Daniel 5:1-6,13-14, 16-17, 23-28 / Luke 21:12-19
To defile the religious items of another religion is certainly being very offensive and insulting to that religion.
Furthermore it also shows that people who do such actions do not care much about life and about other people, neither are they very much aware of the spiritual world.
In the 1st reading, king Belshazzar did something very offensive and insulting. He gave orders for the gold and silver vessels to be brought out for his banquet, vessels which his father, Nebuchadnezzar had looted from the sanctuary in Jerusalem. So they were sacred vessels from the Temple.
Even though his father didn't use it for any occasion, king Belshazzar was too arrogant to have respect for anything and anyone as he and his guests drank wine from those sacred vessels.
If nobody ever dared to tell him it was wrong to do so, or even if someone did but he was too obstinate, then it was time for God to act.
When God speaks, one cannot but listen; when God shows, one cannot but see.
What king Belshazzar saw made him turn pale and he trembled. And when the prophet Daniel told him later about the meaning of "Mene, Tekel and Parsin" he would have understood every word of it.
If the abuse of sacred vessels had such a consequence on king Belshazzar, then what about the abuse and the persecution of people who are dedicated to God and belong to Him?
In the gospel, Jesus warned about the persecutions that are in store for His disciples. Yet, He also assured His disciples that they need not prepare their defence as He will give them an eloquence and a wisdom that none of their opponents will be able to resist or contradict.
But we must also remember what Jesus taught us: Love your enemies, pray for those who persecute you, bless those who curse you.
Yes, our mission as disciples of Jesus is to do just that. God will speak to our enemies and persecutors, in a way that they will see and understand.