Daniel 1:1-6, 8-20 / Luke 21:1-4
One of the common problems in the work-place is this superior-subordinate tension.
Very often, one party views the other with suspicion and caution.
And very often, one party will always have complains and grouses against the other.
But at the heart of these problems lies basically the need for understanding.
In the 1st reading, we heard how Daniel and his friends faced the dilemma of having to eat forbidden food.
Yet he understood the situation of those who were put in charge of him.
And eventually he found a way of going round the problem.
That makes us think about how we deal with the problems in our workplace, whether it is with our superiors or our subordinates or our colleagues.
Or on a wider scale, our problems with anyone.
To just complain and get worked up and get frustrated would simply be aggravating the problem.
Like Daniel, we need to understand these people that we are having problems with.
To understand literally means to stand in their shoes.
That means that we have to let our guard down and take off our armour. That means to let go of our pride and our security.
That means we would have to be like the widow in the gospel who gave all that she had, and rely on the Lord to see her through the challenges and uncertainties of life.
It is only when we are down to nothing that God will come up with something.