Thy Kingdom Come

Dear parishioners,

This weekend we celebrate the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ the Universal King. This solemnity, which acknowledges the sovereignty of Jesus and our belonging in that kingdom , marks the end of Ordinary Time in the liturgical calendar. And Advent begins next weekend. As the culmination of the liturgical season, this solemnity confirms that all of creation and all of time are within the rule of our Lord Jesus Christ. It sums up all of history in Christ who is both the alpha and omega, the origin and destination of all of creation. 

During his trial before Pilate in John 18:36, Jesus responds to the question whether he was a king by saying, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.” This statement Jesus confirms two things: first, that he is truly a king. And unlike earthly kings whose subjects defend their kings by violence, his subjects recognize that his kingdom is different; and second, his kingdom is not located somewhere on earth like other kingdoms. Although Jesus is the fulfillment of the promise of a Davidic king who would sit on the throne of Israel, his kingdom is not located in the earthly Israel but in Heaven. He is the king who ascends his throne not by conquest but by taking up his cross and shedding his life’s blood on the cross for all of humanity. Unlike worldly kingdoms won and preserved by weapons of war and the arm of flesh, the kingdom of Christ is one of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Whereas earthly kingdoms rise and fall, the kingdom of Christ is an everlasting kingdom. Furthermore, worldly kings come and go, but Christ our king lives forever. 

This Kingdom is present in Christ, as wherever the King is there is his kingdom. It has its beginning in the Church but will be perfected in heaven. As members of the Church we are part of the Kingdom of Christ. Our ultimate participation in this kingdom will be complete when at last we see God face to face in the heavenly kingdom not made by human hands. Thus we anticipate this kingdom in our liturgy and in our prayers.

In praying for the coming of the kingdom we are asking for the coming of Christ’s reign, where Christ would be Lord of all. This kingdom would bring about the fulfillment of all our longing. There is a sense in which our anticipation of the coming of this kingdom could make us indifferent or complacent to happenings in the world. But this is not what this petition means. The Church must not become complacent about the affairs of the temporal order, or indifferent to world affairs. On the contrary, the Church must carry out the mission Christ entrusted to her of sanctifying the world by her preaching and apostolate. The Catechism of the Catholic Church in paragraph 2818 puts it this ways: 

“In the Lord’s Prayer, “thy kingdom come” refers primarily to the final coming of the reign of God through Christ’s return. 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.”

May Jesus bless you, and may Our Lady protect you!

Fr. Julius