＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊  

Daniel 7:2-14

 Daniel said,

“I saw the following in my vision: the four winds of heaven stirred up the great sea,   and four great beasts, each one different from the other, came out of the sea.

 The first was like a lion with eagle’s wings. As I looked at it, its wings were torn off. It was lifted up from the ground, stood up on its feet like a man, and was given a human heart.

  The second was a beast like a bear; it was raised up on one side and had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. It was told: Go and devour much flesh.   I went on looking and saw another beast like a leopard with four wings on its back; it had four heads and dominion was given to it.

 I continued seeing my visions of the night and saw a terrible fourth beast. It was fear­ful and extraordinarily strong; it had great iron teeth; it ate, tore into pieces, and crushed underfoot whatever remained. It was different from the previous beasts and had ten horns.  

 I was looking at the horns, when another small horn sprang among them, and three of the first horns were pulled out by the roots to make way for the new. It had eyes like human eyes and a mouth that ut­­­­tered insolent words.

 I looked and saw the following:

Some thrones were set in place and One of Great Age took his seat. His robe was white as snow, his hair white as washed wool. His throne was flames of fire with wheels of blazing fire.   A river of fire sprang forth and flowed before him. Thousands upon thousands served him and a countless multitude stood before him.

Those in the tribunal took their seats and opened the book.   But as I remem­bered the haughty words of the horn with human eyes and mouth which I had seen before, this animal was killed before my eyes, and its body de­stroyed and cast into the fire.   Dominion was taken from the other animals, though they were allowed to stay alive for a time, until the fixed time.

 I continued watching the nocturnal vision: One like a son of man came on the clouds of heaven. He faced the One of Great Age and was brought into his presence.

 Dominion, honor and kingship were given him, and all the peoples and nations of every language served him. His dominion is eternal and shall never pass away; his kingdom will never be destroyed.

 

Dn 3:75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81

Give glory and eternal praise to him!

 

＊＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊＊    

Luke 21:29-33

 And Jesus added this comparison, “Look at the fig tree and all the trees. As soon as their buds sprout, you know that summer is already near. In the same way, as soon as you see these things happening, you know that the kingdom of God is near. Truly, I tell you, this generation will not pass away, until all this has happened: heav­en and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

 

Gospel Reflection：

We are experts at reading signs in our environment. It could be signs coming from nature, or signs coming from the business environment, or those in the political front and the likes. And after having gauged the meaning of the sign, we form a decision on how to act.

The farmers will make plans accordingly. The business sector will invest or pull investments and diversify. And the politicians will remain or flock to the next political phenomenon who will assure their continued cling to power.

We must slow the same astuteness we display in interpreting signs of worldly affairs into our spiritual affairs. This spiritual sensitivity need not clash with our capacity to understand the operations of the world. Both could coexist and mutually enrich each other.

The spiritual sense could give depth to our worldly sense. And the latter could ground our spiritual sense so it is not floating up there in the air.