Daniel 6:11: Expectation
Thursday, February 28, 2019
Written on January 7 and posted today as a Favorite . . .
Even when Daniel hears dreadful news he remains optimistic – because it is his custom to trust in God.
Even when Daniel is sent in the lion’s den he remains fearless – because it is custom to give all to God.
Even when Daniel spends the night with the animals that later attack and kill his enemies he remains hopeful – because it is his custom to expect that God will act for and in him.
From today’s MAGNIFICAT Meditation by Mother Elvira Petrozzi, founder of a community with a presence in fifteen countries that opens its arms to the lost and desperate: The biggest sickness in our world is sadness, indifference, and loneliness. Like parched land waiting for water, so the world is waiting for those who will proclaim hope. God has freely chosen us to proclaim this hope. He has given us the strength to follow him and has put in our hearts the desire to embrace this wounded humanity. In receiving mankind, the living hope in us must become love in gestures, in works, and in life. Jesus is telling us to give life, to give ourselves, not only a part of us or a few hours of work. If we do not give our life, spend our life for others, it will vanish from our hands. (107-108)
This is what Daniel knows: that the life he has is really God’s life in him.
This is what Daniel believes: that by giving his life on earth, he gains eternity with God.
This is what Daniel does: all that God asks – even when it does not seem to make sense.
Today’s Gospel is an accounting of one of the times Jesus cured a man of leprosy (Luke 5:12-16) and the mini-reflection in MAGNIFICAT speaks to the expectation this man had when he approached Jesus with these words: Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean. “When the leper approaches Christ filled with expectation, his entire life changes”. (102) How much better we might be if we approach our worries in this fullness of expectancy. How much better might the world be if we all were to approach our problems in an expectation of goodness . . . hopeful of kindness . . . joyful in our vindication by God.
And so we pray . . . Good, and gracious, and gentle, and hope-bearing God, you walk amidst us, sharing our sorrow, lifting our fears. Bring us to you in joyful expectation of your mercy. Bring us to you in the fullness of your time and your plan. Give us courage. Give us constancy. Give us perseverance. Give us hope. Give us the spirit of Daniel as he enters the lion’s den, as he lingers there, and as he comes forth into the light of a new day. Give us Daniel’s humility. Give us Daniel’s peace. We ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
A re-post from December 6, 2011.
Images from: http://kosarajuraj.blogspot.com/2011/06/miracles-of-jesus-christ.html and http://www.art-prints-on-demand.com/a/riviere-briton/daniel-in-the-lions-den-1.html
Cameron, Peter John, Rev., ed. “Meditation of the Day.” MAGNIFICAT. 7 January 2011: 102, 107-108. Print.
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