The Roman Catholic Lectionary today brings us texts which stress the importance of acting in a manner consistent with the faith we profess. Frair Jude Winkler explains some of the names for God and angels which are used in the passage from the Book of Daniel which describes the survival of the three Jewish young men in the fiery furnace where they had been cast as punishment for maintaining the required action of their faith to have but One God. Steve Scholer of Creighton University encourages us to put our faith in action by taking a picture in our mind’s eye of the good we have provided by living our faith in service to others. He hopes that these memories will be as vivid and as lasting as Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. Our heritage of faith is the story, as Friar Jude reminds us, of our encounter with the person of Jesus. In the Gospel of John, today, Jesus challenges the Pharisees who claim the heritage of faith as sons of Abraham to act in faith as Abraham and let the Love of God show them who Jesus is. The leap of faith which requires us to reassess and revisit our faith heritage may ironically be very difficult. Our stubborn stiff-necked attitude may be an obstacle to revisit that which we think we have passed by. Let’s look into the the fire and see that our faith in God continues to keep us from self destruction.
"Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego." 2002. 9 Apr. 2014 <http://asis.com/~stag/heroes/shadrach.html>
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