BEING MINDFUL OF THE JUDGMENT


WEDNESDAY, THIRTY FOURTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

Dan 5:1-6,13-14,16-17,23-28; Dan 3:62-67; Lk 21:12-19

The Day of Judgment

We are often deceived into thinking that we are insignificant in God’s plan of things. The evil one deceives us into thinking in such a manner. God knows each of us through and through, for he has made every intricate part of us and recorded every one of our days in his book, as Psalm 139 testifies. When we rate ourselves so low, we fail to grasp the important role we play in God's unfolding plan in creation. As we have emphasized through our reflections, we cannot grasp the dignity of the human person God created without reference to God. The purpose for which he made us is only revealed in God. Our low self-rating is a consequence of our ignorance of God and his word. God created the universe so intricately that everything is, in a way, connected to everything. Every one of our thoughts and actions has its resultant consequence on the course of the universal events. Therefore, as rational beings, which makes us to share in the nature of God as his image, the onus is on us to seek knowledge and understand how our choices affect the outcome of events in the universe. Because everything is so intricately connected to our choices and decisions, our Lord intimated to us that every one of our thoughts, words, and actions would be judged on the day of judgment. The judgment is ongoing. Bearing this in mind would make us live as conscientious stewards and servants of God.

As the scripture says, none of us lives for himself alone; the life and death of each of us has an effect on others. Every reasonable thought, word, or action has its reasonable effects on others. Likewise, an unreasonable or stupid thought, word, or action has unreasonable effects on others. The action of King Belshazzar produced a disastrous effect on his inheritance of the kingdom from his father. His unreasonable action caused a hand to appear to proclaim the end of his rulership. Daniel interpreted the meaning of the writing and explained the reason for its appearance to him as follows. “You have defied the Lord of heaven, you have had the vessels from his Temple brought to you, and you, your noblemen, your wives, and your singing women have drunk your wine out of them. You have praised gods of gold and silver, of bronze and iron, of wood and stone, which cannot either see, hear, or understand; but you have given no glory to the God who holds your breath and all your fortunes in his hands.” This was the foolish action that ended Belshazzar’s reign. He not only desecrated the sacred vessels from the Temple in Jerusalem, but he also praised non-living gods and left out the God of gods. Ignorance was no excuse for the king, for the judgment was swift and definitive. None of our thoughts, words, and actions is hidden from God, for they contribute to the outcome of the universe events, though all are foreknown by God.

We are bound to bless the Lord with all creatures daily in our thoughts, words, and actions, for we are made rational to know and worship God. We praise and worship God with all creation by maintaining reasonableness in our thoughts, words, and actions. In our daily interactions, people tempt us to act unreasonably through their own irrational thoughts, words, and actions. But we must maintain our faith in God and remain reasonable and charitable to them in spite of their unreasonableness. Our Lord prepares our minds to expect this when he said: “Men will seize you and persecute you; they will hand you over to the synagogues and to imprisonment and bring you before kings and governors because of my name—and that will be your opportunity to bear witness.” The maintenance of our faith and charitable composure is the most effective preaching of the Gospel, because such would configure us into the image of the Lamb of God, who offered his life for the salvation of the world. In this light, therefore, each of us is an outlet for divine action and impulse in the universe. Because God made us to contain Him, our thoughts, words, and actions are supposed to be expressions of divine actions. When we fix our faith and gaze on God and endure the unreasonable actions of others for the love of God and their salvation, we increase in our containment of God, resulting in our salvation. “You will be hated by all men on account of my name, but not a hair of your head will be lost. Your endurance will win you your lives.”

Let us pray: Stir up the will of your faithful, we pray, O Lord, that, striving more eagerly to bring your divine work to fruitful completion, they may receive in greater measure the healing remedies your kindness bestows. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.         

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