Daniel 5:1-6,13-14, 16-17, 23-28 / Luke 21:12-19
The feeling of fear is something that we, as humans, would have experienced.
It can be anything from having cold and clammy hands to cold sweat and shivers.
But the fear of king Belshazzar in the 1st reading made him turn pale with alarm, and his thigh-joints went slack and his knees began to knock.
What he saw was beyond comprehension – the fingers of a human hand appeared and began to write on the wall.
King Belshazzar was so obstinate with total disregard for the sacred and the religious that this had to happen to him.
And that was also his judgement, and it sealed his fate.
In the gospel, what Jesus said is truly disturbing and unsettling.
We certainly do not want to face the kind of persecutions that Jesus is talking about.
But if ever we find ourselves in that kind of situation, then Jesus is telling us that it is an opportunity to bear witness.
Our endurance will win us our lives.
And our reward will be written in heaven.