(Please read the Scripture passage before reading the homily.)
Daniel prayed. His prayer came out of the circumstances of his life. His prayer also represented a form of prayer that was developing in Judaism in his lifetime, about 165 years before the birth of Christ.
The Jewish Study Bible1, which I often consult in working on homilies, has a comment I found very interesting. The form of Daniel’s prayer developed out of a personal and penitential style of religious life that was practiced by the people of the Dead Sea Scrolls at Qumram, by the Pharisees and by early Christians.
A Jewish commentary on the books of the Hebrew Bible, what we Christians call the Old Testament, tells us that these books have a value of their own beyond their influence on the Christian Scriptures. Only if Christians understand the Hebrew Scriptures can they hope to understand the life and teaching of Jesus.
We need the books of the Hebrew Bible in order to understand the Gospels and other writings of the Christian authors. St Jerome, who translated the ancient scriptures into the vernacular of his time, said that ignorance of the Bible is ignorance of Christ. The fulness of God’s revelation has to include the books of the Hebrew Bible.
Daniel prayed. He acknowledged the lack of obedience and attention to word of God. He acknowledged the shame of his people. He could only rely on the mercy of God for forgiveness. In continuity with him, we can make the same prayer and look for the same mercy for God,
1 The Jewish Study Bible, Adele Berlin and Marc Zvi Brettler, editors, Oxford University Press, © 1985, 1999 by the Jewish Publication Society (IBSN # 978-0-19-529751-5), p. 1659 (note on Daniel 9:1-27). I recommend this as a good source for biblical studies.