Homily Helper, reporting the day's Scripture. As about today's king, burned up about 3 young men but unable to burn them. Then Jesus about sin as enslaver.
A day-to-day account
Wednesday of the Fifth Week of Lent
It’s a Daniel sort of day, 3:14-20, 91-92, 95
King Nebuchadnezzar speaking:
"Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego,
that you will not serve my god,
or worship the golden statue that I set up?
He suspects the worst of these three, reads them the riot act:
Be ready now to fall down and worship the statue I had made,
whenever you hear the sound of the trumpet, flute, lyre, harp, psaltery, bagpipe,
and all the other musical instruments; otherwise, you shall be instantly cast into the white-hot furnace; and who is the God who can deliver you out of my hands?"
This is your king speaking, lads.
Oh?
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered King Nebuchadnezzar,
"There is no need for us to defend ourselves before you in this matter.
Ah.
“If our God, whom we serve, can save us from the white-hot furnace
and from your hands, O king, may he save us! But even if he will not, know, O king,
that we will not serve your god or worship the golden statue that you set up."
Take it or leave it, Your Majesty!
Predictable response:
King Nebuchadnezzar's face became livid with utter rage
against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
He ordered the furnace to be heated seven times more than usual
and had some of the strongest men in his army
bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and cast them into the white-hot furnace.
So the stuff hit the fan. But it went wrong:
Nebuchadnezzar rose in haste and asked his nobles,
"Did we not cast three men bound into the fire?"
"Assuredly, O king," they answered.
"But," he replied, "I see four men unfettered and unhurt,
walking in the fire, and the fourth [an angel in disguise!] looks like a son of God."
It gets Nebuchad-whatever where he lives.
Nebuchadnezzar exclaimed, "Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who sent his angel to deliver the servants who trusted in him;
they disobeyed the royal command and yielded their bodies rather than serve or worship any god except their own God."
That’s what happened, King. Face it. No dumbbell he.
At which point worshipers say their prayer:
Glory and praise for ever!
"Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of our fathers,
praiseworthy and exalted above all forever;
And blessed is your holy and glorious name,
praiseworthy and exalted above all for all ages."
Solid stuff, to be sure . . .
And then there is the Gospel reading, John 8:31-42:
Jesus said to those Jews who believed in him,
"If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples,
and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."
Words to remember . . .
They answered him, "We are descendants of Abraham
and have never been enslaved to anyone.
How can you say, 'You will become free'?"
These Jews want answers, their man Jesus has them:
"Amen, amen, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin.
Well. The psychology of sin, from a first-century rabbi! A point makable in any homily on this liturgical day.
There’s more, leaving a verse or two for the scholar to decipher. Jesus shifts his tone. Remember, the day of reckoning is coming for this principled man and we are in Passion Week:
“I know that you are descendants of Abraham. But you are trying to kill me,
because my word has no room among you.
He explains, for the umpteenth time.
“I tell you what I have seen in the Father's presence;
do what you have heard from the Father."
Stubbornly, they pick on the “father” idea, being of a one-track mind. "Our father is Abraham," they say.
"If you were Abraham's children,” he responded, “you would be doing the works of Abraham. But now you are trying to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God.”
With this the homilist can leave off, because the translator leaves most of us in the cold.
More later, perhaps, when this holder of a Licentiate in Sacred Theology (S.T.L), rushed by the usual torrent of demands and obligations, has time . . .