Tuesday of the Thirty-fourth week in Ordinary Time

Today the Church celebrates : Ss Andrew Dung-Lac, priest, and his companions, martyrs (1745-1862)

See commentary below or click here
Saint Cyril of Alexandria : «When these signs begin to happen, stand erect and raise your heads because your redemption is at hand » (Lk 21,28)

Book of Daniel 2:31-45.

“In your vision, O king, you saw a statue, very large and exceedingly bright, terrifying in appearance as it stood before you. The head of the statue was pure gold, its chest and arms were silver, its belly and thighs bronze, the legs iron, its feet partly iron and partly tile. While you looked at the statue, a stone which was hewn from a mountain without a hand being put to it, struck its iron and tile feet, breaking them in pieces. The iron, tile, bronze, silver, and gold all crumbled at once, fine as the chaff on the threshing floor in summer, and the wind blew them away without leaving a trace. But the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. “This was the dream; the interpretation we shall also give in the king’s presence. You, O king, are the king of kings; to you the God of heaven has given dominion and strength, power and glory; men, wild beasts, and birds of the air, wherever they may dwell, he has handed over to you, making you ruler over them all; you are the head of gold. Another kingdom shall take your place, inferior to yours, then a third kingdom, of bronze, which shall rule over the whole earth. There shall be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron; it shall break in pieces and subdue all these others, just as iron breaks in pieces and crushes everything else. The feet and toes you saw, partly of potter’s tile and partly of iron, mean that it shall be a divided kingdom, but yet have some of the hardness of iron. As you saw the iron mixed with clay tile, and the toes partly iron and partly tile, the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly fragile. The iron mixed with clay tile means that they shall seal their alliances by intermarriage, but they shall not stay united, any more than iron mixes with clay. In the lifetime of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed or delivered up to another people; rather, it shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and put an end to them, and it shall stand forever. That is the meaning of the stone you saw hewn from the mountain without a hand being put to it, which broke in pieces the tile, iron, bronze, silver, and gold. The great God has revealed to the king what shall be in the future; this is exactly what you dreamed, and its meaning is sure.”

Dn 3:57.58.59.60.61.

Bless the Lord, all you works of the Lord, praise and exalt him above all forever.
Angels of the Lord, bless the Lord, praise and exalt him above all forever.
You heavens, bless the Lord, praise and exalt him above all forever.
All you waters above the heavens, bless the Lord, praise and exalt him above all forever.
All you hosts of the Lord, bless the Lord; praise and exalt him above all forever.

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 21:5-11.

While some people were speaking about how the temple was adorned with costly stones and votive offerings, he said, All that you see here–the days will come when there will not be left a stone upon another stone that will not be thrown down. Then they asked him, “Teacher, when will this happen? And what sign will there be when all these things are about to happen?” He answered, “See that you not be deceived, for many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he,’ and ‘The time has come.’ Do not follow them! When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; for such things must happen first, but it will not immediately be the end.” Then he said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be powerful earthquakes, famines, and plagues from place to place; and awesome sights and mighty signs will come from the sky.

Copyright © Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, USCCB

Commentary of the day :

Saint Cyril of Alexandria (380-444), Bishop, Doctor of the Church
On Isaiah, III, 1

«When these signs begin to happen, stand erect and raise your heads because your redemption is at hand » (Lk 21,28)

«You have made the city a heap, the fortified city a ruin; the castle of the insolent is a city no more, nor ever to be rebuilt. Therefore a strong people will honor you» (Is 25,2-3). It pertains to Almighty God’s «faithful plan» (v.1) and blameless counsels that the «fortified cities» should be overthrown and «reduced to a heap of rubble», that they should be shaken «to their foundations» and without hope of being able to rise again. «It shall never be rebuilt,» the text says. In our opinion these overturned cities are not those we can perceive by our senses nor are they the people living in them. But, it seems to us, it is rather a question of each evil, hostile power and, above all, of Satan, here called a city and a «strong city»…

When Emmanuel appeared and shone upon the world, the impious troop of enemy powers was brought to ruin and Satan was overthrown «to his foundations». He has fallen and is weakened for evermore and can no longer expect to stand again nor raise up his head.

Hence the «poor and the city of the needy in distress will bless you» (LXX). Israel has been summoned to knowledge of God through the instructions of the Law; it has been filled by God with all good things. Yes, it has been saved and has acquired the land of promise as an inheritance. But the great multitude of other nations under heaven were deprived of these spiritual goods… When Christ appeared in person and, driving out the devil’s tyranny, led them to his God and Father, then they were enriched by the light of truth, by participation in the divine glory and by the nobility of an evangelical life. That is why they broke forth into hymns of thanksgiving to God our Father: «Yes, Lord, you have fulfilled your wonderful plans of old» (v.1) by recapitulating all things in Christ. You have «shone on those who sat in darkness» (Lk 1,79) by overturning the powers ruling the world (Eph 6,12) as one overturns the fortified cities. «Therefore a poor people will bless you, all the cities will honor you.»