November
25, 2015
Wednesday
of the Thirty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time
Saint
of the Day: Saint Catherine of Alexandria, Virgin & Martyr (c. 307)
Reading
1
1King
Belshazzar gave a great banquet for a thousand of his lords, with whom he
drank.[1]
2Under the influence of the wine, he ordered the gold and silver vessels which
Nebuchadnezzar, his father, had taken from the temple in Jerusalem, to be
brought in so that the king, his lords, his wives and his entertainers might
drink from them.[2]
3When
the gold and silver vessels taken from the house of God in Jerusalem had been
brought in, and while the king, his lords, his wives and his entertainers were
drinking 4wine from them, they praised their gods of gold and silver, bronze
and iron, wood and stone.
5Suddenly,
opposite the lampstand, the fingers of a human hand appeared,
writing
on the plaster of the wall in the king’s palace. When the king saw the wrist
and hand that wrote, 6his face blanched; his thoughts terrified him, his hip
joints shook, and his knees knocked.
13Then
Daniel was brought into the presence of the king. The king asked him, “Are you
the Daniel, the Jewish exile, whom my father, the king, brought from Judah? 14I
have heard that the Spirit of God is in you, that you possess brilliant
knowledge and extraordinary wisdom. 16I have heard that you can interpret
dreams and solve difficulties; if you are able to read the writing and tell me
what it means, you shall be clothed in purple, wear a gold collar about your
neck, and be third in the government of the kingdom.”
17Daniel
answered the king: “You may keep your gifts, or give your presents to someone
else; but the writing I will read for you, O king, and tell you what it means. 23You
have rebelled against the Lord of heaven. You had the vessels of His temple
brought before you, so that you and your nobles, your wives and your
entertainers, might drink wine from them; and you praised the gods of silver
and gold, bronze and iron, wood and stone, that neither see nor hear nor have
intelligence. But the God in whose hand is your life breath and the whole
course of your life, you did not glorify. 24By Him were the wrist and hand
sent, and the writing set down.
25“This
is the writing that was inscribed: MENE, TEKEL, and PERES.[3]
These
words mean: 26MENE, God has numbered your kingdom and put an end to it;[4]
27TEKEL, you have been weighed on the scales and found wanting; 28PERES, your
kingdom has been divided and given to the Medes and Persians.”
Responsorial
Psalm
R.
(59b) Give
glory and eternal praise to Him.
62“Sun
and moon, bless the Lord; praise and exalt Him above all forever.”
R.
Give glory and eternal praise to Him.
63“Stars
of heaven, bless the Lord; praise and exalt Him above all forever.”
R.
Give glory and eternal praise to Him.
64“Every
shower and dew, bless the Lord; praise and exalt Him above all forever.”
R.
Give glory and eternal praise to Him.
65“All
you winds, bless the Lord; praise and exalt Him above all forever.”
R.
Give glory and eternal praise to Him.
66“Fire
and heat, bless the Lord; praise and exalt Him above all forever.”
R.
Give glory and eternal praise to Him.
67“Cold
and chill, bless the Lord; praise and exalt Him above all forever.”
R.
Give glory and eternal praise to Him.
Alleluia
Revelation 2:10c
R.
Alleluia, alleluia.
Remain
faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.
R.
Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
12Jesus
said to the crowd: “They will seize and persecute you, they will hand you over
to the synagogues and to prisons, and they will have you led before kings and
governors because of my name.
13It
will lead to your giving testimony. 14Remember, you are not to prepare your
defense beforehand, 15for I myself shall give you a wisdom in speaking that
all your adversaries will be powerless to resist or refute.[5]
16You
will even be handed over by parents, brothers, relatives, and friends, and
they will put some of you to death. 17You will be hated by all because of my
name, 18but not a hair on your head will be destroyed. 19By your perseverance
you will secure your lives.”
Notes on Readings:
[1] Daniel
5:1 - King Belshazzar: Belshazzar was actually the crown prince, but he had
been given royal authority in Babylon by his father Nabonidus.
[2] Daniel
5:2 - Nebuchadnezzar, his father: several kings of Babylon intervened between
Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar. Either the term father is used here in the broad
sense of "remote predecessor," or the name Nebuchadnezzar is used for
"Nabonidus."
[3] Daniel
5:25 - Mene, Tekel, and Peres: these seem to be the Aramaic names of weights
and monetary values: the mina, the shekel (the sixtieth part of a mina), and
the parsu (a half-mina).
[4] Daniel
5:26-28 - Daniel interprets these three terms by a play on the words: Mene,
connected with the verb meaning to number; Tekel, with the verb meaning to
weigh; Peres, with the verb meaning to divide. There is also a play on the last
term with the word for Persians.
[5] Luke
21:12 - Before all this happens . . . : to Luke and his community, some of the
signs of the end just described (Luke 21:10-11) still lie in the future. Now in dealing with
the persecution of the disciples (Luke 21:12-19) and the
destruction of Jerusalem (Luke 21:20-24) Luke is pointing to eschatological signs that have already been
fulfilled.
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Dear Humanity,
I personally encourage everyone to emulate JESUS' values on LOVE, FAITH, HOPE
and CHARITY, as the humanity has been a failure; which resulted to the more than two (2) years of pandemic and its after-effects on economy, not only here in the Philippines but worldwide.
And the saddest part of it, is that, it affected the POOREST of the POOR to even extremely be more poorer, in exchange of the affluent to be more richer.
Thank you and may GOD bless you and the whole family to have an enjoyed life's journey at home, Church, schools/universities, corporate commitments, public and places of interest.