Devotion for
today: Thy Kingdom come, part two
We continue our
look at The Lord’s Prayer
John 3:5:
Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water
and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
Romans 14:17: For the kingdom of God does not mean food and
drink but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit;
Luke 13:28: There you will weep and gnash your teeth, when you see Abraham and
Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God and you yourselves thrust
out.
Of course, Jesus has many meanings in this one line. I
have referred to our personal longing to be part of God’s heavenly kingdom. We
can also acknowledge that Jesus is referring to the final coming, when heaven and
earth will pass away and only God’s kingdom will exist for those who
acknowledged Him as King during their life time. That is the key. Know God now,
and reign with Him forever after. Jesus is, after all, the Kingdom of God.
2818 In the Lord's Prayer,
"thy kingdom come" refers primarily to the final coming of the reign
of God through Christ's return.88 But, far from distracting the
Church from her mission in this present world, this desire commits her to it
all the more strongly. Since Pentecost, the coming of that Reign is the work of
the Spirit of the Lord who "complete[s] his work on earth and brings us
the fullness of grace (Catechism of the Catholic Church)."89
88 Cf. Titus 2:13.
89 Roman Missal, Eucharistic Prayer IV,118.
89 Roman Missal, Eucharistic Prayer IV,118.
We see, too, that the kingdom of God has a lot to do with
allowing the Holy Spirit to set up that kingdom in our hearts as we work to
make the world and ourselves worthy of God. We can never be singular in our
desire for residence with God; we must bring as many people with us as we can.
This is the challenge of living in a society today where God has been removed
as King and has been replaced by the worship of money and self. But we cannot
stop trying. There is still a deep hunger inside the people proclaiming that
their laws are better than God’s laws, a hunger which can only be satisfied in
knowing the true King. Who will tell them? Who will show them the Kingdom of
God if not us? We must be driven by the Holy Spirit living within us to become
people whose very lives reflect the Kingdom of God, people in whom the
reception of the Eucharist can transform us from impatient, self-centered human
beings into images of the loving and merciful King who walked the earth and
will return.
2821 This petition is taken up and
granted in the prayer of Jesus which is present and effective in the Eucharist;
it bears its fruit in new life in keeping with the Beatitudes. (Catechism of
the Catholic Church)
The kingdom of God
means, then, the ruling of God in
our hearts; it means those principles which separate us off from the kingdom of
the world and the devil; it means the benign sway of grace; it means the Church as that Divine
institution whereby we may make sure of attaining the spirit of Christ and so win that ultimate of God where
He reigns without end in "the holy
city, the New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God.” (Revelation 21:2). http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08646a.htm
2820 By a
discernment according to the Spirit, Christians have to distinguish between the
growth of the Reign of God and the progress of the culture and society in which
they are involved. This distinction is not a separation. Man's vocation to
eternal life does not suppress, but actually reinforces, his duty to put into
action in this world the energies and means received from the Creator to serve
justice and peace. (Catechism of the Catholic Church)
Saint
Cyprian of Carthage sums this up beautifully for us when he states, “The Lord's prayer continues: Thy kingdom come. We
ask that the kingdom of God may appear to us, just as we ask that His name may
be sanctified in us. For when does God not reign, or when does his kingdom
begin, for it always has been and never ceases to be? We are praying that our
kingdom, which has been promised to us by God, may come, the kingdom that was
acquired by the blood and passion of Christ; and that we who started off as his
subjects in this world may hereafter reign with Christ when he reigns, as he
himself promised when he said: Come, I whom my Father has blessed, take up the
kingdom which has been prepared for you from the beginning of the world.
But it may be, dearest brethren that Christ himself is the kingdom of God, for whose coming we daily ask. For since He Himself is our resurrection, since in Him we rise again, so also the kingdom of God may be understood to be Himself, since it is in Him that we shall reign. We do well to ask for the coming of the kingdom of God – that is, the heavenly kingdom – for there is also an earthly kingdom, and he who has already renounced this world is greater than any of its honors or powers.
BLEST ARE THEY
by David Haas
1. Blest are they, the poor in spirit, theirs is the
kingdom of God. Blest are they, they, full of sorrow, they shall be consoled.
REFRAIN: Rejoice and be glad! Blessed are you, holy are
you! Rejoice and be glad! Yours is the kingdom of God!
2. Blest are they, the lowly ones, they shall inherit the
earth. Blest are they who hunger and thirst, they shall have their fill.
(REFRAIN)
3. Blest are they who show mercy, mercy shall be theirs.
Blest are they, the pure of heart, they shall see God! (REFRAIN)
4. Blest are they who seek peace; they are the children
of God. Blest are they who suffer in faith, the glory of God is theirs.
(REFRAIN)
5. Blest are you who suffer hate, all because of me.
Rejoice and be glad, yours is the kingdom; shine for all to see. (REFRAIN)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9ek5YQmBmk
(this is well worth viewing)
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