As many of you know, the Archbishop has given permission to and encouraged the priests of the Archdiocese to continue to offer Mass daily for the intentions recommended and for the people of the parish. Fr. Mark is using the new pictorial directory (having placed it directly on the altar) to mention, by name, each of the families and individuals on a given page per day. The daily Masses are, again, being offered for the people of the entire parish, but each day there is special mention of sixteen families or individuals. May God bless each and every one of you, especially on “your day!”
At Wednesday’s Lenten Mass, the following passage from the Book of Daniel was proclaimed here and in every Catholic parish throughout the world:
King Nebuchadnezzar said:
“Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego,
that you will not serve my god,
or worship the golden statue that I set up?
Be ready now to fall down and worship the statue I had made,
whenever you hear the sound of the trumpet,
flute, lyre, harp, psaltery, bagpipe,
and all the other musical instruments;
otherwise, you shall be instantly cast into the white-hot furnace;
and who is the God who can deliver you out of my hands?”
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered King Nebuchadnezzar,
“There is no need for us to defend ourselves before you
in this matter.
If our God, whom we serve,
can save us from the white-hot furnace
and from your hands, O king, may he save us!
But even if he will not, know, O king,
that we will not serve your god
or worship the golden statue that you set up.”
King Nebuchadnezzar’s face became livid with utter rage
against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
He ordered the furnace to be heated seven times more than usual
and had some of the strongest men in his army
bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
and cast them into the white-hot furnace.
Nebuchadnezzar rose in haste and asked his nobles,
“Did we not cast three men bound into the fire?”
“Assuredly, O king,” they answered.
“But,” he replied, “I see four men unfettered and unhurt,
walking in the fire, and the fourth looks like a son of God.”
Nebuchadnezzar exclaimed,
“Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego,
who sent his angel to deliver the servants who trusted in him;
they disobeyed the royal command and yielded their bodies
rather than serve or worship any god
except their own God.”
A Reflection for today from the popular publication The Word Among Us:
There’s one detail to this story that we often overlook: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego sang God’s praises, not after they had been delivered from the fiery furnace, but while they were in the midst of the flames. These three young men were prepared not to be saved. So, even before they were rescued from the furnace, they exulted in God’s goodness and glory.
It’s natural to praise God’s greatness after we have been delivered from an ordeal. But what about extolling his greatness while we are undergoing a trial? Whether God miraculously saved them from the furnace or they perished in its flames, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego believed that God was worthy to be praised, just for who He is. So too our faith cannot rest solely on miraculous answers to prayer. Trials will come, and we won’t always be released from them immediately. God doesn’t always do what we want how and when we want it done. But even in the midst of these difficulties, we can declare His greatness because He is God and deserving of all our honor and praise.
So how do we do it? Well, we can base your praise on what the Scriptures say about God. He is the Good Shepherd who knows us and is zealously concerned for our life (John 10,11). He is Emmanuel, God with us (Isaiah 7,14). He will never leave us or forsake us (Joshua 1,5). He will give us rest (Matthew 11,28-29). Using these passages, we can praise God, even as we are waiting for Him to act.
God always hears us and always answers us, even though sometimes we still have to endure the “heat” of difficulties. He is with us when we feel as if we’re in the fiery furnace just as surely as He is with us when all seems right with the world. So thank and praise God for being by our side. Perhaps He will speak to us right then and there. Or perhaps His answer will come much later, and we will recognize it only through the lens of hindsight. Whatever happens, let us always declare God’s goodness, and it will come to us—in God’s time and according to God’s wisdom.
“Lord, thank you for always being with us, even when all we feel is the heat of adversity.”
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