Word to the Wise
Friday, November 26, 2021 - Friday in the 34th Week in Ordinary Time
[Dan 7:2-14 and Luke 21:29-33]As the visions during the night continued, I saw One like a son of man coming, on the clouds of heaven; when he reached the Ancient One and was presented before him, he received dominion, glory, and kingship nations and peoples of every language serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not be taken away, his kingship shall not be destroyed. [Daniel} Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. [Luke]
The Book of Daniel in the Old Testament, like the Book of Revelation in the New Testament, was written to comfort a community under persecution. In the case of the former, it was the persecution of Jews under the Greek-oriented rule of Antiochus Epiphanes (which gave rise to the Maccabeean revolt). In the case of the latter, it was the persecution of the Christians under the Roman empire. Vivid and coded symbolism are features of an entire (and popular) genre of literature in biblical times - apocalyptic literature. In the case of these two books, the message is to stand firm and know that ultimate deliverance from crisis and persecution will occur.
In my own time, the publication in 1970 of THE LATE GREAT PLANET EARTH by Hal LIndsey led to all kinds of speculation about the end of time. He put together material from Daniel, Ezekiel and Revelation plus political events like the establishment of Israel to predict that the end of time would occur in the 1980's. Obviously, his prediction was in vain, but the book was enormously popular, just as apocalyptic and eschatological (Jesus' second coming) language was when the books of Daniel and Revelation were composed.
An old Louisiana saying comes to my mind. "When you are up to your rear in alligators, it is hard to remember the initial objective is to drain the swamp." It is hard to "stand firm" against anti- or non- religious secularism and consumerism with a view to Jesus' second coming. But that is what the Lord has challenged us to do. No human prediction should be allowed to stampede us or distract us. This coming Sunday, the First Sunday in Advent, we begin the story of our ultimate hope once more and know why it is that we stand firm. AMEN