Friday of the Thirty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time

“The Vision of Daniel”
(detail) by  Willem Drost, 1650

 
Readings for Friday of the Thirty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time [1]
 
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible [2]
 
Readings and Commentary: [3]
 
Reading 1: Daniel 7:2-14
 
In a vision I, Daniel, saw during the night,
the four winds of heaven stirred up the great sea,
from which emerged four immense beasts,
each different from the others.
The first was like a lion, but with eagle’s wings.
While I watched, the wings were plucked;
it was raised from the ground to stand on two feet
like a man, and given a human mind.
The second was like a bear; it was raised up on one side,
and among the teeth in its mouth were three tusks.
It was given the order, “Up, devour much flesh.”
After this I looked and saw another beast, like a leopard;
on its back were four wings like those of a bird,
and it had four heads.
To this beast dominion was given.
After this, in the visions of the night I saw the fourth beast,
different from all the others,
terrifying, horrible, and of extraordinary strength;
it had great iron teeth with which it devoured and crushed,
and what was left it trampled with its feet.
I was considering the ten horns it had,
when suddenly another, a little horn, sprang out of their midst,
and three of the previous horns were torn away to make room for it.
This horn had eyes like a man,
and a mouth that spoke arrogantly.
As I watched,
 
Thrones were set up
and the Ancient One took his throne.
His clothing was snow bright,
and the hair on his head as white as wool;
His throne was flames of fire,
with wheels of burning fire.
A surging stream of fire
flowed out from where he sat;
Thousands upon thousands were ministering to him,
and myriads upon myriads attended him.
 
The court was convened, and the books were opened.
I watched, then, from the first of the arrogant words
which the horn spoke, until the beast was slain
and its body thrown into the fire to be burnt up.
The other beasts, which also lost their dominion,
were granted a prolongation of life for a time and a season.
As the visions during the night continued, I saw
 
One like a son of man coming,
on the clouds of heaven;
When he reached the Ancient One
and was presented before him,
He received dominion, glory, and kingship;
nations and peoples of every language serve him.
His dominion is an everlasting dominion
that shall not be taken away,
his kingship shall not be destroyed.
-------------------------------------------
Commentary on Dn 7:2-14
 
This selection from the Book of Daniel, called "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 Messianic King (“One like a son of man coming, on the clouds of heaven”) comes from above, whereas the four beasts come from below. This kingdom is established for all eternity: “his kingship shall not be destroyed.”
 
CCC: Dn 7:10 678; Dn 7:13 440; Dn 7:14 664
-------------------------------------------
Responsorial Psalm: Daniel 3:75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81
 
R. Give glory and eternal praise to him!
 
“Mountains and hills, bless the Lord;
praise and exalt him above all forever.”
R. Give glory and eternal praise to him!
 
“Everything growing from the earth, bless the Lord;
praise and exalt him above all forever.
R. Give glory and eternal praise to him!
 
“You springs, bless the Lord;
praise and exalt him above all forever.”
R. Give glory and eternal praise to him!
 
“Seas and rivers, bless the Lord;
praise and exalt him above all forever.”
R. Give glory and eternal praise to him!
 
“You dolphins and all water creatures, bless the Lord;
praise and exalt him above all forever.”
R. Give glory and eternal praise to him!
 
“All you birds of the air, bless the Lord;
praise and exalt him above all forever.”
R. Give glory and eternal praise to him!
 
“All you beasts, wild and tame, bless the Lord;
praise and exalt him above all forever.”
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 taken from the chant by Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego still singing from the furnace. This long hymn of praise (from verse 24 to verse 90) 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.
 
-------------------------------------------
Gospel: Luke 21:29-33
 
Jesus told his disciples a parable.
“Consider the fig tree and all the other trees.
When their buds burst open,
you see for yourselves and know that summer is now near;
in the same way, when you see these things happening,
know that the Kingdom of God is near.
Amen, I say to you, this generation will not pass away
until all these things have taken place.
Heaven and earth will pass away,
but my words will not pass away.”
-------------------------------------------
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 the spring fig trees 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 springtime of rebirth, alluding to the persecutions to come.
 
-------------------------------------------
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 six 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 American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).  Given that they challenge Christians in a society that was until recently the majority religion in our country (now it’s the “none’s,” those who have no religious preference, the spiritually bereft), 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 redefine marriage and the persecution of the Church by LGBT supporters it looks like we may be in for some serious muscle-building.)
 
Today’s selections tell us that our period of testing is not over and that we should expect even stronger pressure against our fundamental beliefs and morals.  Expecting this challenge, we must make the effort now to strengthen our spiritual core.
 
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

---

[1] The picture is “The Vision of Daniel” (detail) by  Willem Drost, 1650.
[2] S.S. Commemoratio
[3] The readings are taken from the New American Bible, apart from the psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for English in Liturgy (ICEL). This republication is not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.