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“The Vision of Daniel” (detail)
by Willem Drost, 1650
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Commentary:
Reading 1: Daniel 7:2-14
Commentary on Dn 7:2-14
This selection from the Book of Daniel, Daniel’s dream, is the first of four apocalyptic visions presented. Scripture scholars agree that the vision of the four beasts represents four successive pagan empires: the Babylonians, the Medes, the Persians, and the Greeks. These kingdoms are represented by different metals (see Daniel 2) and the numeric value of the horns represents the numbers of rulers in the various kingdoms.
The last horn of the fourth beast, the final ruler (…a little horn, sprang out of their midst) is considered to be Antiochus IV Epiphanes, the final Greek ruler who persecuted the Hebrews before that kingdom collapsed (see 1 Maccabees 1:41-64). The vision of the heavenly court that follows describes how two of the beasts (the Medes and the Persians, now greatly diminished) are allowed to survive for a period. The the Messianic King (“One like a son of man coming, on the clouds of heaven”) comes from above, were the four beasts came from below. This kingdom is established for all eternity “…his kingship shall not be destroyed.”
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Responsorial Psalm: Daniel 3:75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81
R. Give glory and eternal praise to him!
Commentary on Dn 3:75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81
The selection from Daniel used as a Psalm Response is once more take from the chant of by Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. This long hymn of praise (from verse 24 to verse 90) is is broken into three litanies. This selection begins the second. It praises God's creation of the earth and the life that flourishes by his will. Subsequent sections praise humankind in its various categories.
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Gospel: Luke 21:29-33
Commentary on Lk 21:29-33
As part of his discourse on the destruction of Jerusalem, St. Luke’s Gospel gives us the Parable of the Fig Tree (see also Mark 13:28-32 and Matthew 24:32-35). In Palestine nothing looks as dead in the winter as a Fig Tree, however, in spring they bloom to new life (see also Joel 2:22). This imagery is seen at two levels. First the Lord himself must undergo his passion before taking his place at the right hand of the Father. Second, more prophetically, the Christian community must also undergo trials before coming to its own spring-time of rebirth, alluding to the persecutions to come.
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Reflection:
One of the greatest barriers to manned interplanetary travel is the fact that when exposed to weightlessness, the human body loses bone mass at an alarming rate. Astronauts who serve 6 months at the international space station expect to lose ten percent of their bone density in that time. When they come back, they must go through rigorous rehabilitation to recover from these effects in spite of the fact that they work out every day when they are off-world.
Why is this? It is because gravity is absent. The lack of gravity tells the body it does not need all that structural support, so it erodes, as do the muscles that drive them. In the Gospel, the Parable of the Fig Tree does not speak to this phenomenon, but it does prove the same point. When we as Christians are not challenged, when we simply take for granted that our faith is unopposed, it erodes just like bone density in an astronaut.
The worst part of the erosion of our faith is we may not notice it until we really need strength of faith. When we reach out for those reserves of strength that flow from faith and find that they have been depleted we may find ourselves in real trouble. It is for this reason that we should rejoice when we are persecuted and thank those who challenge our beliefs. We recently took a fairly hard shot at the ACLU (see yesterday’s weekday post). Given that they challenge Christians in a society that is at least nominally pro-Christian, they provide a valuable service. They make sure we do not become complacent and find our faith weakened to a point of non-existence. (Given recent developments such as the Supreme Court decision to re-define marriage and the persecution of the Church by LGBT supporters it looks like we may be in for some serious muscle-building.)
As we think about all of the visions we are given in scripture of the trials and persecutions the Church and its Hebrew ancestors underwent, let us thank God for that resistance. Those times of testing gave us strength. As we recall the lives of martyrs, we give thanks to God because they showed us how to endure the trials that may come. The Lord tells us in parable that a grain of wheat must fall to the ground and die if it is to have new life. Let us accept the trials that come our way; welcoming them as a chance to exercise our faith and grow stronger in it.
Pax
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