Happy New Year’s Eve!! No, not THAT one! Today marks the end of the Church’s Liturgical Year. Tomorrow we enter the season of Advent. Hard to believe it will be Christmas soon.
I recall when I was in veterinary school being in Junior Surgery. This is the first time, as veterinary students, that we get to do surgical procedures on live animals. We also must learn, in addition to surgical and anesthesia techniques, how to do things like putting on surgical gowns, masks, sterile gloves, etc. There are the right ways, and the wrong ways, of doing each of these tasks. And roaming in the aisles between the surgery tables were our professors watching our every move ready to pounce if we did anything wrong. We had one particular instructor, can’t recall his name, who was particularly strict. We were all afraid of him and his criticisms.
We had the choice of two approaches to dealing with this professor. HIDE!! Most students took this approach and hoped he wouldn’t see us. I was similarly shaken but decided to take the second path. I asked him for his advice! Seemed simple enough. He couldn’t yell as strongly if something went awry since he was the one who was giving me the instructions. Worked like a charm. The added benefit was that, he really did know what he was doing and I got great advice.
Daniel, from today’s first reading, took a similar approach. He was in the middle of a dream, a nightmare really, that had him facing multiple frightening beasts. The fourth one, which had iron teeth and bronze claws, was particularly alarming. He observes:
Because of this, my spirit was anguished and I, Daniel, was terrified by my visions.
And responds:
I approached one of those present and asked him the truth of all this; in answer, he made known to me its meaning
What Daniel then receives is a clear description of what the fourth beast meant. The person in his dream explains that the four beasts are the kingdoms of the earth that will come over the next few centuries. Most scholars believe that they are: Beast #1 – Babylonians Beast #2 – Medes-Persians Beast #3 – Greeks and Beast #4, the most fearsome, the Romans.
The fourth beast will be the Roman Empire and their kings. And each king emerging in that kingdom will be more destructive than the previous one. Crushing and devouring the earth. Which coincides with the length and breath of the Roman Empire. There will be ten of these kings but it will be the 11th, the one spike rising up from amongst the other 10 spikes on the beast’s crown, that will threaten the “Holy Ones”. Believed to be the Jewish people under Roman occupation. They had their laws and culture crushed by the Romans. Particularly after the destruction of the temple in 70 AD.
But Daniel also reveals that he learned from his dream that this last king will be defeated by the Ancient Ones. More specifically by one Like the Son of Man descending from the clouds after receiving his dominion from God the Father. Jesus refers to himself in today’s Gospel from Luke as the Son of Man:
“Be vigilant at all times and pray that you have the strength to escape the tribulations that are imminent and to stand before the Son of Man.”
This leaves very little doubt who Jesus is. Daniel’s prophecy reveals that the coming of the Messiah (The Son of Man), and God’s Kingdom on earth, will come during Roman occupation. And Jesus says that he is, in fact, the Son of Man…the Messiah. The One bringing the eternal Kingdom to earth. We see Him reiterate it in Mark 13:26:
And then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory.
And so we can have faith and have hope in Jesus as the Son of Man, the Messiah, the Son of God. When he tells us in Luke to be watchful and prepared for that day when He comes to us, we can be confident that His words ring true. And we know this because a young prophet in the middle of a nightmare had the courage to ask and then act in the face of fear. President Roosevelt coined the phrase that I made the title of this reflection in 1933 during his first inauguration as he addressed the concerns created by The Great Depression. “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself”.
We allowed fear to consume us during COVID to the point of the unimaginable happening. The closing up of our churches and the halting of the administering of the gift, and the strength, of the Eucharist. May we learn from Daniel who stared down the fear of the beast, and later the fear in the lion’s den, by keeping his eyes and heart on the Lord. So that when that day comes, when He comes for us, we can follow Him with the same courage.
