Daniel 12:1-3 / Hebrews 10:11-14, 18 / Mark 13:24-32
There are a few ways to make it known to others that we are in need of help.
The most obvious way is to call out for help, or if it is a desperate and urgent case, then it will be to cry out for help.
Another way is to write, or text a request for help, but that is usually done when help is not required urgently or immediately.
There can be situations where help is required desperately, but it cannot be communicated verbally and the written form may not be quite enough to obtain the desired response.
Just a couple of days ago, there was an article in the newspapers with this caption: “Teach children hand signals to seek help if they face abuse as Covid-19 curbs limit social interactions.”
The article covered a symposium held a few days ago about child abuse. It said that Singapore recorded the highest number of child abuse cases in a decade last year.
The pandemic has made it harder for children who are victims of abuse to seek help, as home-based learning and more time stuck at home have limited their social interactions.
Hence it is more important now than before to let children know about non-verbal ways to ask for help.
So now, there is a campaign to adopt a hand signal as a non-verbal way that victims can use to get help.
That hand signal is done by first showing one hand, and then tucking the thumb into the palm, and then holding the other four fingers down over the thumb.
This signal will be a way to seek help for those, whether children or adults, who cannot safely express their need for help verbally.
When we listen to what Jesus said in the gospel, we would imagine that it was a frightening time.
There is distress, the sun will be darkened, the moon will lose its brightness and the stars will fall from heaven.
With those terrifying signs, we would certainly cry out for help.
And the consolation is that Jesus promised that He will come with great power and glory, and that He will send the angels to gather His chosen from the ends of the world to the ends of heaven.
But as for that day or hour, we don't know when, and nobody knows it too.
But we don't have to wait for that day or hour to come and then ask for help.
Now is the time to prepare for it and learn how to ask for help. Of course, we will ask for help in our prayer, and we are able to verbalize our intentions with words and we can also write down our petitions.
But we have to prepare for a time when darkness clouds our minds and the distress overwhelms our hearts and no words of prayer come out of our mouths.
That happens when grief and fear leave us paralyzed and we felt like we are frozen.
Yet it is interesting to note of the several ways of non-verbal prayer, like kneeling and clasping hands in a prayer posture, or stretching out our hands to the One who has the power to save us.
The most profound act of faith and prayer is when we come forward to receive Holy Communion.
With one hand over the other, we receive the Body of Christ. Other than saying “Amen”, no other words are necessary as we received Jesus into our hearts, and there He makes His home in us.
Heaven and earth will pass away, but Jesus will always come and stay.
We just have to stretch out our hands and say “Amen”.
That is all that is needed for us to profess that Jesus is our Saviour, and He will come to help us and save us.