St. Clement I, pope & martyr

St. Columban, abbot

Bl. Miguel Augustin Pro,priest & martyr

＊＊＊ 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.(………), the beasts of the field and the birds of the air, making you ruler over them. 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; yet it will have some of the strength of iron, just as you saw iron mixed with clay.  

 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 then said, “Take care not to be deceived, for many will come claiming my title and saying: ‘I am he, the Messiah; the time is at hand.’ Do not follow them.   When you hear of wars and troubled times, don’t be frightened; for all this 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：

Many wonderful things have been produced by humankind in the course of time. Some of them still stands today as a testament to the artistic spirit that created them. Yet they too will disappear.

The Temple of Jerusalem during Jesus’ time is a sight to behold. As the center of the southern kingdom’s spiritual life, no cost was spared to build it. It is the second temple after the first one built by Solomon was destroyed in 586 BC by Nebuchadnezzar, the King of Babylon, when he conquered Jerusalem.

Many people admire its stonework and rich gifts. Yet Jesus correctly foretold its destruction. Even those things dedicated to God will pass away. And many will come to usurp the title of Jesus. People’s faith in the original preaching of the Lord will not be firm like the passing things of the world. They will entertain wild claims that are not only absurd but totally off from the message of Jesus.

That’s why we have to be on guard that our faith remains steady and strong through time.