The Unshakable Kingdom

Dan 2:31-45; Psalm: Dan 3; Lk 21:5-11

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ, in an age of rapid change and deep uncertainty, the Word of God today speaks a powerful word of assurance. It reveals a fundamental truth of our faith: every earthly kingdom, no matter how magnificent or powerful, is temporary, while the Kingdom of God alone is eternal and unshakable.

The prophecy of Daniel presents us with a stunning image: a great statue of dazzling brightness, with a head of gold, chest of silver, belly of bronze, legs of iron, and feet of iron and clay. This statue represents the succession of earthly empires, each one eventually crumbling to make way for the next. Their splendor is real, but its foundation is fragile. Then, “a stone was hewn from a mountain without a hand being put to it,” and it struck the statue, shattering it completely. This stone, cut without human hands, becomes a great mountain that fills the whole earth. Daniel interprets this as the Kingdom of God, which “shall never be destroyed or delivered up to another people.” It is established by God’s power, not human effort, and it will stand forever.

This prophecy finds its dramatic fulfillment in the Gospel. People are admiring the Jerusalem Temple, a magnificent structure of gleaming stone, a symbol of national identity and religious permanence. But Jesus startles them by declaring, “All that you see here—the days will come when there will not be left a stone upon another stone that will not be thrown down.” The very center of their world will be utterly destroyed. He goes on to describe the tumult that will accompany the end of the age: wars, insurrections, earthquakes, famines, and plagues. These are the “birth pangs” of the new creation, the necessary shaking of what is temporary to make way for what is permanent.

The stone hewn from the mountain is Jesus Christ, and the mountain that fills the earth is His Church, the seed and beginning of His Kingdom on earth. The Temple of Stone has been replaced by the Temple of His Body. While nations rise and fall, and even the most cherished human institutions—including structures within the Church—may show cracks and suffer collapse, the Kingdom of God, present in the hearts of the faithful and in the sacramental life of the Church, endures. As Pope Benedict XVI taught, “The Church is not just an organization, but a living organism, a living body that grows and endures through the centuries.”

This is our comfort and our strength. When we see turmoil in the world, scandal in the Church, or instability in our own lives, we are not seeing the victory of chaos, but the shaking of what can be shaken so that what cannot be shaken may remain. Our call is not to place our ultimate trust in any earthly power or institution, but to build our lives on the solid rock of Christ and His eternal Kingdom.

As the Letter to the Hebrews affirms, “We are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken” (Heb 12:28).

So, let us not be terrified by the headlines. Let us, instead, be faithful in our daily duties, steadfast in prayer, and generous in charity. Let us be that living stones in the spiritual temple that is the Church, trusting that the Lord, who holds all history in His hands, is bringing His unshakable Kingdom to its glorious fulfillment. Amen.

May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.