Skip to main content

Advent Series December 21

Image
By

 

+
JMJ

December 21

Yesterday, we read how the Jews were taken into captivity by the Chaldeans and forced to live in Babylon.

King Darius of Babylon liked Daniel very much and wanted to put him in charge of his kingdom. Others were jealous of Daniel and they looked for a way to get rid of him.

Using flattery, they got the king to make a law forbidding anyone to pray except to the king for 30 days. Anyone caught disobeying the king’s law would be thrown to the lions. When Daniel went to pray to God, the jealous men brought Daniel before the king.

Then the king knew he had been tricked into killing his friend, but he prayed that Daniel’s God would deliver him. The next morning, King Darius hurried to the den and Daniel answered him that an angel of the Lord had shut up the mouths of the lions.

The king was “exceeding glad” and commanded that Daniel be taken out of the den.

“Then king Darius wrote to all people, tribes and languages, dwelling in the whole earth:

PEACE be multiplied unto you. It is decreed by me, that in all my empire and my kingdom all men dread and fear the God of Daniel. For He is the living and eternal God forever: and His kingdom shall not be destroyed, and His power shall be forever. He is the Deliverer, and Saviour, doing signs and wonders in heaven, and in earth: who hath delivered Daniel out of the lion’s den” (Dan 6:25-27)

After Daniel was delivered from the lions, while he was praying, the angel Gabriel revealed to him God’s plan:
  1. For the return of the Jews to Jerusalem (which had been foretold by Isaias as well)
  2. For the rebuilding of the Temple
  3. The coming of the Persians, Greeks (with the persecution of Antiochus Epiphanes) and Romans
  4. The angel Gabriel also revealed the time of the coming of the Saviour; which would be 69 weeks of years (69 X 7 = 483 years) from the rebuilding of Jerusalem! (Dan 9:25) Amazing! Who could not believe that Our Lord was the Messias! In fact, It says in the Haydock commentary of the Bible about this prophecy that “In a dispute between an Jew and a Christian, at Venice, the Rabbi who presided…put an end to the business by saying, “Let us shut up our Bibles; for if we proceed in the examination of this prophecy, it will make us all become Christians” (Haydock page 1103 regarding Daniel 9:25)

Time passed and Daniel was thrown to the lions again. This time by those who worshipped the idol, Bel and a snake, which Daniel destroyed. This time, Daniel was left with the lions for 6 days.

At that time, a few Jews had been left behind to plant crops in Judah. Among those living in Judah was Habacuc, the prophet. Habacuc was on his way to bring food for the workers in the fields when an angel appeared. Taking Habacuc by his hair, the angel carried him all the way to Babylon so that he could give the food to Daniel while he was in the den!

After 6 days, Daniel was released and the king gave thanks, ordering all to fear the God of Daniel.

(And both times, the lions ate the bad guys instead!)

The O Antiphon for today is “O Oriens”
O rising sun, brightness of eternal life and Sun of Justice: come and enlighten them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death.”

This antiphon is fitting today because it is the shortest day of the year.
Our Lord came to bring us the light of truth.

An interesting thing to note:
From the birth of Our Lord, daylight will increase until about the feast of St. John the Baptist in June.
From the feast of Saint John, the days begin to grow shorter until the birth of Our Lord!

And in the Gospel, St. John the Baptist said of Our Lord, “He must increase and I must decrease.”

Labels

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

SSPX and the Resistance - A Comparison Of Ecclesiology

By
Shining the light of Church Teaching on the doctrinal positions of the SSPX and the Resistance. Principles are guides used to aid in decision making.  It stands to reason that bad principles will lead to bad decisions. The recent interactions between Rome and the SSPX has challenged a number of closely held cultural assumptions of people in both sides of the disagreement. This has resulted in cultural skirmishes in both Rome and the SSPX. Since it is the smaller of the two, the skirmishes have been more evident within the SSPX.  The cultural fault-line that Bishop Fellay crossed appears to be linked to two points of Catholic Doctrine: Ecclesiology and Obedience.  The cultural difference of view points is strong enough that it has resulted in the expulsion of a number of members.  It should also be noted that some other priests expelled since the beginning of the latest interactions (starting in 2000) held the same view points and have joined with the l...
8 comments
Read more

Morning and Evening and other sundry Prayers

By
+ JMJ Along the theme of P^3 (Prayer, Penance, Patience), and for my own reference ... here is a collection of Morning and Evening prayers from the Ideal Daily Missal along with some additional prayers. In this crisis of the Church, I do not think it is possible to do too much prayer, penance and have patience. P^3
Post a Comment
Read more

The Position of the SSPX on Canonizations by the Saint Factory

By
+ JMJ I have sometimes been criticized for including 'St' as a title for Pope John Paul II et al. I've given my reasons here  in a discussion with Alex Long. The question is one of prudence in discussions with ntCatholics and in some cases with tCatholics. In discussions with:  ntCatholics, I will use the title in order to continue the discussion and help them arrive at a realistic understanding of the crisis of the Church. tCatholics, I will use the title in order to broaden their perspective on the doctrine of dogmatic facts. This broader perspective is, in my opinion, essential maintaining a realistic understanding of the crisis of the Church. So from a doctrinal position, I have written the article Dogmatic Fact of Fancy  and includes a reference on canonizations. Now, I know the position of the SSPX is that the canonizations are doubtful (see references below) and I also know of at least one non-SSPX theologian who agrees with the level of doubt du...
Post a Comment
Read more

Comparision of the Tridentine, Cranmer and Novus Ordo Masses

By
+ JMJ I downloaded the comparison that was linked in the previous article on the mass (here) . ... a very good reference! P^3 From: Whispers of Restoration (available at this link) . CHARTING LITURGICAL CHANGE Comparing the 1962 Ordinary of the Roman Mass to changes made during the Anglican Schism; Compared in turn to changes adopted in the creation of Pope Paul VI’s Mass in 1969 The chart on the reverse is a concise comparison of certain ritual differences between three historical rites for the celebration of the Catholic Mass Vetus Ordo: “Old Order,” the Roman Rite of Mass as contained in the 1962 Missal, often referred to as the “Traditional Latin Mass.”The Ordinary of this Mass is that of Pope St. Pius V (1570) following the Council of Trent (1545-63), hence the occasional moniker “Tridentine Mass.” However, Trent only consolidated and codified the Roman Rite already in use at that time; its essential form dates to Pope St. Gregory the Great (+604), in whose time the R...
Post a Comment
Read more

Church Militant TV and the SSPX - Again

By
+ JMJ The old narrative used to be that the SSPX was 'schismatic' and 'excommunicated'. Now the excommunication has been lifted for a number of years and the only ones who think it still has effect are the 'resistors'. That leaves the other opponents of the SSPX with the label 'schismatic'. Make it clear, the conservative Catholics have issues with the SSPX probably because they violate some of their assumptions about the Faith and this crisis of the Church. Church Militant TV is one of these the exists along the Catholic thought spectrum. They like the Traditional Mass but must ensure that they don't get tarred with the same 'schismatic' brush that the liberals use against the SSPX.  So what do they do, they use the same brush against the SSPX. The funny thing is that even when the Church does speak, they don't want to listen and persist in calling the SSPX 'schismatic'. Here's a transcript of the latest s...
Post a Comment
Read more