Word to the Wise
Tuesday, November 26, 2013 - Tuesday in the 34th Week in Ordinary Time
[Dan 2:31-45 and Luke 21:5-11]The great God has revealed to the king what shall be in the future; this is exactly what you dreamed, and its meaning is sure!
There is a song that I associate with the Disney folks, "A dream is a wish your heart makes!" I'm not sure Nebuchadnezzar would appreciate that sentiment! In any case, Daniel interprets the king's dream and is rewarded for his wisdom and understanding. This is not the place to give a lecture on the Book of Daniel other than to say it is not about our future as some claim. It is an effort on the part of the final author in the years of the Greek rule (about 150 years before Jesus' time) to explain what was going on then by using stories of a hero named Daniel - explaining current events in terms of past events and legends.
That being said, we can enjoy the vivid imagery and the virtues, wisdom and faith of Daniel. Apocalyptic literature is usually very vivid and has a kind of "Halloween-ish" flavor designed to startle and motivate the reader to action! Jesus' own description of the "end times" has this same goal in mind, at least as the gospel writers [the three "synoptic" gospels: Matthew, Mark and Luke] use his sayings. We are challenged to make good use of our lives in preparation for the Lord's return. Tomorrow's passage from Daniel is equally vivid, but we'll take a break for our American Thanksgiving celebration on Thursday. In the meantime, I think we all might want to be careful about singing that song I mentioned! AMEN