Tuesday of the Thirty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time
November 23, 2021
Tuesday of the Thirty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 504
Reading I
Daniel said to Nebuchadnezzar:
“In your vision, O king, you saw a statue,
very large and exceedingly bright,
terrifying in appearance as it stood before you.
The head of the statue was pure gold,
its chest and arms were silver,
its belly and thighs bronze, the legs iron,
its feet partly iron and partly tile.
While you looked at the statue,
a stone which was hewn from a mountain
without a hand being put to it,
struck its iron and tile feet, breaking them in pieces.
The iron, tile, bronze, silver, and gold all crumbled at once,
fine as the chaff on the threshing floor in summer,
and the wind blew them away without leaving a trace.
But the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain
and filled the whole earth.
“This was the dream;
the interpretation we shall also give in the king’s presence.
You, O king, are the king of kings;
to you the God of heaven
has given dominion and strength, power and glory;
men, wild beasts, and birds of the air, wherever they may dwell,
he has handed over to you, making you ruler over them all;
you are the head of gold.
Another kingdom shall take your place, inferior to yours,
then a third kingdom, of bronze,
which shall rule over the whole earth.
There shall be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron;
it shall break in pieces and subdue all these others,
just as iron breaks in pieces and crushes everything else.
The feet and toes you saw, partly of potter’s tile and partly of iron,
mean that it shall be a divided kingdom,
but yet have some of the hardness of iron.
As you saw the iron mixed with clay tile,
and the toes partly iron and partly tile,
the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly fragile.
The iron mixed with clay tile
means that they shall seal their alliances by intermarriage,
but they shall not stay united, any more than iron mixes with clay.
In the lifetime of those kings
the God of heaven will set up a kingdom
that shall never be destroyed or delivered up to another people;
rather, it shall break in pieces all these kingdoms
and put an end to them, and it shall stand forever.
That is the meaning of the stone you saw hewn from the mountain
without a hand being put to it,
which broke in pieces the tile, iron, bronze, silver, and gold.
The great God has revealed to the king what shall be in the future;
this is exactly what you dreamed, and its meaning is sure.”
Responsorial Psalm
- (59b) Give glory and eternal praise to him.
“Bless the Lord, all you works of the Lord,
praise and exalt him above all forever.”
R. Give glory and eternal praise to him.
“Angels of the Lord, bless the Lord,
praise and exalt him above all forever.”
R. Give glory and eternal praise to him.
“You heavens, bless the Lord,
praise and exalt him above all forever.”
R. Give glory and eternal praise to him.
“All you waters above the heavens, bless the Lord,
praise and exalt him above all forever.”
R. Give glory and eternal praise to him.
“All you hosts of the Lord, bless the Lord;
praise and exalt him above all forever.”
R. Give glory and eternal praise to him.
Alleluia
- Alleluia, alleluia.
Remain faithful until death,
and I will give you the crown of life.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
While some people were speaking about
how the temple was adorned with costly stones and votive offerings,
Jesus said, “All that you see here–
the days will come when there will not be left
a stone upon another stone that will not be thrown down.”
Then they asked him,
“Teacher, when will this happen?
And what sign will there be when all these things are about to happen?”
He answered,
“See that you not be deceived,
for many will come in my name, saying,
‘I am he,’ and ‘The time has come.’
Do not follow them!
When you hear of wars and insurrections,
do not be terrified; for such things must happen first,
but it will not immediately be the end.”
Then he said to them,
“Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.
There will be powerful earthquakes, famines, and plagues
from place to place;
and awesome sights and mighty signs will come from the sky.”
Readings for the Optional Memorial of Blessed Miguel Agustín Pro, priest and martyr
Readings for the Optional Memorial of Saint Columban, abbot
Readings for the Optional Memorial of Saint Clement I, pope and martyr
Reflection: FINAL COMING OF THE SON OF GOD
The readings for this week, both the first readings and the Gospel readings, are preparing us to enter into the season of waiting for the Messiah, the Advent, and focus on the signs that foretell the final coming of the Son of Man in glory which are rather unsettling for us who live complacently. When things are complacent, nothing to be looked forward to, then people settle down to a lifestyle that gives importance to things peripheral and fleeting. In today's Gospel, we hear people commenting on the adornments of the temple and votive offerings. Jesus responds which l am sure would have shocked his hearers: “As for these things that you see, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down.” Even his disciples asked him: “When will this happen? What signs can we look for so we will be prepared?” The description of Jesus about the end times is presented in a very frightening manner: 'one nation will rise against another nation. And there will be earthquakes, famines, and plagues and there will be dreadful portents and great signs from heaven.' It is frightening because, we see such signs in front of us and around us. There are wars among nations. One third live in abject poverty leading people to starvation and destitution. The different types of violence unleashed on women and children are very alarming. Added to that is the COVID19 that made us feel that we are living in the apocalyptic times (the last days). Many soothsayers and astrologers predict the future of the globe and the scientists are silent. All of us have gone through this epidemic with fear and anxiety. None of us was an exception to this pandemic. The invitation when such things happen is not to be frightened, but to affirm in the goodness of the Lord who created us and destined us for a safe return to Himself.