34th Wednesday in Ordinary Time
26 November 2025
All this week, after celebrating Christ the King this past Sunday,
the Church invites us to think clearly about the difference between earthly kingdoms that pass
and the Kingdom of Christ that endures forever.
Yesterday, through Daniel’s interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream,
we heard that all human empires
— no matter how strong and mighty —
eventually crumble,
and only the Kingdom of God,
the “stone not cut by human hands,” remains.
Today’s first reading continues that same message with amazing clarity.
Daniel brings us into the royal banquet hall of King Belshazzar,
a ruler drowning in pride, indulgence, and spiritual blindness.
He holds a lavish feast to display his power,
and in the height of his arrogance,
he orders that the sacred vessels taken from the Temple in Jerusalem
be brought out
so he and his guests can drink wine from them
while praising false gods.
It is the ultimate gesture of earthly confidence
— the belief that nothing can touch him,
nothing can threaten his throne,
nothing can shake his kingdom.
Then suddenly,
a human hand appears and writes a message on the wall:
“Mene, Tekel, Peres.”
Panic fills the room.
The king who seemed so untouchable now trembles.
And Daniel,
the faithful servant of the true God,
interprets the message:
- Mene — God has numbered your kingdom; its days are over.
- Tekel — You have been weighed and found wanting.
- Peres — Your kingdom is divided and given to others.
the great empire Belshazzar thought was unshakeable
is exposed as fragile, temporary, and already collapsing.
The message is unmistakable:
Any kingdom built on pride collapses.
Any life built on arrogance crumbles.
Any heart that treats what is holy as ordinary loses its foundation.
This is the warning — and mercy — of Daniel:
Earthly kingdoms pass.
Human achievements fade.
Only God’s Kingdom stands.
The Gospel today adds the second half of the picture.
Jesus tells His disciples that before His Kingdom fully comes,
the world will not applaud them.
Instead, they will face betrayal, hatred, persecution, even violence.
But notice what Jesus promises:
“Not a hair of your head will be destroyed.”
“By your perseverance you will secure your lives.”
Earthly kingdoms fall by pride.
The Kingdom of God grows by perseverance.
Belshazzar feasted,
confident in his own power
— and lost everything.
As the disciples suffer,
trusting in God’s power
— and gain everything.
This is the great Christian paradox.
The world falls apart when it refuses to acknowledge God.
The disciple is held together
precisely because he entrusts everything to God.
Together, Daniel and Jesus ask each of us to examine the “kingdom” we are building within:
- What do we lean on for security?
- What do we treat as untouchable?
- What do we think we control?
- What do we worship without realizing it?
- What “sacred vessels” — gifts from God — have we used for lesser things?
- What parts of our lives are already “numbered, weighed, and divided”?
It is meant to wake us.
Christ the King is inviting us this week
by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit
to give Him our whole allegiance,
to tear down any false kingdom in our hearts,
and to build our lives on the only foundation that remains:
God’s Kingdom — permanent, unshakeable, eternal.
And how do we live in that Kingdom?
Not by dominance, but by faithfulness.
Not by pride, but by humility.
Not by fear, but by perseverance.
Jesus does not say we will be spared difficulty.
He says we will be sustained through it.
He does not say we will avoid trials.
He says we will be victorious through them.
Belshazzar trusted in his palace walls.
The disciple trusts in God’s promise:
“By your perseverance, you will secure your lives.”