Liturgical Readings for : Tuesday, 28th November, 2023
Tuesday of the Thirty Fourth Week in Ordinary Time, Year 1
FIRST READING
A reading from the prophet Daniel 2:31-45
God will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed, it will absorb all the kingdoms.
Daniel said to Nebuchadnezzar,
‘You have had a vision, O king; this is what you saw: a statue, a great statue of extreme brightness, stood before you, terrible to see. The head of this statue was of fine gold, its chest and arms were of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron its feet part iron, part earthenware. While you were gazing, a stone broke away, untouched by any hand, and struck the statue, struck its feet of iron and earthenware and shattered them. And then, iron and earthenware, bronze, silver, gold all broke into small pieces as fine as chaff on the threshing-floor in summer. The wind blew them away, leaving not a trace behind. And the stone that had struck the statue grew into a great mountain, filling the whole earth.
This was the dream; now we will explain to the king what it means.
You, O king, king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given sovereignty, power, strength and glory- the sons of men, the beasts of the field, the birds of heaven, wherever they live, he has entrusted to your rule, making you king of them all-you are the golden head. And after you another kingdom will rise, not so great as you, and then a third, of bronze, which will rule the whole world. There will be a fourth kingdom, hard as iron, as iron that shatters and crushes all. Like iron that breaks everything to pieces, it will crush and break all the earlier kingdoms.
The feet you saw, part earthenware, part iron, are a kingdom which will be split in two, but which will retain something of the strength of iron, just as you saw the iron and the clay of the earthenware mixed together. The feet were part iron, part earthenware: the kingdom will be partly strong and partly weak. And just as you saw the iron and the clay of the earthenware mixed together, so the two will be mixed together in the seed of man; but they will not hold together any more than iron will blend with earthenware. In the time of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed, and this kingdom will not pass into the hands of another race: it will shatter and absorb all the previous kingdoms, and itself last for ever- just as you saw the stone untouched by hand break from the mountain and shatter iron, bronze, earthenware, silver and gold.
The great God has shown the king what is to take place. The dream is true, the interpretation exact.’
The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Responsorial Psalm Dan 3:57-61 Rv 59
Response Give glory and eternal praise to him!
1. All things the Lord has made, bless the Lord. R. Give glory and eternal praise to him!
2. Angels of the Lord! all bless the Lord. R. Give glory and eternal praise to him!
3. Heavens! all bless the Lord. R. Give glory and eternal praise to him!
4. Waters above the Heavens! bless the Lord. R. Give glory and eternal praise to him!
5. Powers of the Lord! bless the Lord. R. Give glory and eternal praise to him!
Gospel Acclamation Lk 21: 28
Alleluia, alleluia!
Stand erect, hold your heads high, because your liberation is near at hand.
Alleluia!
or Apoc 2: 10
Alleluia, alleluia!
Even if you have to die, says the Lord, keep faithful, and I will give you the crown of life.
Alleluia!
GOSPEL
The Lord be with you And with your spirit.
A reading from the Gospel according to Luke 21:5-11 Glory to you, O Lord
Not a single stone will be left on another.
When some were talking about the Temple, remarking how it was adorned with fine stonework and votive offerings, Jesus said,
‘All these things you are staring at now-the time will come when not a single stone will be left on another: everything will be destroyed.’
And they put to him this question:
‘Master,‘ they said ‘when will this happen, then, and what sign will there be that this is about to take place?’
‘Take care not to be deceived,’ he said ‘because many will come using my name and saying, “I am he” and, “The time is near at hand.” Refuse to join them. And when you hear of wars and revolutions, do not be frightened, for this is something that must happen but the end is not so soon.’
Then he said to them,
‘Nation will fight against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes and plagues and famines here and there; there will be fearful sights and great signs from heaven.’
The Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
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Gospel Reflection Tuesday Thirty Fourth Week in Ordinary Time Luke 21:5-11
The temple in Jerusalem was considered one of the Seven Wonders of the World at the time of Jesus. It is not surprising to hear at the beginning of today’s gospel reading that Jesus’ disciples were lost in admiration at the way the Temple was adorned with fine stonework. Yet, Jesus could see that even this wondrous institution of the Temple would not last. As the disciples were marvelling at it, Jesus declared, ‘not a single stone will be left on another: everything will be destroyed’, as indeed happened forty years later. Such a comment must have punctured the wonder of the disciples. Yet, Jesus was not perturbed by the realization that even so hallowed an institution as the Temple would pass away, because he knew that the kingdom of God would never pass away.
In the words of the first reading from the Book of Daniel, ‘the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed’. Jesus could live with cataclysmic change because he knew that God never changes, that God’s purposes endures forever, and that God’s word will never pass away. We are in a time of great change in the church; the future will be very different from the recent past. We may have to let go of much that has been precious and dear to us, as the Jewish people had to let go of their Temple. Yet, in the midst of all this change, we can be assured that the risen Lord himself endures. He remains powerfully present to us and among us. He continues to bring God’s good work to completion. The Lord continues to call on us to share in this great work, in a spirit of joyful hope.
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The Scripture Readings are taken from The Jerusalem Bible, published 1966 by Darton, Longman & Todd Ltd.
