It has been a few days after the first year anniversary of the lockdown in Metro Manila and we are back again to having no public Masses because of the sudden surge in Covid-19 cases.

I’m so grateful that there are churches that are live streaming their Holy Masses. Catholics can still join in the celebration from their homes as long as they have an internet connection.

Last night before I fell asleep, I had some insights and reflections again about all these that are happening to us. One of the people I remembered was the prophet, Daniel.

Let me share them with you in this blog post.

By the way, because I remembered Daniel before bed last night, I read his story tonight before bed to my youngest child who was named after this wise and holy man.

Daniel was originally from Judah. He was an Israelite. But, he was taken to Babylon, together with other men during the Babylonian exile.

While in Babylon, he was far from his country and their temple in Jerusalem. But he remained faithful to God and continued to practice his faith even though he was in a foreign land.

He could not worship God in the temple in Jerusalem but he continued to worship and pray to Him inside his room. He nourished his faith and his relationship with God through this practice while in exile in Babylon.

Now that we are on home quarantine, we are like in exile. We could not go to our churches to worship and pray because of this pandemic.

But we can, like Daniel, continue to nourish our spirits by being faithful to God in worship and prayer inside our rooms or homes.

Did God stop communicating to Daniel because he was not able to worship in their temple in Jerusalem? No.

Daniel kept growing in wisdom that he eventually became a member of the royal court.

Did God stop blessing Daniel because he was not able to worship in their temple in Jerusalem? No.

In fact, Daniel rose in power while in Babylon and he became an adviser of King Darius, the Persian who took over Babylon after King Nebuchadnezzar.

Did Daniel complain or fight with the Babylonians and the Kings who were the rulers during his exile? No.

King Darius even became his friend and by his humble and faithful witness, King Darius came to believe that Daniel’s God is the One True God.

Daniel’s example is something that we could ponder on this Lent. It would be wise for us to imitate him and follow his example to faithfulness and humility.

Like Jesus, he chose to follow the rulers of Babylons, except in living out his faith. But he was not violent or defiant. He was humble and he accepted the authority above him at that time.

Sometimes, God allows bad people to be in power as a means to test or purify his people. Even Jesus did not resort to violence during the Roman rule in Israel. Instead, He chose to abide by the laws of the empire and even paid taxes. He said, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s. Give to God what is God’s.”

As we continue to be on home quarantine, may we be like Daniel. May we learn to submit to the authorities that God has ordained to be upon us now. Let us, by our witness, show others what it means to be true followers of God.

May we be like Jesus, too. Let us learn to be obedient through our sufferings. Let us be humble. Let us not resort to violence, be it in words or actions. Instead of complaining about what we cannot do during this pandemic, may we learn to silence ourselves and let our actions speak for us.

Speaking of complaining, my blog post prior to this one was titled Complainers: Are You One of Them? You might want to read it too.

God is ever-present to us all. He is everywhere.

No structure or building can contain our God. He is not limited by time or space.

Thus, let us remember that even if we can only worship and pray to God inside our homes or our rooms during this quarantine, God will still come to us and speak to us. He will not stop communicating with us and blessing us.

Let us, then, continue to worship God in spirit and truth. That is what is more important than the location of our worship or prayer.

God will meet us where we are. What is more important is that our hearts seek Him with all sincerity. Isn’t this what the Psalmist wrote in Psalm 139? “where can I flee from your presence?”

We can never be too far from God. Didn’t He send His only Son, Jesus, to the world to save us? How much more if we desire in our hearts to worship Him and come before Him in prayer?

May these things that I shared here give you peace and inspire you to be more like Daniel at this time of “exile.”