Readings:
Daniel 10
Judith 13-16
1 Thessalonians 5

Daniel 10

Daniels fourth and final vision is recounted over the next three chapters. In this vision he first sees an angel who’s appearance is like a man, but also unlike him. He’s described with attributes that appear like precious metal and gems, but also described as wearing linen cloths which usually refers to priestly garments.

The people who are with Daniel don’t see what he’s seeing, but they can still sense it and it makes them very afraid and they ran away leaving Daniel to converse with the angel alone.

The angel tells Daniel that he attempted to come to Daniel on the first day of his three week fast, but was resisted by the “prince of the kingdom of Persia” until the archangel Michael came to assist him. I’ve always thought this meant a fallen angel was this one called the prince of Persia, but I done some research on this and found that’s not a commonly held opinion among early biblical scholars and theologians. They say that every nation has an angelic authority over it that’s assigned by God in a role very similar to our personal guardian angels.

The opinion of saints Jerome, Gregory the Great, Saint Thomas Aquinas, and others, is that the prince is not a fallen angel, but opposes the angel that is going to Daniel because they are not omnipotent like God, and when their missions have overlap there can be opposing angels until someone like Michael sets it straight who’s in charge.

Here’s what Saint Thomas Aquinas wrote on this very passage in the Summa;

Article 8. Whether there can be strife or discord among the angels?

I answer that, The raising of this question is occasioned by this passage of Daniel. Jerome explains it by saying that the prince of the kingdom of the Persians is the angel who opposed the setting free of the people of Israel, for whom Daniel was praying, his prayers being offered to God by Gabriel. And this resistance of his may have been caused by some prince of the demons having led the Jewish captives in Persia into sin; which sin was an impediment to the efficacy of the prayer which Daniel put up for that same people.
But according to Gregory [Gregory the Great], the prince of the kingdom of Persia was a good angel appointed to the guardianship of that kingdom. To see therefore how one angel can be said to resist another, we must note that the Divine judgments in regard to various kingdoms and various men are executed by the
angels. Now in their actions, the angels are ruled by the Divine decree. But it happens at times in various kingdoms or various men there are contrary
merits or demerits, so that one of them is subject to or placed over another. As to what is the ordering of Divine wisdom on such matters, the angels cannot know it unless God reveal it to them: and so they need to consult Divine wisdom thereupon. Wherefore forasmuch as they consult the Divine will concerning various contrary and opposing
merits, they are said to resist one another: not that their wills are in opposition, since they are all of one mind as to the fulfilment of the Divine decree; but that the things about which they seek knowledge
are in opposition.

Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, prima pars Q.113;8

He tells him he will reveal things to him that will take place concerning the people of Israel, and then he’ll go back to contend with the prince of Persia and then the prince of Greece. Taking into account what’s been said by Aquinas and others, this means that this angel will be advocating for Israel while the other two princes he mentioned are advocating for the wellbeing of their respective nations.

So why Persia and Greece? The Persians send the Jews back to Jerusalem if they want to leave, but they remain a vessel of the Persian empire for the next two centuries until 331 BC when they’re defeated by Alexander the Great. From that time until the Maccabean revolt they’re under the dominion of the Greeks. So that mention of those two prices is a foreshadowing of that history to come.

Judith 13-16

Holofernes had bad motivations for having a banquet that was semi private, he didn’t want anyone but the Judith and a few others there, so that he could dismiss them when he chose and then be alone with Judith. This plan for evil backfired when he had too much to drink and was completely vulnerable with her when they were finally left alone.

Judith proceeds to carry out the coup-de-grace of her plan and beheads Holofernes in his own bed and takes his head back to her city. Here she’s greeted as the hero that she is, and it’s rightly recognized that she walked into a dangerous situation and risked her own life in the process, but it shouldn’t have been this way. She was put into this position due to the failure of those in leadership.

Judith ends the story as the greatest heroine Israel has known for centuries, and perhaps ever. She is on,y surpassed by the blessed mother, who’s “yes” blessed the entire world.

1 Thessalonians 5

Paul sets out to knock down any notion that one can predict the day of the Lord’s return. We have to be prepared, but being prepared for the second coming and being prepared for death is essentially the same thing. If we live in a state of grace and try to do God’s will in our lives, we will be prepared for the Lord to come for us whether it’s through accident, illness or Armageddon.

Since the Ascension Christ’s coming in glory has been imminent, even though “it is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has fixed by his own authority.” This eschatological coming could be accomplished at any moment, even if both it and the final trial that will precede it are “delayed”.

CCC 673

He will return like a thief in the night, but death also comes for many of us like that. It’s unexpected and unprepared for. That’s why Paul says to the Thessalonians that those who live in darkness can’t prepare for the thief, but those who are enlightened by Christ can’t be caught off guard because we have our lamps lit and know to be waiting and watching.

Tomorrow’s Readings:
Daniel 11-12
Tobit 1