March 30, 2009: Monday of 5th Wk. Lent (Deacon Roger Navarra)

By Deacon Roger Navarra

Who in here watches Law and Order on TV? Or maybe I should say Law and Orders, since there are several of them on now days. I really enjoy them. For those who don’t watch it, usually the first half of the show is spent with the police catching the bad guys, thus the Law part of the title. Then the second half is with the DA’s office prosecuting them, thus the Order part of the title. These shows can be interesting, in that sometimes at the beginning of the show you are certain who the bad guys are, but often times after ALL the facts are gathered someone who appears guilty is found to be innocent.

Well, this show is what I thought about when I read this reading from Daniel. We see Suzanna, a beautiful and godly woman, who is totally innocent, but these corrupt elders accuse her of adultery. And even her own servants, family, and friends didn’t believe her.
Only Daniel, with the grace of God, saw her virtue and worked to prove her accusers wrong. How affirming Daniel’s belief in her must have been! ---How good it must have felt to have someone believe in her!

So consider this: If Daniel was this passionate in his belief in Susanna’s character, how much more will Jesus stand with us when Satan, the “accuser of our brothers,” tries to wear us down. Jesus sees the good in us, not just the bad. He doesn’t fall for the malicious whispers of the devil. He can see though Satan because he already defeated him on the cross.
We all have days when it seems we are under attack, ether from outside or inside. Maybe something we said was misunderstood, causing people to question our motives. Maybe we made a big mistake and we can’t stop replaying it in our minds. Or maybe we are just feeling downcast and having trouble looking beyond our shortcomings. When you are down remember who you are---a child of God, who always looks at you with love, pride, and affirmation. He will always stand with you. He will always speak words of encouragement to you. He will always turn aside the accusations of the devil----always!

Remember 2 things from this reading, 1st we don’t want to falsely judge anyone. Judgment is the Lord’s, not ours. 2nd if we have been judged falsely, or even when we do sin, our Lord loves us unconditionally.

Remember that in Christ, we are free from all condemnation. Remember that we are the apple of our Father’s eye. With God’s word behind us and his presence within us, we can be completely assured that we are worth far more than what the devil or our circumstances may want us to believe!