St. Catherine of Alexandria, virgin and martyr

There is nothing we can desire or want that we do not find in Cod.

 

God is the source of all good things,

and true fulfillment is found in a relationship with God,

rather than in worldly possessions or pleasures.

 

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊     

Daniel 2:31-45*

In your vision

You saw a statue – very large, very bright; terrible to look at. Its head was of pure gold, its chest and arms of silver,

its belly and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay.

As you watched, a rock cut from a mountain, but not by human hands, struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay; smashing them.

(...) But the rock that struck the statue became a great mountain that filled the whole earth.

 

That was the dream. Now the interpretation. You, O king, are king of kings,

to whom the God of heaven has given dominion, strength, power and glory,

and into whose hand he has placed humankind. (...) You are that head of gold.

After you, another kingdom, inferior to yours, will rise. Then a third kingdom, of bronze,

will rule the whole world. Last shall be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron. (...)

The partly-clay and partly iron feet and toes mean that it will be a divided kingdom.

And as the toes were partly iron and partly clay, the kingdom will be partly strong and partly weak. (...)

 

In the time of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom, never to be destroyed or delivered up to another people.

It will crush all those kingdoms and put an end to them; and it will endure forever.

This is the meaning of your vision of a rock cut from a mountain not by human hands;

the rock, which struck the statue and broke into pieces the iron, bronze, clay, silver and gold.

(...) The dream is true and its interpretation reliable."

 

Dn 3:57, 58, 59, 60, 61

Give glory and eternal praise to him.

 

＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊       Luke 21:5-11

While some people were talking about the temple, remarking that it was adorned with fine stonework and rich gifts,

Jesus said to them, "The days will come when there shall not be left one stone upon another of all that you now admire;

all will be torn down." And they asked him, "Master, when will this be, and what will be the sign that this is about to take place?"

 

Jesus said, "Take care not to be deceived, for many will come in my name, saying, 'I am he; the time is near at hand!'

Do not follow them. When you hear of wars and troubled times, don't be frightened;

for all these things must happen first, even though the end is not so soon."

And Jesus said, "Nations will fight each other and kingdom will oppose kingdom.

There will be great earthquakes, famines and plagues;

in many places strange and terrifying signs from heaven will be seen.

 

Gospel Reflection ：

"Even in great difficulty, we are to trust in the Lord."

Tradition relates that Catherine was the daughter of Constus, the Roman governor of Alexandria.

After seeing a vision of the Virgin Mary and the Child Jesus,

she became a Christian and she was martyred during the persecution in the time of Emperor Maxentius.

As a third-century woman, endowed with great learning,

who was martyred on a cartwheel for converting many to the Christian faith by her eloquence,

Catherine's patronage is very broad indeed.

She is patron saint of philosophers, theologians, maidens, female students, preachers, lawyers,

the dying, wheelwrights, mechanics and potters. In fourteenth-century Rhineland,

a devotion of the Fourteen Holy Helpers arose during the time of the Black Death.

 

Saint Catherine of Alexandria was one of the fourteen intercessors.

She, along with Saint Christopher and Saint Barbara,

was invoked for protection against a sudden and unprovided death, as well as against diseases of the tongue.

Today's Gospel describes the many troubles that the world faces,

such as wars, famines and plagues. Jesus tells us not to be afraid,

as our human existence does not end in sorrow, but with the hope of heaven.

And so, even in great difficulty, like Saint Catherine, we are to trust in the Lord.