November 23
Tuesday of the Thirty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time
Give a Mass Offering
Mass Intention
7:45 AM – John J. Meehan / John & Jennifer Evans
Prayer for Spiritual Communion
My Jesus, I believe that you are present in the most Blessed Sacrament. I love You above all things and I desire to receive You into my soul. Since I cannot now receive You sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart. I embrace You as if You were already there, and unite myself wholly to You. Never permit me to be separated from You. Amen.
Readings
First Reading
Daniel 2:31-45
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
Daniel 3:57, 58, 59, 60, 61
R. (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.
Gospel Acclamation
Revelations 2:10c
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Remain faithful until death,
and I will give you the crown of life.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
Luke 21:5-11
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.”driv
“Give glory and eternal praise to him.”
Reflection
There are times in our lives where our vision of the future can sustain us, and make us strong enough to endure the trials and tribulations we face. Today, we see both Daniel and Jesus in active prophet mode as they both speak of future events that are both challenging and filled with hope for a better tomorrow.
Daniel is interpreting a dream that King Nebuchadnezzar has had. He tells him about the statue that he has seen and how that statue is representative of a number of different kingdoms that will come into the world and, for a time, dominate it. But he ends his interpretation with the coming of the Kingdom of God as “a stone that was hewn from the mountain without a hand being put to it.” This Kingdom will eventually dominate the world, but not with war like the others, it will dominate with love.
In the Gospel, Jesus is asked about the temple’s destruction, a sign of the world’s coming to an end. He talks about fearsome events, such as wars, famines and plagues. But he also prophesies about the coming Kingdom of God. It is like a two-part movie where the heroes are defeated by the villains, but are going to continue to fight and win for the good guys.
We all know that there will be suffering and difficulties in our future. But the Kingdom of God is always there in our future, calling us to a better hope and faith in the God who created and sustains us. Let us pray fervently for that better tomorrow; one where there are no diseases, wars or death. A future where we can all bask in the joy of being with our God and savior.
In hope and peace,
Deacon Dare
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