Greatly Beloved

The Story

By now, Daniel was an old man. He had been taken captive to Babylon as a teenager and had lived there for nearly seventy years.

One day, he was reading the book of the prophet Jeremiah. He noticed that God had said the exile would last seventy years. The time was almost up.

So Daniel did not sit back and wait. He prayed. He fasted, wore sackcloth, and confessed the sins of his people. “O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for thine own sake.”

While Daniel was still praying, the angel Gabriel came to him, about the time of the evening sacrifice.

Gabriel said, “O Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding. At the beginning of thy supplications the commandment came forth, and I am come to shew thee; for thou art greatly beloved.”

Reflection