The first reading from the Book of Daniel for today’s feast is just a very short two verses, verses thirteen and fourteen to be exact. The first twelve verses of chapter seven present Daniel’s account of a dream that he had, a dream filled with four fantastic, terrible, even horrifying creatures. There is a lion with eagle’s wings, a bear with three tusks, a leopard with four heads and four wings, and a horrible beast with iron teeth and ten horns. I fully understand why this part of the dream is not used in the lectionary for Sunday Mass. At the same time, being aware of these beasts helps to understand the fifth and final vision, one like a Son of Man who comes on clouds and is presented to the “Ancient of Days.”
Each of the four beasts represents one of the known kingdoms of that era. There were the kingdoms of Persia, Media, Alexander the Great and Antiochus IV Epiphanes. Each of these kingdoms was horrible in its day with one king trying to outdo his predecessor in persecutions and warfare. Perhaps the worst of the four was that of Antiochus IV who was a ruthless ruler. If you have been reading from the Books of Maccabees throughout the preceding week, you would have read of some of the horrors this man perpetrated on the Jews who remained faithful to the covenant.
Here’s the thing. No matter how horrible each of these kingdoms was, no matter what the atrocities their kings committed, each of them disappeared. They all failed in the long run.
However, as we read of the Kingdom of the Son of Man, we hear these words: “His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not pass away, his kingship, one that shall not be destroyed.” (Daniel 7:14b) In other words, just as I wrote last Sunday, God will prevail. God’s Kingdom is an everlasting kingdom that shall not pass away.
Now let us remember exactly what Jesus told us from the very first words of the Gospel and which he reiterates in today’s conversation with Pilate. God’s Kingdom, the Kingdom of Heaven is among us. It is not of this world. It is the Kingdom of Truth, not the kingdom of power. It is the Kingdom of Justice, not the Kingdom of warfare and persecution. It is the Kingdom of loving kindness, mercy and faithfulness which God proclaimed first on Sinai’s height and which culminates in the mystery of the Incarnation. God is with us, and God will prevail.
There is no question that there are people in our world who still think like the Persians, the Medes, Alexander the Great or Antiochus IV, who kill and persecute and terrorize. They commit heinous acts and strike fear into the hearts of all. It is the way of the world. However, we are not citizens of this world. We belong to the heavenly kingdom where true power and dominion will last forever.
As we celebrate the end of one liturgical year and prepare to enter once again into the mystery of God made human, let us never lose sight of the fact that we are destined for a different Kingdom and worship a different kind of King, a King whose justice is mercy and whose power cannot be destroyed. Citizens of that Kingdom, we are charged with the task of extending that Kingdom by acts of kindness and faithfulness. God will prevail, and so will God’s people.
Fr. Lawrence Jagdfeld, O.F.M., Administrator