Reading 1 Dn 7:2-14

In a vision I, Daniel, saw during the night,
the four winds of heaven stirred up the great sea,
from which emerged four immense beasts,
each different from the others.
The first was like a lion, but with eagle's wings.
While I watched, the wings were plucked;
it was raised from the ground to stand on two feet
like a man, and given a human mind.
The second was like a bear; it was raised up on one side,
and among the teeth in its mouth were three tusks.
It was given the order, "Up, devour much flesh."
After this I looked and saw another beast, like a leopard;
on its back were four wings like those of a bird,
and it had four heads.
To this beast dominion was given.
After this, in the visions of the night I saw the fourth beast,
different from all the others,
terrifying, horrible, and of extraordinary strength;
it had great iron teeth with which it devoured and crushed,
and what was left it trampled with its feet.
I was considering the ten horns it had,
when suddenly another, a little horn, sprang out of their midst,
and three of the previous horns were torn away to make room for it.
This horn had eyes like a man,
and a mouth that spoke arrogantly.
As I watched,

Thrones were set up
and the Ancient One took his throne.
His clothing was snow bright,
and the hair on his head as white as wool;
His throne was flames of fire,
with wheels of burning fire.
A surging stream of fire
flowed out from where he sat;
Thousands upon thousands were ministering to him,
and myriads upon myriads attended him.

The court was convened, and the books were opened.
I watched, then, from the first of the arrogant words
which the horn spoke, until the beast was slain
and its body thrown into the fire to be burnt up.
The other beasts, which also lost their dominion,
were granted a prolongation of life for a time and a season.
As the visions during the night continued, I saw

One like a son of man coming,
on the clouds of heaven;
When he reached the Ancient One
and was presented before him,
He received dominion, glory, and kingship;
nations and peoples of every language serve him.
His dominion is an everlasting dominion
that shall not be taken away,
his kingship shall not be destroyed.

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

R. Give glory and eternal praise to him!
"Mountains and hills, bless the Lord;
praise and exalt him above all forever."
R. Give glory and eternal praise to him!
"Everything growing from the earth, bless the Lord;
praise and exalt him above all forever.
R. Give glory and eternal praise to him!
"You springs, bless the Lord;
praise and exalt him above all forever."
R. Give glory and eternal praise to him!
"Seas and rivers, bless the Lord;
praise and exalt him above all forever."
R. Give glory and eternal praise to him!
"You dolphins and all water creatures, bless the Lord;
praise and exalt him above all forever."
R. Give glory and eternal praise to him!
"All you birds of the air, bless the Lord;
praise and exalt him above all forever."
R. Give glory and eternal praise to him!
"All you beasts, wild and tame, bless the Lord;
praise and exalt him above all forever."
R. Give glory and eternal praise to him!

Alleluia Lk 21:28

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Stand erect and raise your hands
Because your redemption is at hand.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel Lk 21:29-33

Jesus told his disciples a parable.
"Consider the fig tree and all the other trees.
When their buds burst open,
you see for yourselves and know that summer is now near;
in the same way, when you see these things happening,
know that the Kingdom of God is near.
Amen, I say to you, this generation will not pass away
until all these things have taken place.
Heaven and earth will pass away,
but my words will not pass away."

From: Daniel 7:2-14

Daniel’s Vision

[2] Daniel said, “I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of hea-
ven were stirring up the great sea. [3] And four great beasts came up out of the
sea, different from one another. [4] The first was like a lion and had eagles’ wings.
Then as I looked its wings were plucked off, and it was lifted up from the ground
and made to stand upon two feet like a man; and the mind of a man was given
to it. [5] And behold, another beast, a second one, like a bear. It was raised up
on one side, it had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth; and it was told,
‘Arise, devour much flesh.’ [6] After this I looked, and lo, another, like a leopard
with four wings of a bird on its back and the beast had four heads, and dominion
was given to it. [7] After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast,
terrible and dreadful and exceedingly strong; and it had great iron teeth; it de-
voured and broke in pieces, and stamped the residue with its feet. It was diffe-
rent from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns. [8] I considered
the horns, and behold, there came up among them another horn, a little one, be-
fore which three of the first horns were plucked up by the roots; and behold, in
this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things.
[9] As I looked,
thrones were placed
and one that was ancient of days took his seat;
his raiment was white as snow,
and the hair of his head like pure wool;
his throne was fiery flames,
its wheels were burning fire.
[10] A stream of fire issued
and came forth from before him;
a thousand thousands served him,
and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him;
the court sat in judgment,
and the books were opened.

[11] I looked then because of the sound of the great words which the horn
was speaking. And as I looked, the beast was slain, and its body destroyed and
given over to be burned with fire. [12] As for the rest of the beasts, their dominion
was taken away, but their lives were prolonged for a season and a time. [13] I
saw in the night visions,
and behold, with the clouds of heaven
there came one like a son of man,
and he came to the Ancient of Days
and was presented before him.
[14] And to him was given dominion
and glory and kingdom,
that all peoples, nations, and languages
should serve him;
his dominion is an everlasting dominion,
which shall not pass away,
and his kingdom one
that shall not be destroyed.

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Commentary:

7:1-12:13. Up to the end of chapter 6, Daniel has been the interpreter of kings’
dreams; now his own dreams are interpreted for him by an angel or heavenly be-
ing: the interpreter explains dreams (chaps. 7-8), the meaning of Scripture (chap.
9), and a vision (chaps. 10-12); and Daniel himself notes it all down.

Daniel had announced to Nebuchadnezzar the end of time as part of the interpre-
tation of his dream (cf. 2:28); now Daniel is told when it will happen (cf. 12:5-12);
for him (cf. 2:28); he is given a more specific revelation in which the figure of the
tyrannical Antiochus IV (described here symbolically) is depicted as the epitome
of evil and his death will mark the end of the present age (cf. 11:45-12:1). Earlier,
Daniel’s wisdom was seen as a divine gift to be used for the benefit of foreign
kings; now it is depicted as coming from a revelation in which God speaks to
Daniel through heavenly messengers and tells him about the meaning of human
history—a revelation that he must commit to writing, as a source of comfort and
hope for the chosen people. “Revelation has set within history a point of refe-
rence which cannot be ignored if the mystery of human life is to be known. Yet
this knowledge refers back constantly to the mystery of God which the human
mind cannot exhaust but can only receive and embrace in faith. Between these
two poles, reason has its own specific field in which it can enquire and under-
stand, restricted only by its finiteness before the infinite mystery of God” (Bl.
John Paul II, “Fides Et Ratio”, 14).

7:1-28. This chapter marks the end of the part of the book written in Aramaic;
in it we again find elements seen in chapter 2 (where the Aramaic part began);
these include: the arrangement of history into four periods (symbolized there by
metals, here by beasts) and the establishment of an everlasting kingdom at the
end. Thus, the chapter closes the Aramaic section and acts as a kind of intro-
duction to the chapters (in Hebrew) in which Daniel receives and writes down di-
vine revelations. Chapter 8 is written in Hebrew and it explains chapter 7; and
this pattern continues: chapter 9 is explained by chapter 10; and 11 by 12. Da-
niel first outlines his dream or vision, and it is then interpreted by an angelic
being. In this chapter the content of the dream is given in vv. 1-14, and its inter-
pretation in vv. 15-28. Vision and interpretation constitute a single event, an ac-
count of which Daniel writes down, as he mentions at start (cf. v. 1) and finish
(cf. v. 28). Daniel’s “signature” at beginning and end confirms the truth of his vi-
sion and the truthfulness of what he has written for the reader.

7:1-14. In chapter 5 the picture drawn of Belshazzar suggested that he stood fi-
guratively for the sacrilegious King Antiochus IV. It is not surprising, then, that
this dream of Daniel’s is set in the first year of Belshazzar’s reign, given that the
climax of the prophecy (the little horn) concerns Antiochus IV. God is going to
intervene definitively when irreligion is at its worst. There are two scenes in the
vision — the beasts coming out of the sea (vv. 2-8) and the divine court and judg-
ment (vv. 9-14).

7:2-8. The Great Sea (the Mediterranean: v. 2), out of which the beasts arise,
stands for the world of gloom and chaos. Although earlier prophets did use ani-
mals as symbols for empires (a crocodile for Egypt, cf. Ezek 32; an eagle or a
monster for Babylon, cf. Ezek 17:3; Jer 51:34), the winged beasts of Daniel’s
vision are reminiscent of Mesopotamian statues. The lion with eagle’s wings
stands for Nebuchadnezzar a proud man, he was brought low and later given
back his reason (4:16, 34); the empire of the Medes is depicted as a bear ready
to attack, and that of the Persians as a leopard, fleet of foot. The fourth beast re-
sembles no animal, but its teeth of iron show it to be the Greek empire of Alex-
ander the Great and his successors (cf. 2:40). Of those successors, (symbo-
lized by the horns), attention is focused on Antiochus IV, the horn with eyes that
speaks blasphemy (cf. vv. 8, 25). The gravity of those challenges to God’s autho-
rity will be underlined in Revelation 13:5 in its description of the beast that is gi-
ven power by the dragon. The worst sin of the powers of the world is their oppo-
sition to God and his laws. Interpreting the words of this passage as a prophecy
in the strict sense, that is, as a prediction of something that will happen in the
future, some Fathers read the last of the horns as being the Antichrist of whom
the Revelation to John will have much to say (cf. Rev. 13:11-18; 17:16; 19:19-21).

7:9-14. Divine judgment is passed on the kingdoms in this scene. God is depic-
ted as being seated on a throne in heaven, his glory flashing out and angels all
around. Judgment is about to take place, and it will be followed by execution of
the sentence. The books (v. 10) contain all the actions of men (cf. Jer 17:1; Mal
3:16; Ps 56:8; Rev 20:12). The seer is shown history past (not laid out according
to chronology: all the empires are included in one glance), and he notes that a
more severe sentence is passed on the blasphemous horn than on the other
beasts. They had their lives extended (v. 12), that is, their deprivation of power
did not spell the end; but the little horn is destroyed forthwith. “Following in the
steps of the prophets and John the Baptist, Jesus announced the judgment of
the Last Day in his preaching (cf. Dan 7:10; Joel 3-4; Mal 3:19; Mt 3:7-42)”
(”Catechism of the Catholic Church”, 678).

The one “like a son of man” who comes with the clouds of heaven and who, after
the judgment, is given everlasting dominion over all the earth, is the very antithe-
sis of the beasts. He has not risen from a turbulent sea like them; there is no-
thing ferocious about him. Rather, he has been raised up by God (he comes with
the clouds of heaven) and he shares the human condition. The dignity of all man-
kind is restored through this son of man’s triumph over the beasts. This figure, as
we will discover later, stands for ‘the people of the saints of the Most High’ (7:27),
that is, faithful Israel. However, he is also an individual (just as the winged lion
was an individual, and the little horn), and insofar as he is given a kingdom, he is
a king. What we have here is an individual who represents the people. In Jewish
circles around the time of Christ, this “son of man” was interpreted as being the
Messiah, a real person (cf. “Book of the Parables of Enoch”); but it was a title
that became linked to the sufferings of the Messiah and to his resurrection from
the dead only when Jesus Christ applied it to himself in the Gospel. “Jesus ac-
cepted Peter’s profession of faith, which acknowledged him to be the Messiah,
by announcing the imminent Passion of the Son of Man (cf. Mt 16:23). He un-
veiled the authentic content of his messianic kingship both in the transcendent
identity of the Son of Man ‘who came down from heaven’ (Jn 3:13; cf. Jn 6:62;
Dan 7:13), and in his redemptive mission as the suffering Servant: ‘The Son of
Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for ma-
ny’ (Mt 20:28; cf. Is 53:10-12)” (”Catechism of the Catholic Church”, 440).

When the Church proclaims in the Creed that Christ is seated at the right hand
of the Father, she is saying that it was to Christ that dominion was given; “Being
seated at the Father’s right hand signifies the inauguration of the Messiah’s king-
dom, the fulfillment of the prophet Daniel’s vision concerning the Son of man; ‘To
him was given domination and glory and kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and
languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall
not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed’ (Dan 7:14). Af-
ter this event the apostles became witnesses of the ‘kingdom [that] will have no
end’ (Nicene Creed)” (”Catechism of the Catholic Church”, 664).

*********************************************************************************************
Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.

From: Luke 21:29-33

Discourse on the Destruction of Jerusalem and the End of the World

[29] And He (Jesus) told them a parable: “Look at the fig tree, and all the trees;
[30] as soon as they come out in leaf, you see for yourselves and know that the
summer is already near. [31] So also, when you see these things taking place,
you know that the Kingdom of God is near. [32] Truly, I say to you, this genera-
tion will not pass away till all has taken place. [33] Heaven and earth will pass
away, but My words will not pass away.”

*********************************************************************************************
Commentary:

31. The Kingdom of God, announced by John the Baptist (cf. Matthew 3:2) and
described by our Lord in so many parables (cf. Matthew 13; Luke 13:18-20), is
already present among the Apostles (Luke 17:20-21), but it is not yet fully mani-
fest. Jesus here describes what it will be like when the Kingdom comes in all its
fullness, and He invites us to pray for this very event in the Our Father: “Thy King-
dom come.” “The Kingdom of God, which had its beginnings here on earth in the
Church of Christ, is not of this world, whose form is passing, and its authentic de-
velopment cannot be measured by the progress of civilization, of science and of
technology. The true growth of the Kingdom of God consists in an ever deepening
knowledge of the unfathomable riches of Christ, in an ever stronger hope in eter-
nal blessings, in an ever more fervent response to the love of God, and in an ever
more generous acceptance of grace and holiness by men” (”Creed of the People
of God”, 27). At the end of the world everything will be subjected to Christ and
God will reign for ever more (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:24, 28).

32. Everything referring to the destruction of Jerusalem was fulfilled some forty
years after our Lord’s death — which meant that Jesus’ contemporaries would be
able to verify the truth of this prophecy. But the destruction of Jerusalem is a
symbol of the end of the world; therefore, it can be said that the generation to
which our Lord refers did see the end of the world, in a symbolic way. This verse
can also be taken to refer to the generation of believers, that is, not just the par-
ticular generation of those Jesus was addressing (cf. note on Matthew 24:32-35).

[The note on Matthew 24:32-35 states:

32-35. Seeing in the destruction of Jerusalem a symbol of the end of the world,
St. John Chrysostom applies to it this parable of the fig tree: “Here He also fore-
tells a spiritual spring and a calm which, after the storm of the present life, the
righteous will experience; whereas for sinners there will be a winter after the
spring they have had [...]. But this was not the only reason why He put before
them the parable of the fig tree, to tell them of the interval before His coming; He
wanted to show them that His word would assuredly come true. As sure as the
coming of spring is the coming of the Son of Man” (”Hom. on St. Matthew”, 77).

“This generation”: this verse is a clear example of what we say in the note on
Matthew 24:1 about the destruction of Jerusalem being itself a symbol. “This ge-
neration” refers firstly to the people alive at the time of the destruction of Jerusa-
lem. But, since that event is symbolic of the end of the world, we can say with
St. John Chrysostom that “the Lord was speaking not only of the generation then
living, but also of the generation of the believers; for He knows that a generation
is distinguished not only by time but also by its mode of religious worship and
practice: this is what the Psalmist means when he says that ‘such is the gene-
ration of those who seek Him’ (Psalm 24:6)” (”Hom. on St. Matthew”, 77).]

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.

Scripture readings from the Jerusalem Bible by Darton, Longman & Todd

Readings at Mass

Liturgical Colour: Green.

First reading	Daniel 7:2-14 ©

I, Daniel, have been seeing visions in the night. I saw that the four winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea; four great beasts emerged from the sea, each different from the other. The first was like a lion with eagle’s wings; and as I looked its wings were torn off, and it was lifted from the ground and set standing on its feet like a man; and it was given a human heart. The second beast I saw was different, like a bear, raised up on one of its sides, with three ribs in its mouth, between its teeth. “Up!” came the command “Eat quantities of flesh!” After this I looked, and saw another beast, like a leopard, and with four bird’s wings on its flanks; it had four heads, and power was given to it. Next I saw another vision in the visions of the night: I saw a fourth beast, fearful, terrifying, very strong; it had great iron teeth, and it ate, crushed and trampled underfoot what remained. It was different from the previous beasts and had ten horns.

While I was looking at these horns, I saw another horn sprouting among them, a little one; three of the original horns were pulled out by the roots to make way for it; and in this horn I saw eyes like human eyes, and a mouth that was full of boasts. As I watched:

Thrones were set in place

and one of great age took his seat.

His robe was white as snow,

the hair of his head as pure as wool.

His throne was a blaze of flames,

its wheels were a burning fire.

A stream of fire poured out,

issuing from his presence.

A thousand thousand waited on him,

ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him.

A court was held

and the books were opened.

The great things the horn was saying were still ringing in my ears, and as I watched, the beast was killed, and its body destroyed and committed to the flames. The other beasts were deprived of their power, but received a lease of life for a season and a time.

I gazed into the visions of the night.

And I saw, coming on the clouds of heaven,

one like a son of man.

He came to the one of great age

and was led into his presence.

On him was conferred sovereignty,

glory and kingship,

and men of all peoples, nations and languages became his servants.

His sovereignty is an eternal sovereignty

which shall never pass away,

nor will his empire ever be destroyed.

Responsorial Psalm	Daniel 3:75-81 ©

Mountains and hills! bless the Lord.