Tuesday of the
Thirty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time
(Daniel 2:31-45; Luke 21:5-11)
The United States, as powerful a nation as it is, cannot
control the course of history. It could
not even keep a democratically elected government ruling in Afghanistan. With both
Chinese and Russian expansionism as well as an independent European Union, the United
States must reassess its purposes. The
prophet Daniel perceives work of this order for Babylon in today’s first
reading.
The Book of the Prophet Daniel is more historical novel
than Israelite prophecy. Nevertheless,
there is real truth in its message. In
today’s reading the book’s protagonist warns the king of Babylonia that his
rule is soon to come to an end. However,
the author (whoever he may be) has all the rulers of the earth in mind. His message is that they should not strive to
conquer more lands but to establish justice where they rule. Such statesmanship is necessary because in
the end God will judge the nations. In the
author’s prophetic imagination, God’s kingdom is the stone that becomes a
mountain filling the whole earth.
Americans have cause to be grateful for the blessings
heaped upon their country. In its best
days the United States has responded graciously by contributing to a better
world. Certainly standing up to the
tyranny in the Soviet Union benefited all humanity. But Americans should not think that their
country’s every initiative is just. Its leaders
have spawned injustice in certain times and places for which they are subject
to God’s judgment.
