Dua RenHar. Rabu 25 - 11 - 15.

SabdaNya
Rabu 25 - 11 - 15

Dan 5 :1-6,13-17,23-28.   Luk 21:12-19

Shalom,
Raja Belsyazar, anak n penerus Nebukadnezar suatu hari mengadakan pesta dg mengundang bnyk skl pejabat n sahabat2nya.

Untk membuat pesta smkn semarak,dia mengeluarkan perkakas yg diambil ayahnya dr Bait Allah di Yeruslaem, yg merupakan barang2 suci yg tlh dikuduskan bg Allah.

Perkakas itu dipakainya untk mnm anggur (sesuatu yg haram bg org Yahudi) dg tujuan untk melecehkan Yahwe krn ternyata tdk dpt berbuat apa2 untk melindungi umatNya.

Pd saat itulah Yahwe menampakkan diri dlm rupa tangan manusia yg menulis didinding istana.
Melihat itu, raja menjadi sngt takut, sampai2 tubuhnya gemetar.

Dg bantuan Daniel, raja diberi tahu bhw maksid tulisan itu adlh menyatakan kemarahan Allah kepdnya.
Dia sgr akan mengalami kematian n kerajaannya akan terpecah belah.

Malam itu jg Belsyazar dibunuh (Dan 5:30).

Kristus mengingatkan murid2Nya, dlm tgs mewartakan Injil mrk akan menghadapi bnyk tantangan.
Mrk akan ditangkap, dipenjara, dibenci oleh keluarga krn dianggap aneh n memalukan n sbgn dr mrk akan dibunuh.

Ttp Allah tdk akan meninggalkan mrk.
Ketika mrk diadili, itulah kesempatan bg mrk untk bersaksi n menyampaikan kebenaran Injil.
Allah sendiri yg akan memberi hikmat kebijaksanaan apa yg hrs mrk katakan/ saksikan.

Krn melawan n menghina Allah, Belsyazar mendpt hukuman Allah. Kerajaannya hancur n dia mati dibunuh.
Diantara para murid Kristus, bnyk yg menjadi martir, dibunuh n disiksa hebat krn mewartakan Injil n krn kesetiaan kepd imannya.

Dimata dunia,
lalu apa bedanya antara org2 yg jahat dihadapan Allah dg yg baik?
Sama2 mengalami penderitaan n dibunuh!

Kalau kita tdk percaya akan adanya kehidupan kekal,
kehidupan setlh didunia ini,
mk keduanya mmg sama saja.

Dg dmkn akhir kehidupan semua org akan sngt tragis.
Kristus mengatakan:
'tdk sehelaipun dr rambut kepalamu akan hilang.
Kl kamu tetap bertahan, km akan memperoleh hdpmu'
(Luk 21: 18-19).

Sbg Putera Allah yg berkuasa atas alam semesta, Dia berjanji bhw penderitaan / pengorbanan sekecil apapun (spt kehilangan sehelai rambut) yg kita alami untk mempertahankan iman,untk tetap setia bertahan,tdk akan sia2.

Allah akan memperhitungkannya shg suatu saat kita akan sadar bhw pengorbanan itu sama skl tdk ada artinya dibandingkan kelimpahan anugerah Allah yg diberikan.

Setlh kematian didunia, org2 yg jahat dihadapan Allah akan mengalami kesengsaraan kekal yg mengerikan.

Sebaliknya mrk yg setia kepd Allah, melalui kematian akan mendptkan kebahagiaan kekal yg tdk dpt dibandingkan dg sgl kesenangan2/ kepuasan/ kebanggaan yg diberikan dunia hanya untk wkt yg sngt singkat.

Allah tdk berjanji bhw kehidupan org yg beriman kepdNya tdk akan mengalami gelombang persoalan.
Justru Kristus mengatakan, agar didlm menghadapi tantangan hdp itulah kita dpt bersaksi, dpt menjadi teladan bg bnyk org, bgmn sikap hati n cara berpikir seorg murid Kristus yg sejati.

Marilah kita memohon kekuatan kepd Allah spy iman, harapan n kasih didlm diri kita tdk pernah goyah,aplg hanyut, ditengah gelombang kehidupan didunia saat ini.

Gbu all n hv a blessed Wednesday.

***

St Catherine of Alexandria
Wed 25th Nov.           
Lk 21:12-19.

Jesus said, "they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name's sake.
This will be a time for you to bear testimony...

You will be delivered up even by parents and brothers and kinsmen and friends, and some of you they will put to death;
you will be hated by all for my name's sake.
But not a hair of your head will perish.
By your endurance you will gain your lives."

There is a time for testimony and when it comes the disciples of Jesus have to be steadfast. Jesus warned about difficulties but also promised His assistance. Rather than try to hide away when our time for testimony comes, all Jesus asks of us is to
1) trust Him: "not a hair of your head will perish"; and
2) not give up: "By your endurance you will gain your lives."

That's the example we have received from the Apostles, from Martyrs, confessors, Popes, Bishops and priests and millions of lay people as well; saints who never flinched, never hesitated, never took a step back.

Jesus asked His disciples for perseverance and Christians have always tried to be faithful.

The Hill of Crosses in northern Lithuania, for instance, has come to signify the peaceful endurance of Lithuanian Catholicism despite the repeated threats it faced over time.
When the country rebelled against the Russian Empire and families couldn't locate and bury the bodies of their deceased; they decided to put crosses on that Hill.

During the years 1944–1990 Lithuania was occupied again by the Soviet Union. The Soviets worked hard to remove new crosses and bulldozed the site several times.

At night Lithuanian people would come, replace them and add a few more.

There were 50 crosses at the beginning of the last century. In 1990, when Lithuania became independent from the Soviet Union, there were 55,000 crosses.

Today there are more than 400,000. A stone inscribed with the words of St John Paul II reads: "Thank you, Lithuanians, for this Hill of Crosses which testifies to the nations of Europe and to the whole world the faith of the people of this land."

Let's pray for the Holy Souls and ask them for their intercession to
1) trust God
2) not give up.