By: Alex J. Nagem © January 7, 2014
” Indeed, God speaks once, or twice, yet no one notices it. In a dream, a vision of the night, when sound sleep falls on men, while they slumber in their beds, then He opens the ears of men, and seals their instruction.” Job 33:14-16
“And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly. But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.”She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” Matthew 1:19-21
“While Pilate was sitting on the judge’s seat, his wife sent him this message: “Don’t have anything to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him.” Matthew 27:19
There are many passages in the Bible when dreams played a role in the decisions of or instructions to individuals. We all have had dreams of various kinds, some pleasant that bring us joy, some not so pleasant where we wake in a cold sweat, and some that leave us questioning the meaning of the visions that filled our head for that period of sleep. I ask of you, why do we have dreams? Do dreams have meaning to us? Are dreams influenced by our deep desires or just what we eat within a few hours of falling asleep?
I have had several religious-themed dreams which I have transcribed to paper. One dream I came across while looking through my journals was my presence at what appeared to be the Last Supper of Christ with the twelve apostles. The room was dark except for a concentration of light shining down on the table where Jesus and the apostles sat. The scene was colorful. No words were spoken in the dream though there was movement of the apostles around the table. I was focused on the smile of Jesus as I walked toward the table. The dream lasted no more than sixty seconds before I woke. Now I am sure we all have the same thought, “what was the meaning of the dream?” To give you a hint to the meaning, Lori and I have a picture of the Last Supper in our bedroom. It has hung in our bedroom for many years. The origin of hanging the picture in the bedroom was to remind us to give thanks at the beginning and end of each day. I don’t know if there was any meaning behind the dream. The dream may have had its beginning with me staring at the picture in the dim light before I fell asleep. In any case, it was nice to be invited to the Last Supper in my dream.
If I wanted to interpret this dream, I could say there were several possible meanings. The dream may be a reminder that I should attend Mass more frequently throughout the week. Maybe I need to be closer to God in my thoughts and actions. Maybe I am to become a deacon in the Church…this one made me laugh out loud so that interpretation is out of the answer pool. Maybe the dream is caused by the picture in the bedroom as I wrote earlier. If I was a betting man, my money would be on the picture as the source of the dream.
The psychological answer to the reasons for a particular dream varies in nature depending on the author and research. Generally, dreams have been the topic of research and interpretation for centuries, and we still haven’t found a concrete answer for the content or purpose of dreams. This gray-haired traveler through the journey of life has not found a meaning to dreams that I can share with confidence to the reader. I do provide the following from Dr. Gerard Condon, one-time spiritual director of the Pontifical Irish College in Rome and presently Professor of Spirituality at St. Patrick College in Thurles, Ireland, “any interpretation of dreams in order to understand what sign God is sending us must be prudently restrained. An analysis of dreams should not dominate over our encounters with people.”
Fr. John Bartunek, LC wrote in Can God Speak To Me In My Dreams? “It is possible to give too much importance to what happens in a dream. Although God can speak through dreams, that doesn’t mean that everything that happens in our dreams comes from God. The psychology of dreams is complex and confusing. The interpretation of dreams is not an exact science, by any stretch. Although God can certainly speak to the soul through dreams, he will never contradict himself; he would never inspire someone in a dream to disobey his commandments or abandon the duties of their state in life, for example. And so, just as we can be grateful for dreams that encourage us in our relationship with God, we should not allow ourselves to be overly distracted by dreams that cause turbulence in our souls. That being said, even good Catholic psychologists will admit that intense and repetitive dreams can sometimes give clues to minor or major psychological disturbances. But they are never sufficient for a complete diagnosis all on their own. We are members of Christ’s Church, enlightened by grace and renewed by the New Covenant. As a result, we have been given God’s self-revelation in Christ. This provides us with objective reference points of doctrine, of truth. We find these in the Bible, in the Tradition of the Church, and in the official teaching of the Magisterium (for example, the Catechism). These sources of knowledge should always be our primary guides when we are faced with decisions or dilemmas.”
With all that said, my dream of the Last Supper experience led me to my favorite pew in the Cathedral of St. Joseph. As I sat there staring at the icon on the ceiling of Jesus sitting on His throne, I wondered if there was a meaning to the dream. What was Jesus trying to tell me or was the dream caused by the picture or some subconscious feeling trying to surface? I sat in the Cathedral for some time, thinking of Jesus and His smile in the dream. I thought of what He had accomplished by His life and death for us, for me. I thought of how I wanted to make changes in my life that would be more pleasing to God and to my spiritual direction. I thought of how I should be more drawn to my Christian belief. I thought of how I should place my thoughts on my religious experiences, the Trinity, and my religious trek on paper. I tried to think of a meaning to that dream, but I could not. If the dream was a direction from God, I wonder what He was telling me. Alas, the jester in me remains true to form.
You and your family are remembered in my prayers and I hope me and my family are remembered in yours.
“Vocatus Atque non Vocatus, Deus Aderit”
Alex J. Nagem