Lectionary 504 and 505

504.doc

Scripture: Lectionary 504: Daniel 2:31-45, Resp. Daniel 3:57.58.59.60.61. Luke 21:5-11:

Daniel is considered a prophet in our Scriptural tradition. He also is one of the key sources for the Book of Revelation (the Apocalypse). However, we see him as an interpreter of dreams who helps the king named Nebuchadnezzar unravel a disturbing dream that he has of a huge statue made up of different precious metals and the foot of which is a composite of iron and clay. Daniel sees the different parts of the statue with their corresponding metals as the succession of the kingdoms of power that follow after the present strong king Nebucadnezzar.

A huge stone appears and destroys the various components and reduces them to fine dust. Daniel explains this as the crumbling under God all of the nations mentioned by Daniel thus showing us that the author writes at a later stage and knows the history of these powerful domains under ruthless kings. He so interprets the dream that he gains favor with Nebuchadnezzar and thus extols the God of Israel. Actually, the dream is a type of history of salvation showing God’s power in every age up to the present. The author is one of the more recent for the Old Testament . He composed it after 165 B.C. His description of the events are close to the time of Antiochus Epiphanes, the one who set up the abomination of desolation ( a statue of Zeus) in the Temple of Jerusalem. The work is contemporaneous with that of I and II Maccabees which was our reading for last week.

God has been compared to a “rock”in the Psalms. In our reading to day we see the almighty power of God behind that great stone that rolls down crushing all the materials in the large statue in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream.

Daniel belongs to the genre or type of literature called Haggadah Midrash where a story is developed to bring home God’s message in some specific areas of life. Haggadah is the telling or narration of the story and midrash is the penetrating point of application to some need within the person or the community. Perhaps, the message is the same as the Passover story: “Pour out thy wrath upon the nations that knew thee not.”

In the Gospel Jesus foretells the occupation and destruction of the city of Jerusalem and its Temple. The Romans will besiege it and leave no stone in place; Jerusalem will be crushed by the powerful weapons of war of Rome. Jesus does not reveal the specific time when this would happen but within fifty years of his death, Jerusalem will be destroyed. Luke, our omniscient evangelist writes about this after all of this was known. He assures us that Jesus’ words are true and that they live on through the entrustment of Luke’s fidelity to the oral and written traditions he knew. Amen

Scripture: Lectionary: 505: Daniel 5:1-6, 13-14. 16-17.23-28. Daniel Responsorial and verses Dan. 3: 62.63.64.65.66.67. Luke: 21:12-19:

Daniel continues his enthralling gifts of language, wisdom, and interpreting of dreams and signs. In this chapter we are presented the scene of a mysterious wrist and hand appearing on a wall where Belshazzar, the son of Nebuchadnezzar,is celebrating with his officers and their wives. They are desecrating the gold, silver, and copper cups that were taken from the Temple by drinking from them. Suddenly the puzzling words MENE, TEKEL, PERES are seen on the wall and all are frightened. Daniel is called in to interpret them. They are what will be decided against the king and his nation. First, the days of the kingdom are numbered (Mene); the balance shows that the king and his courtiers are found wanting; and finally, (Peres) the kingdom will be divided among two powerful nations of the Medes and the Persians .

These unusual words were written in Aramaic but in such a way that only Daniel a Hebrew could ferret out their meaning after reading down and then across them. The literal translation of the words refer to coins: a maneh is a shekel, then another shekel, and finally a shekel and a half. The author thus is using a code for a play on words that are interpreted by Daniel.

Our response is a continuation of chapter three from Daniel and thus ties in with the message of the book through the canticle of the three young men liberated by God from the flames of the furnace.

We are helped in appreciating the aims of the Book of Daniel, namely, God frustrates the plans of the powerful and protects his servants in such times of danger, oppression, and temptation. They are to remain faithful to the living and everlasting God of Israel. Its consoling message shows us there is a Divine Plan (thus God is working through and behind history in a most salvific manner. God’s plan will eventually bring an end to the trials of the righteous.

In turning to the Gospel we see that Jesus is preparing us as faithful disciples to trust that we will be able to endure the sufferings and oppression we may face from threats, wars and violence. The reading continues what the Feast of Christ the King celebrates as God’s victorious Son overcomes all evils and death. Amen.