Bible
Study: Daniel 2, 31 to 45. And Luke 21, 5
to 11.
In today’s
first reading, we encounter the prophet Daniel displaying before the king a talent
very similar to that of Joseph who not only told King Pharaoh his dream but
also gave the interpretation as well. If you recall, it was precisely Joseph’s
ability to tell Pharaoh his dream about the seven years of plenty and seven
years of famine that catapulted Joseph to the position of Prime Minister of
Egypt. Pharaoh knew that this was no ordinary talent and whoever could tell a
person his dream must surely have connection with God.
And so we
see Daniel today telling the king his very dream in details. He said: “You saw,
O king, and behold, a great image…. The head of this image was of fine gold,
its breast and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and
partly of clay. As you looked, a stone
was cut out by no human hand, and it smote the image on its feet of iron and clay,
and broke them in pieces; then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and
the gold, all together were broken in pieces, and became like the chaff of the
summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, so that not a trace of
them could be found. But the stone that struck the image became a great
mountain and filled the whole earth.” Daniel 2, 31 to 35.
At this
point, the king was completely dumbfounded. Daniel who was not in his mind
while he was sleeping was here telling him everything he dreamt about. This is
not an ordinary human feat. Then Daniel proceeded to give an interpretation.
According to Daniel, each item on the image represents a kingdom, one of gold
followed by that of silver, then bronze, iron and clay but there shall arise a
kingdom from stone cut by no human mind (meaning of Divine Origin) and this
kingdom shall shatter to pieces every other kingdom that came before and it
shall fill the whole earth.
Wow! This was
Daniel interpreting exactly what has not come to pass in the person of Jesus
Christ; the king who was born by no human means and whose reign now fills the
whole earth. This was hundreds of years before Jesus would be born yet his
birth was already being prophesied. In our Gospel passage this morning, we see Jesus
himself talking about something that would happen in the future; the fact that the
temple in Jerusalem would be destroyed and that many false prophets would come
claiming to Christ, that there shall be wars and tumults and the reign of
terrorists.
And true
to the words of Jesus’ prophecy, this is exactly what we see happening today.
The great Jerusalem temple was actually destroyed, all that is left of it is a
wailing war and pilgrims to Israel still go there to pray. Many false prophets
have actually arisen and we have many of them here in our country where
churches are springing up every day and becoming dignified business centres. We
have never stopped hearing of wars and now the new one is terrorism on a global
scale.
Dear friends,
what does all this say to us? That God alone knows the future and at times, he
reveals the future to us through dreams, visions or trances. But then, we must
be careful not to jump into quick conclusions about our dreams because the fact
that we have certain dreams does not mean their contents are directly meant for
us. The king who saw the great image of gold, bronze, silver, iron and stone
never met Jesus Christ, yet God was showing him something that was going to
happen many many years after. But that of Pharaoh was something going to happen
in his lifetime and it came to pass just as Joseph said. This means that when
it comes to dreams, there are no clear cut formulas. It remains on the level of
mystery! So, the fact that you see something in your dream does not mean it
will happen just as you saw it and if you do not have an interpreter, you
should not go about feeling sad or thinking you are going to die because its
content might not even happen in your very lifetime.
Again, we
see that God gives certain person the ability to see dreams and interpret them.
This tells us that God is so powerful and the more we open ourselves to him,
the more he allows us share in his power. We experience God’s power in our
lives in different ways as St. Paul makes us understand in 1st Corinthians
12, 28 to 31: “And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second
prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, then healers, helpers,
administrators, speakers in various kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all
prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all possess gifts of healing?
Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? But earnestly desire the higher
gifts.
Today we
mark the memorial of Andrew Dung Lac and companions. They were murdered under a
fierce persecution against Christianity in their attempt to spread the Gospel
in Vietnam. The stories of the martyrs challenge us to be brave and defend our
faith no matter what we may face.
Let us
Pray:
Lord
Jesus, may we, like Daniel grow daily in our Spiritual life and bestow upon us your
gifts that through us many may come to know God. Amen.
Good morning.
Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you.
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