Thanksgiving Meditation - Tomorrow's reading reflection

The Book of Daniel draws on older traditions that reached back into the Babylonian exile and had become part of Israel’s heritage. Like Daniel, Israel itself had been preserved alive from the dangers of the lions’ den of the exile. About four hundred years later, during the persecution of Antiochus Epiphanes (who had inherited a part of the empire of Alexander the Great), Israel again experienced horrendous persecution and the collapse of the holy city. The long years in-between, silent, monotonous years, did not seem to have achieved anything. Even though they were marked by intense interest in the law of Moses and an attempt to obey that law punctiliously, now this lowering cloud and whirlwind of destruction swept through their lives again.

Daniel advises the people that God is preparing a letter to the nations and peoples of every language. This letter will proclaim that Yahweh, the God of Israel’s ancestors, is the living God, enduring forever, whose kingdom shall not be destroyed, and his dominion shall be without end. While the monotonous years provide the opportunity to appreciate and safeguard our prayer and fidelity with God, the tempestuous period of trial becomes a divinely appointed way of casting down those walls and sharing our God and our family with the world.

(Adapted from ACP)

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Today is Thanksgiving Day in the United States.  A holiday built around gratitude.    Families and friends gather together to enjoy good food and time together.  Weeks before the holiday the grocery stores abound with the ingredients for traditional thanksgiving meal including turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie.  While the focus can be on the feast there are other signs of Thanksgiving as well.  Many Facebook users have been posting a reason to feel grateful for each and every day in November.  Jobs and warm homes and loving families are popular items on the gratitude lists.  And it is so nice to see the Thanksgiving holiday expand beyond the actual Thanksgiving day.  This societal embrace of gratitude has me praying about Thanksgiving in a different way.

(Adapted from Mary Lee Brock)

Clogged with empty pleasures, they could not read writing on the wall - Tomorrow's reading reflection

“But the God in whose hand is your life breath and the whole course of your life, you did not glorify.” (Daniel 5:23)

The king and his lords were triumphant.  They had demolished kingdoms and taken their people captive.  Drunk with power, they taunted their victims. Their minds clogged with empty pleasures, they could not read the writing on the wall.

Though he was young, Daniel had clear vision that was not for sale.  With his friends, he endured exile with grace and simplicity; they did not trade the covenant for purple robes and golden collars.  Freed by the presence of God, Daniel could see that corruption and stupidity will not endure. 

Age does not guarantee that wisdom will follow.  More years on earth may mean more clutter in the soul.  We have seen plenty of things rise and fall. We have heard the calls for change before.  Hope is for the young who dare to think big.  We call our cynicism wise: there is nothing new in history.

Yet, seen more closely, this world is a surprising place.  Pope Francis disrupts our complacency with his striking moves towards those at the margins.  In many places, the cry for justice persists despite crushing obstacles in the way. The powerful stumble toward peace talks as a last resort.  Like Daniel, people draw strength from what is more real and true than the fraud that surrounds them.

Young people have less cluttered souls.  They may be hindered by inexperience and at times, displaced zeal, but all-the-same a society that does not listen to the young and draw strength from the exiles in its midst may, too, find its days are numbered.

(Adapted from Jeanne Schuler)

Ends and beginnings - Tomorrow's reading reflection

As we near the end of the church year we meet some of the most symbolic literature in the Bible, dealing with the end of the world, which also ranks among the Bible’s most popular parts among certain circles with a taste for the apocalyptic style. We must be careful in interpreting it, as the language is highly coloured and evocative. Jesus offers a word of caution when he declares, “Take care not to be misled.” The liturgy provides the surest way to apply these passages to our lives, bidding us take responsibility for our actions, examine where we are spiritually, and face God honestly. Yet the end gives way to a new beginning. With the imminence of Advent and four weeks later of our Saviour’s birth, we are given a new chance, a new lease of life. The end and the beginning, responsibly taking stock and then beginning over again by God’s mercy, are equally important.

As we look back, we may see so many efforts, badly inspired, controlled by personal interests and pride. We see a statue, similar to that shown in Nebuchadnezzar’s vision . This statue with its four principal sections represented the four great kingdoms, as the Israelites remembered them: of the Babylonians, Medes, Persians and Greeks. No matter how colossal they were, and seemingly invincible, they collapsed. A stone hewn from the mountains struck the feet of the statue which were partly iron and partly tile and smashed them. This stone stood for Israel. Out of seeming, insignificant people, whose bodies seemed dead and hopeless according to Paul (Rom 4:19), God creates new life, comforts the ruins of Zion, and fills the holy city with “joy and gladness.”

(Adapted from ACP)