💖 HOMILY - NOVEMBER 28 💖

First Reading - Daniel 7:2-14 

Gospel - Luke 21:29-33

There are moments when life feels like a swirl of confusion—change, uncertainty, and forces beyond our control. Today’s readings speak right into that experience, reminding us that even when the world feels chaotic, God’s story is still unfolding and His word still stands firm.

In the first reading, Daniel receives a vision filled with strange and powerful images: turbulent seas, beasts rising from the deep, kingdoms rising and falling. It is a picture of a world that seems out of control. Yet the vision does not end with chaos. It ends with the Ancient of Days taking His seat—calm, majestic, unshaken. And then One “like a Son of Man” comes before Him, and to this Son of Man is given dominion, glory, and kingship that will never pass away.

What Daniel sees is a world where human power rises and falls, but God’s reign outlasts every empire. The turbulence of history cannot overturn the sovereignty of God. The world may tremble, but God does not.

In the Gospel, Jesus brings this same message closer to home. He speaks of signs and changes, and then He gives an image everyone can understand: the fig tree. When its leaves sprout, you know summer is near. In the same way, when the world shifts, when unexpected things happen, when life changes suddenly, Jesus says:

“Know that the kingdom of God is near.”

And then He gives a promise that anchors the soul:

“Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.”

Everything around us is temporary. Even the things we think will last forever eventually fade. But the word of Christ, the truth of God, the promise of His kingdom—these are unshakable.

When we place Daniel’s vision next to Jesus’ teaching, a beautiful message emerges: God’s kingdom is more stable than our fears, more lasting than our troubles, and more real than the chaos around us. Daniel saw it in visions; the disciples heard it from the voice of the Son of Man Himself.

Dear friends, we all face moments when life feels turbulent—illness, loss, uncertainty about the future, changes we didn’t choose, relationships that struggle, pressures that drain us. We sometimes feel like Daniel watching storms and beasts, unsure of what comes next.

But in those moments, Jesus invites us to look at the fig tree—to notice the signs of God’s nearness rather than the signs of fear. He reminds us that His word is not fragile, and His promises do not expire.

So the question becomes: What are we building our lives on?

The temporary things that pass away, or the word that endures?

The shifting waves of circumstance, or the steady presence of God?

Today’s readings encourage us to steady our hearts. Even when the world feels chaotic, God is not defeated. Even when our plans crumble, God is still writing a larger story. Even when things feel uncertain, His kingdom is quietly growing, just like leaves on a fig tree.

May we learn to trust the God who sits above the storms and the Christ whose word never fades. And may we find peace—not in the absence of chaos—but in the presence of a kingdom that will never pass away.