon His return, the Master may find you doing what He commanded and that your talents would have yielded abundant fruits.