Catholic Mass Readings and Reflection November 27, 2025
Wednesday – 34th Week in Ordinary Time
27th November 2025 (Thursday)
Psalter: Week 2
Readings of the Day
First Reading: Daniel 6:11-27
In those days: Some men came by agreement and found Daniel making petition and plea before his God. Then they came near and said before the king, concerning the injunction, “O king! Did you not sign an injunction, that anyone who makes petition to any god or man within thirty days except to you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions?” The king answered and said, “The thing stands fast, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be revoked.” Then they answered and said before the king, “Daniel, who is one of the exiles from Judah, pays no attention to you, O king, or the injunction you have signed, but makes his petition three times a day.” Then the king, when he heard these words, was much distressed and set his mind to deliver Daniel. And he labored till the sun went down to rescue him. Then these men came by agreement to the king and said to the king, “Know, O king, that it is a law of the Medes and Persians that no injunction or ordinance that the king establishes can be changed.” Then the king commanded, and Daniel was brought and cast into the den of lions. The king declared to Daniel, “May your God, whom you serve continually, deliver you!” And a stone was brought and laid on the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet and with the signet of his lords, that nothing might be changed concerning Daniel. Then the king went to his palace and spent the night fasting; no diversions were brought to him, and sleep fled from him. Then, at break of day, the king arose and went in haste to the den of lions. As he came near to the den where Daniel was, he cried out in a tone of anguish. The king declared to Daniel, “O Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions?” Then Daniel said to the king, “O king, live forever! My God sent his angel and shut the lions’ mouths, and they have not harmed me, because I was found blameless before him; and also before you, O king, I have done no harm.” Then the king was exceedingly glad, and commanded that Daniel be taken up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no kind of harm was found on him, because he had trusted in his God. And the king commanded, and those men who had maliciously accused Daniel were brought and cast into the den of lions—they, their children, and their wives. And before they reached the bottom of the den, the lions overpowered them and broke all their bones in pieces. Then King Darius wrote to all the peoples, nations, and languages that dwell in all the earth: “Peace be multiplied to you. I make a decree, that in all my royal dominion people are to tremble and fear before the God of Daniel, for he is the living God, enduring forever; his kingdom shall never be destroyed, and his dominion shall be to the end. He delivers and rescues; he works signs and wonders in heaven and on earth, he who has saved Daniel from the power of the lions.”
Daniel 3:68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74 R.(59b)
R/. Sing praise to him and highly exalt him forever.
Gospel Acclamation
V/. Alleluia
R/. Alleluia
V/. Straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.
R/. Alleluia
Gospel: Luke 21:20-28
At that time: Jesus said to his disciples, “But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those who are inside the city depart, and let not those who are out in the country enter it, for these are days of vengeance, to fulfill all that is written. Alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! For there will be great distress upon the earth and wrath against this people. They will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive among all nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. “And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”
Daily Gospel Reflection
Thursday – 34th Week in Ordinary Time
Main Point: God does not always spare His faithful ones from being thrown into the den or into troubled times, but He never abandons them there; the same Lord who shuts the lions’ mouths will also raise our heads when the world seems to collapse.
1. The scene from Daniel is very familiar yet ever fresh. Daniel is faultless in his public life, and his enemies know they will find no charge against him “unless it is in connection with the law of his God”. Therefore, they cleverly manipulate the king into signing a decree that no one shall pray to any god or man except the king for thirty days. Daniel knows the decree, yet he continues to pray as usual.
2. We see in Daniel a clear order of priorities. He does not choose safety over fidelity, reputation over prayer, or compromise over communion with God. Many would say, “Just thirty days without prayer, to save your life!” But Daniel knows that life without faithfulness to God is not really life. Better a den with God than a palace without Him.
3. Consequently, his enemies get what they want: Daniel is thrown into the lions’ den. The king is deeply distressed, yet bound by his own decree. He spends a sleepless night and comes in haste in the morning, crying out in anxiety: “Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God been able to deliver you from the lions?” And Daniel answers calmly from within the den.
4. Daniel declares: “My God sent His angel and shut the lions’ mouths.” The lions are still lions, but their power is restrained by God. This is very consoling: God does not always remove the lions from our life, but He can shut their mouths. The threats, the dangers, the hostile forces may remain, but they will not devour us if we remain steadfast in Him.
5. The gospel paints another frightening picture: Jerusalem surrounded by armies, days of vengeance, great distress upon the land, people fainting with fear, the powers of the heavens shaken. It is a language of upheaval, collapse, and crisis. But in the midst of this, Jesus says a very surprising word: “When these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”
6. Very often we react just the opposite. At the slightest sign of difficulty, we bow down our heads in fear, discouragement, or despair. When there are tensions in family, uncertainties in finances, failures in studies or work, or moral confusion around us, we think everything is lost. We see only lions and collapsing walls, not the God who is still Lord over them.
7. Daniel’s night in the den and Jesus’ discourse on the end-times teach us the same lesson: do not be naïve about evil, but do not be paralysed by it either. Evil, injustice, persecution, confusion – all are real. But they are not ultimate. They have a time limit and a boundary. Beyond and above them stands the “Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory”.
8. The crucial question, then, is not, “Will there be dens and turmoil?” – for there will be. Rather it is, “How do I live when they come?” Shall I give up prayer to save my position? Shall I dilute my faith to avoid criticism? Shall I join the crowd to escape isolation? Or shall I, like Daniel, keep my window open toward God; and, like the disciples, lift up my head in trust when others collapse in fear?
9. In a world that often tempts us to hide our faith or to reduce it to private sentiment, Daniel invites us to a visible, uncompromising fidelity. In a time when news of wars, natural calamities, and moral crises easily fill us with anxiety, Jesus invites us not to panic but to read these signs as a call to deeper conversion and stronger hope. The true believer is not reckless, but neither is he terrified.
My Practice: Lions may roar and kingdoms may shake, but those who remain faithful in prayer and raise their heads in hope will experience that every den can become a place of encounter and every upheaval a doorway to redemption.
