34TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
Psalter: Week 1 / (Green)
Dn 3:62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67
Give glory and eternal praise to him.
1st Reading: Dn 5:1-6, 13-14, 16-17, 23-28
King Belshazzar gave a great banquet for his nobles; a thousand of them attended; and he drank wine with them. Under the influence of wine, he ordered that the gold and silver vessels his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple in Jerusalem be brought in, so that he and his nobles, his wives and concubines might drink from them. The gold and silver vessels taken from God’s temple were brought in; and the king and his nobles, his wives and concubines drank from them. While they drank wine, they praised the gods of gold and silver, of bronze and iron, of wood and stone.
Suddenly a man’s fingers appeared opposite the lamp stand and wrote on the plastered wall of the king’s palace. Watching the hand as it wrote, the king turned pale. So terrified was he that his knees knocked and his legs gave way.
Daniel was brought in and questioned by the king, “Are you Daniel, one of the exiles my father brought from Judah? I have heard that you have the spirit of the gods, that you have insight and extraordinary wisdom. I have heard that you can interpret dreams and solve problems. If you can read this writing and tell me what it means, you will be clothed in purple, wear a gold chain around your neck, and be appointed third in rank in my kingdom.”
Daniel replied, “You may keep your gifts or give them to someone else. Just the same, I will read and interpret the writing for you. You have defied the Lord of heaven. You had the vessels from his temple brought to you, and, together with your nobles, your wives and concubines, you drank wine from them. You praised the idols made of silver and gold, of bronze, iron and stones, which neither see, nor hear, nor understand; but you never glorified God who has power over your life and all your fortunes. So he sent the hand that wrote the inscription which read MENE, TEKEL, PHARSIN. And these words mean: MENE, God has numbered the days of your reign and put an end to it; TEKEL, you have been weighed on the scales and found wanting; PHARSIN, your kingdom has been divided and given to the Medes and the Persians.”
Gospel: Lk 21:12-19
Before all these things happen, people will lay their hands on you and persecute you; you will be delivered to the synagogues and put in prison, and for my sake you will be brought before kings and governors. This will be your opportunity to bear witness.
So keep this in mind: do not worry in advance about what to say, for I will give you words and wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict.
You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, by relatives and friends, and some of you will be put to death. But even though, because of my name, you will be hated by everyone, not a hair of your head will perish. By your patient endurance you will save your souls.
REFLECTION:
“Patience is a virtue.“ We are all familiar with that cliché, and many of us know that patience is listed by Paul (Galatians 5:2) among the fruits of the Spirit. So there‘s no argument that we Christians ought to be patient. But what is patience and why do we need to be patient?
Patience comes from Latin word patior, pati, passus, meaning to suffer. Thus, as a virtue, it disposes one to endure discomfort without complaint. It often goes with the virtues of self-control, humility, and generosity. And we need to be patient because the road to holiness and way to heaven is not easy. As a matter of fact, the insistence of Jesus with which Jesus speaks of persecution made us think that for Him persecution is a very ordinary happening in the life of the Church and its followers. Thus, in moments like this, we need to adopt this evangelical attitude; because, as Jesus would tell us in the gospel, it is “by patient endurance that we will save our lives.“
Daily Reflection
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Biblical Texts are taken from Christian Community Bible, Catholic Pastoral Edition (57th Edition) The New English Translation for the ROMAN MISSAL
With permission from the EPISCOPAL COMMISION ON LITURGY of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines
Readings and Reflections
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