Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Courage: Daniel


Expect the Lord, do manfully:  and let thy heart take courage, and wait thou for the Lord.  The Lord is my light and my salvation:  whom shall I fear?
                                Introit from Tuesday in Passion Week

In the book of Daniel, in the story of Bel and the dragon, of which the last part is read in today's Mass, Daniel, out of zeal for the truth and love of God does what is right and good to destroy the worship of two false gods of the Babylonians.  I like to think Daniel would have the wisdom to know that the people would not take kindly to having their gods destroyed, and that he was aware that he did this at some risk to himself; therefore his actions show a certain amount of courage.

Our God is omnipotent and will not be outdone in generosity.  Not only did God shut the mouths of the lions (who went hungry for six days while not eating Daniel -- poor lions), but He also sent Habacuc to bring Daniel dinner.


When we step out in courage to serve God, our actions do not go unrewarded.  Sometimes that reward is not immediate, but our God is just and generous and has the power to bless beyond our expectations.

No comments:

Post a Comment