The first reading tells of the humiliation of the king Belshazzar during a banquet where a thousand people were invited. It was an abundant banquet in which the king, his lords, his wives and concubines drank to stupor. In addition to being a banquet, in which the thousand guests got drunk, it became a profanation.

Nebuchadnezzar (father of King Belshazzar) had plundered the temple of Jerusalem; he had taken away many sacred vessels. The King Belshazzar, drunk, had the sacred chalices brought to drink inside them: it was really a desire for profanation.

But usually, wine plays bad tricks and the king saw a hand appearing and writing three mysterious words: MENE, TEKEL, and PEREZ. They are the names of three kind of money: MENE (the golden coin of one of the parable of Jesus (Lk 19) with the meaning of MEASURE), TEKEL or SHEKEL (the actual currency in Israel with the meaning of WEIGHT), PEREZ (the small change, the one naira, with the meaning of DIVISION). God was sending to the drunken king a message that will need the interpretation of the wise Daniel: God has measured you and said: Stop! God has weighed you and your weight is too low! Your kingdom is broken, divided in two parts”.

Like King Belshazzar, we too need to be measured, hoping not to be found wanting. It is possible also to measure ourselves, what we call check (examination) of conscience.

What is the unit of measurement? It is Jesus Christ and his wonderful message of love. Does our life conform to what he taught us? How far are we still from him? Well, the good news is that the distance is not unbridgeable; it is not an unreachable goal. We know our limitations; we are aware of being sinners, lazy, sometimes betrayers, but we also know God’s forgiveness and experience his grace every day. Grace is the help that God gives to those who want to conform to the image of Christ, grace bridges the distance between us and him. My brothers and sisters, it is time of conversion! Let us look at our life, let us ask for forgiveness, let us desire to change, let us ask God for the grace of conversion for a life full of love!

If our life is consistent with the Gospel, it is also possible to be persecuted for our belonging to Christ like the saints we remember today.

The text of the Gospel is a photograph of what the first Christian communities were experiencing: persecutions, killings, painful divisions that reach into families. The novelty of the Gospel, its liberating message often causes the violent reaction of the established order. The denunciation and the consequent refusal to bow before the idols made the disciples of the Master to be considered extremely dangerous elements for the society of the time. Living the beatitudes is very, very dangerous. But “by your perseverance you will secure your lives” which means: with your fidelity to the lifestyle of the Master, even if crucified with him, you will be women and men with a new life, which never ends.

A German Luteran pastor, a theologian, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, protagonist of the Christian resistance against Nazism, accused of conspiracy against Adolf Hitler, before being hanged in a concentration camp said: “If someone took us to court and accused us of being Christians, would he find evidence to condemn us?”