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| “The Vision of Daniel” (detail) by Willem Drost, 1650 |
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.
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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.”
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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!
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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 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.
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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
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.”
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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 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 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 American Civil Liberties
Union (ACLU). 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 redefine
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
[1]
The picture is “The Vision of Daniel” (detail) by Willem Drost, 1650
[3]
The readings are taken from the New American Bible with the exception of the
Psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for
English in Liturgy (ICEL). This re-publication is not authorized by USCCB and
is for private use only.
