Jesus' resurrection and ascension into heaven carries out a vision found in the Old Testament of the Bible, the Rev. Clem Hammerschmitt said.

Hammerschmitt, the pastor of St. Matthew Catholic Church in Lake Worth, reflected on a portion of the Book of Daniel highlighted in the first reading of Mass during the last weekend of November that stated "one like a Son of Man received dominion, glory, and kingship." 

The pastor said the concept behind the reading was a way to create a "vision of ultimate success" for the Jews even while they were being oppressed. He noted, however, that even today scholars still can't agree on who the author was referring to by referencing "one like a Son of Man."

"The fact is, we simply do not know if the author meant anyone in particular or if this is a collective, figurative image of Israel's Triumph," he said in the church's Nov. 29 bulletin. "What we do know is that the early Christian community seized upon this passage and recognized it as a messianic prophecy, a foretelling of the ultimate triumph of Jesus as the Christ of God."

Hammerschmitt called the reading coupled with the weekend's Gospel telling the story of Jesus' appearance in front of Pilate a "wonderful example" of how the celebration of Mass overlaps stories with "new meaning" by placing them in a certain setting.

The pastor said that through the celebration of Christ the King, Catholics are able to see the old text in a new light through our understanding of how Jesus fulfilled Daniel's idea of redemption with everlasting life in the Kingdom of God.

"The veiled admission of Jesus before Pilate that he did indeed have a kingdom 'not here' takes on a new meaning against the cosmic vision of Daniel, who allows us to glimpse the 'Ancient One' on his heavenly throne," Fr. Hammerschmitt said in the bulletin.