Daniel 5:1-6, 13-14, 16-17, 23-28 / Luke 21:12-19
One of the ways to say that the problem or the issue is so obvious is to say that “the writing is on the wall.”
And that phrase is taken from the account in the 1st reading.
King Belshazzar gave a great banquet for his noblemen, a thousand of them.
As they feasted, king Belshazzar ordered that the gold and silver vessels which were looted from the sanctuary in Jerusalem be used in the banquet.
Now, those were sacred vessels that were used in the Temple for rituals and serving offerings, and symbolised the holiness and the majesty of God.
But king Belshazzar had no regard for the sacredness of those vessels and so he, his noblemen, his wives and singing women drank out of them.
What happened next was frightening, to say the least.
A human hand appeared, and began writing on the wall, and the king could see the hand as it wrote, and he turned pale.
The prophet Daniel was brought in to interpret the writing on the wall.
It spelt judgement for king Belshazzar for having defiled the Lord of heaven and abusing the sacred vessels, and he died that very night.
In the gospel, Jesus said something that was also frightening and terrifying.
He spoke of persecutions and suffering and even death.
But Jesus also said something that is not written on walls but on the pages of the Bible and on the hearts of His disciples.
He said to us: Your endurance will win you your lives.
May those words be written in our hearts and may those words give us courage to hold on to our faith in times of trials and tribulations.