Actions performed with sincere devotion and selflessness are seen and valued by a higher power. 

   Eventually yield "increase, abundance and even overflow". 

 

St. Andrew Dung-Lac, priest, and companions, martyrs

 ＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊     

Daniel 1:1-6, 8-20*

(...) As Daniel was resolved

Not to make himself unclean with the king's food or wine, he begged the chief eunuch to spare him this defilement.

By the grace of God, the chief eunuch had been sympathetic to Daniel.But he was afraid of the king, so he said,

"If the king, who has allotted your food and drink, sees that you look more emaciated than the other young men of your age,

he might think ill of me. It will put my life in danger to give in to your wish."

 

Daniel then turned to the steward whom the chief eunuch had put in charge of Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.

"Please test your servants for ten days. Give us only vegetables to eat and water to drink,

and see how we look in comparison with the young men who eat food from the king's table.

Then treat us in accordance with what you see."

 

The steward agreed and tested them for ten days, at the end of which,

they looked healthier and better fed than any of the young men who ate the king's food.

So the steward continued to give them vegetables instead of the choice food and wine.

To these four youths God gave wisdom and proficiency in literature, and to Daniel the gift of interpreting visions and dreams.

 

At the end of the period set by the king for the youths' training, the chief eunuch presented them to Nebuchadnezzar.

The king talked with them and found none to equal Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.

These four became members of the king's court. In any matter of wisdom and discernment about which the king consulted,

he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his whole kingdom.

 

Dn 3:52, 53, 54, 55, 56

Glory and praise for ever!

 

＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊      

Luke 21:1-4

Jesus looked up and saw rich people putting their gifts into the treasury of the temple.

He also saw a poor widow, who dropped in two small coins. And he said, "Truly, I tell you, this poor widow put in more than all of them.

For all of them gave an offering from their plenty; but she, out of her poverty, gave all she had to live on."

 

Gospel Reflection ：

"The Lord notices our dedication and self-giving."

The Mishnah records in the temple in Jerusalem had thirteen chests or treasuries for offerings.

As people dropped their money into the funnels, the copper coins would clang.

So, the more you put in, the bigger the noise, thus attracting people's attention.

In contrast, the two tiny coins which the widow dropped in would hardly have made a sound.

 

Jesus criticized the hypocrisy of making a show of one's religion. Here, he is also challenging a half-hearted service of God.

The rich put in many coins, but it's only a fraction of their wealth.

Therefore, their offering to God is small in comparison to that of the widow.

Her offering would have attracted little attention among the people in the Temple,

 

but it attracted much attention from the Lord, as she gives all she has and so it's a total giving of self,

and an expression of complete trust in God. Saints Andrew Dung-Lac and Companions also made a total self-giving

in their martyrdom and thousands more Vietnamese Christians suffered greatly in waves of anti-Christian persecution

from the nineteenth century onwards. Whether our deed is great or small,

the Lord notices our dedication and self-giving. He knows when it's genuine.