SATURDAY OF WEEK 34 IN ORDINARY TIME - 2025

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

Stay awake, praying at all times
for the strength to stand with confidence
before the Son of Man. LK 21:36

DANIEL 7:15-27

My Soul's Beloved, 

In a world where it appears that evil reigns over good and the lawless, prideful, boastful, and powerful crush those in the minority. Stripped of rights and dignity and unable to receive a just and fair hearing, as all the institutions are under the influence of the wicked, we are tempted to believe that the oppression will never cease. But this is a lie, Lord. We know that while evil has its hour, You have won the day. We live in hope. We pray with confidence, and while we wait in faith, we are strengthened and purified. Every evil reign that we read of in salvation history that subjugated the people of God was routed in the end. 

Leaders of nations, good, bad, evil, indifferent, greedy, and power-hungry, come and go, but the Word of God stands forever. We know that God reigns eternally and triumphantly, and the world and all in it is Yours. Keep us faithful to the end, Lord. Grant us the grace not to lose heart but to fulfil the mission entrusted to us, and when our own personal journey ends, we will stand before You with confidence knowing that Your justice will be tempered with mercy and compassion. Thank You, Lord. 

I, Daniel, was deeply disturbed and the visions that passed through my head alarmed me. So I approached one of those who were standing by and asked him to tell me the truth about all this. And in reply he revealed to me what these things meant. “These four great beasts are four kings who will rise from the earth. Those who are granted sovereignty are the saints of the Most High, and the kingdom will be theirs for ever, for ever and ever.” Then I asked to know the truth about the fourth beast, different from all the rest, very terrifying, with iron teeth and bronze claws, eating, crushing and trampling underfoot what remained; and the truth about the ten horns on its head – and why the other horn sprouted and the three original horns fell, and why this horn had eyes and a mouth that was full of boasts, and why it made a greater show than the other horns. This was the horn I had watched making war on the saints and proving the stronger, until the coming of the one of great age who gave judgement in favour of the saints of the Most High, when the time came for the saints to take over the kingdom. This is what he said:
‘The fourth beast
is to be a fourth kingdom on earth,
different from all other kingdoms.
It will devour the whole earth,
trample it underfoot and crush it.
As for the ten horns: from this kingdom
will rise ten kings, and another after them;
this one will be different from the previous ones
and will bring down three kings;
he is going to speak words against the Most High,
and harass the saints of the Most High.
He will consider changing seasons and the Law,
and the saints will be put into his power
for a time, two times, and half a time.
But a court will be held and his power will be stripped from him,
consumed, and utterly destroyed.
And sovereignty and kingship,
and the splendours of all the kingdoms under heaven
will be given to the people of the saints of the Most High.
His sovereignty is an eternal sovereignty
and every empire will serve and obey him.’

PSALM - DANIEL 3:82-87

Sons of men! bless the Lord.
Give glory and eternal praise to him!
Israel! bless the Lord.
Give glory and eternal praise to him!
Priests! bless the Lord.
Give glory and eternal praise to him!

Servants of the Lord! bless the Lord.
Give glory and eternal praise to him!
Spirits and souls of the virtuous! bless the Lord.
Give glory and eternal praise to him!
Devout and humble-hearted men! bless the Lord.
Give glory and eternal praise to him!

LUKE 21:34-36

My Soul's Beloved, 

If we are not rooted in You, Lord, and in Your Word, if we do not stay close to Holy Mother Church, if we are not frequently receiving the Sacraments, then it is very easy to fall into the traps that the devil lays for us unceasingly. The trifling pleasures of the world beguile, and concupiscence readily seeks the pleasures that last a moment but whose effects are deadly.

Today, You warn us who are called by Your Name and are grafted to You, to be vigilant and to guard ourselves against the wiles of the Enemy who prowls about looking for prey to devour, to destroy, and to kill. But we know in whom we have placed our hope. All our hope is in You, Lord. Stay with us, just as Your Name assures us, Emmanuel, God with us, and keep us safe by the power of Your Name and by the power of Your Blood, and we will be unafraid when we stand before You to be judged. 

Jesus said to his disciples:
‘Watch yourselves, or your hearts will be coarsened with debauchery and drunkenness and the cares of life, and that day will be sprung on you suddenly, like a trap. For it will come down on every living man on the face of the earth. Stay awake, praying at all times for the strength to survive all that is going to happen, and to stand with confidence before the Son of Man.’