Homily for Tuesday
34th Week of Ordinary Time
Nov. 23, 2021
Dan 2: 31-45
Christian Brothers, St. Joseph Residence, New
Rochelle, N.Y.
“This was the dream; the interpretation we
shall also give in the king’s presence” (Dan 2: 36).
One of the themes of the Book of Daniel is that wisdom comes from God. Thus on several occasions—another will be tomorrow’s 1st reading—Daniel, faithful servant of the true God, is able to interpret mysteries that the wise men of Babylon cannot. If we want to interpret our lives rightly, we must interpret them in the light of God’s word, in the light of Jesus Christ, in the light of the authentic charism of our religious family.
This particular dream speaks of the decline
and fall of kingdoms and the victory of “the God of heaven” (2:37). We can interpret it, as most commentators do,
in view of the Middle Eastern regimes that ruled Israel between the Babylonian
Empire and the kingdom of Syria, up to the time of the Maccabean revolt,
inspiring hope for Israel’s deliverance—the context in which Daniel was
written.
In our time we can also discern that no
kingdom, no empire (“The sun never sets on the British Empire”—hah!), not even
a great republic, is eternal. None of
our lives and our plans has permanence.
Only “the God of heaven” is eternal and "stands forever" (2:44). So in all our planning, all our endeavors,
all our hopes, all our difficulties, we look to him—our one sure hope for
deliverance and eternal life.
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