The Catholic Calendar and Daily Meditation
for Saturday, November 26, 2005
Saturday of the Thirty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time

Scripture from today's Liturgy of the Word:
Daniel 7:15-27
Daniel 3:82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87
Luke 21:34-36

A reflection on today's Sacred Scripture:

Today we hear the final readings of Cycle A of the Church year. Obviously, they are of special importance and deserve special reflection. Daniel has been most adept at interpreting the dreams of King Nebuchadnezzar and of his son, Belshazzar (the dreams about "feet of clay" and "the handwriting on the wall"). They were both quite frightening, the latter resulting in the death of Belshazzar that very night!). But now, Daniel himself has a dream that causes him personal terror--the dream of the colossal battle between God and Mammon, Ultimate Good and Ultimate evil.

As we read the Book of Daniel, we too are struck with a degree of terror. To what extent does this battle affect us, we ask. We might so easily just pass it off as history or fantasy. But Jesus summarizes His whole teaching in today's very short Gospel. The hints Jesus gives of cosmic disruptions somehow strike home more than the first reading. And Jesus' final words ring in our ears, "Be alert at all times!".

Dear friends, let us meditate on the ways in which we are preparing ourselves, actively and earnestly, for the Day of the Lord.

- Msgr. Paul Whitmore
(smartins at frontiernet dot net)

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