Daniel 6:12-28 / Luke 221:20-28
The story of Daniel in the lions' den which we heard in the 1st reading is indeed a famous and well-known story from the Old Testament.
It was another account of how God protected those who were faithful to Him and trusted in Him.
In that story, the other character, king Darius, was often seen just as a sort of supporting character.
Yet he is the character that we would look at today.
He ordered Daniel to be thrown to the lions, but he did it much against his own will.
He was trapped by his own edict and by the pressure of Daniel's accusers.
King Darius knew what he wanted to do ; he knew what he should do.
But he just couldn't do it without losing face or seen as weak.
So he finally succumbed to pressure, just like many others before him and many others after him, e.g. Pontius Pilate.
Acting under pressure from others, or to please others, or to meet the expectation of others, or afraid to lose face, or being called a softie, or no backbone, are things that we have all experienced.
We know what we should do, but to do it requires the courage to enter the lions' den.
That courage can only come about if we are faithful to God and trust like Him, like Daniel did.
The only lions that we need to fear are our lack of faith and trust in God.
But when fear seems overwhelming, let us remember these words of Jesus in today's gospel : Stand erect, hold your heads high, because your liberation is at hand.