The Catholic Calendar for Wednesday, April 5, 2006
Wednesday of the Fifth Week of Lent
St. Vincent Ferrer

Scripture from today's Liturgy of the Word:
Daniel 3:14-20, 91-92, 95
Daniel 3:52-56
John 8:31-42

A reflection on today's Sacred Scripture:

I remember from my earliest childhood days hearing the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. It seemed that this story was told and taught in every bible class and religious education I attended. The story became as familiar to me as the story of our Lord’s nativity and crucifixion.

Now that I am much older and, hopefully, just a bit wiser, I can see why this story was used so much in my Christian rearing. The story is simply a clear and concise presentation of absolute faith; the men’s complete love and trust in their God and God’s complete love of them. What faith Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego must have had to stand up to the king and chance being tossed into the fire! I wonder if they really thought they would survive. Perhaps they loved God so much that they refused to turn away from Him and worship a false God and would rather have faced certain death instead. Perhaps they knew that God’s saving grace and love was something that worked more than just in our physical world, and meant salvation of the eternal soul. While we will never know what the three men were thinking, it is enough for us to know that they had faith in God, and God did not let them down.

God is a Father that keeps His promises. He promises to love us forever, to care for us and keep us. We learn this story early in life to see how powerful faith and love are and can be.

- Don Claunch, SFO
(dlclaunch at bresnan dot net)

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