From antiochan.org, oremus.org, rongolini.com and dynamispublications.org:
Daily Readings:
Saints/Martyrs/Feasts/Fasts to be observed/commemmorated/celebrated: the Fast of the Nativity
Scriptural Readings:
Daniel 3:91-97 (12/17-12/30) A Reading in Kellia for the Feast of the Holy Prophet Daniel
Life in Exile: Daniel 3:91-97 SAAS, especially vs. 28: “So King Nebuchadnezzar answered and said, ‘Blessed is the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who sent His Angel and saved His servants who trusted in Him; for they altered the word of the king and handed over their bodies to be burned, so as not to serve and worship any god other than their God.’” After the armies of Nebuchadnezzar laid siege to the city of Jerusalem and captured it (587 BC), most of the city’s population was deported from Palestine to the lower Mesopotamian Valley, near Nebuchadnezzar’s capital, the great city of Babylon. The exiles struggled with difficulty to maintain their religious practices, especially the truths of God, against constant pressure to conform to the dominant pagan culture.
The faithful in contemporary society live with continuous pressure to conform to a dominant world-view whose assumptions oppose the given truths of Christianity. In this struggle, the account of the three godly youths provided by the Prophet Daniel helps any who resist pressures to join in pagan living. For the young men, it was clear that the idol was no true God. They were willing, as Daniel reports, to die rather than pretend to worship such an image. They told the king frankly that they would “...not serve [his] gods, nor worship the golden image [he] set up”(Dan. 3:18). So, full of fury, the king had them thrown into a fiery furnace.
First, observe that God is present with His faithful in the worst of trials. In this instance, Christ intervened miraculously, coming as the fourth person in the furnace, walking with the three in the fire (Dan 9:92). Thereby, He kept them safe from all effects of the flames (vs. 94). However, we should not conclude that this unusual deliverance of the three youths is in any way an assurance that God will, in most instances, overcome the course of nature and miraculously deliver the faithful from every form of duress. Their act is an assurance that God always is present with us whenever we consciously and deliberately stand firm for the truth, even in the face of death. The faithful witness of untold martyrs for Christ reveals this same truth.
Second, notice that their faithfulness effected a change in Nebuchadnezzar. He blessed “...the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who sent His Angel and saved His servants who trusted in Him” (vs. 95). This was not conversion to the true Faith, but the king’s acceptance of a certain validity of the Faith. He was moved to admire their stance. His tolerant policy shift allowed the People of God to practice their religion freely. Note that it was during the Babylonian exile that the Jewish community developed the institution of the synagogue with its reading and exposition of the written word of God. These practices form and underlie the present structure and practice of the first portion of the Divine Liturgy that centers upon Holy Scripture.
Truly only a small change was achieved in the heart and mind of the Babylonian king by this extraordinary miracle. Was he moved to general tolerance? Not at all! Instead, he ordered that any who spoke against “...the God of Shadrach, Meshach, or Abednego...be destroyed and their houses plundered, because there is no other God who can deliver in this way” (vs. 96).
What a vivid reminder of the complications of winning others to the true Faith, especially those who have been raised to believe in false religions! While, on the one hand, we can rejoice that Nebuchadnezzar promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego (vs. 97), on the other, let us heed what Saint Nikolai of Zica teaches: “Daniel and the Three Children lived to a great old age in Babylon, and were beheaded with the sword for the true Faith.” Our task as the Church is to disciple the nations (Mt. 28:19). To this we are to attend unto our life’s end.
Great are the achievements of faith! In the fountain of flame as by the water of rest, the Three Holy Children rejoiced. By their prayers , O Christ our God, Save our souls
Hebrews 11:8, 11-16
Hebrews 11:8, 11-168By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; and he set out, not knowing where he was going. 11By faith he received power of procreation, even though he was too old—and Sarah herself was barren—because he considered him faithful who had promised. 12Therefore from one person, and this one as good as dead, descendants were born, “as many as the stars of heaven and as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.” 13All of these died in faith without having received the promises, but from a distance they saw and greeted them. They confessed that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth, 14for people who speak in this way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. 15If they had been thinking of the land that they had left behind, they would have had opportunity to return. 16But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; indeed, he has prepared a city for them.
Mark 9:33-41
Mark 9:33-41
33Then they came to Capernaum; and when he was in the house he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the way?” 34But they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another who was the greatest. 35He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.” 36Then he took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, 37“Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.”
38John said to him, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.” 39But Jesus said, “Do not stop him; for no one who does a deed of power in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me. 40Whoever is not against us is for us. 41For truly I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward.
The Synaxarion:
December 17
Memory of the holy Prophet Daniel and the Three Youths:
Anania, Azaria, and Misael (Fourth century B.C.)
The Book of Daniel tells of a holy prophet who belonged to the tribe of Juda and descended from the royal line. When still young, he was led away with his three young companions to Babylon at the time of the captivity of King Joakim in 605 B.C. Chosen for service to the King of the Assyrians, they received new names: Daniel was named Baltassar; Anania, Sidrach; Misael, Misach; and Azaria, Abdenago. They were raised in the royal palace and taught the wisdom of the Chaldeans. Three years later, Daniel, after having interpreted the mysterious dream of King Nabuchodonosor, and vindicated Susanna from the unjust accusations of the two elders, was made governor by the King of the whole province of Babylon and chief prefect of the Satraps, the Persian major governors, over all the wise men of Babylon. Under the reign of Belsassar, Nabuchodonosor's son, Daniel explained the handwriting on the palace wall to the King. When Darius the Mede, also called Cyrus, beseiged and occupied Babylon in 538 B.C., Daniel was named one of the three great ministers that Cyrus had established to head the one hundred and twenty satraps of his kingdom. Falsely denounced by his enemies, he was thrown into a lions' den, but, sustained by assistance from on high, he closed the lions mouths. Among the lions, he was like a shepherd among his ewes.
As for his three young companions, having refused to prostrate themselves before a statue of Nabuchodonosor, they were thrown into the white-hot furnace. Remaining intact in the middle of the flames, they glorified God by the beautiful hymn that the liturgy has inserted into the Seventh and Eighth Odes of the stichologia.
Fifth Class Feast.
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