Thy Kingdom Come
One
What is God’s Kingdom?
For centuries, the Jews waited for the Messiah to come. He would be the one to establish an eternal, worldwide Kingdom. They figured it would be like Solomon’s kingdom since he was the last of the great kings over the twelve tribes, only this new Christ’s Kingdom would be bigger and better and more powerful. There would be more soldiers, more wealth, and extravagance. It would cover more territory and last forever.
Then the Messiah came. Christ came. He went about preaching the Kingdom of God but nobody saw any of the stuff they were looking for. No military force. No riches. No glory.
It was so hard for them to let go of their preconceived ideas of God’s kingdom. Even when Christ was about to ascend, His apostles asked Him, “So are you going to establish the kingdom now?” But of course, He had already established the kingdom. He had already gone about preaching, “The Kingdom of God is here, in your midst,” because the kingdom of God is the Church.
Two
External Membership in the Kingdom
The Church is the community of those who are united to one another by being united to Christ. Being part of this Church, this Kingdom, means you accept Christ as your savior, it means you accept the Scriptures, it means you accept the apostolic authority structure and teaching that Christ established.
In other words, being a full member, a full citizen of Christ’s Kingdom means being Catholic. To the extent that someone is not Catholic, to that extent, the Kingdom of God is not fully realized on this earth.
So when we say, “Thy Kingdom Come” with every Our Father, a part of what we’re praying for, whether we realize it or not, is that every single human being on earth becomes a card-carrying Catholic. And, one of the things that should make us hopeful is that every Christian who says, “Thy Kingdom Come” is also implicitly asking God to make him or her a Catholic.
But of course, being a full member of Christ’s Kingdom, even though it involves accepting certain doctrines and attending certain liturgies, means a lot more than that. It means fully conforming ourselves to Christ. Becoming not just Catholics, but saints. And that’s the second thing we pray for, for ourselves and for others when we say, “Thy Kingdom Come.”
Three
Interior Membership in the Kingdom
It’s not enough to say you’re a member of the Church. It’s not enough to publicly identify as Catholic. Plenty of people do that, even as they scandalize the world by the way their lives oppose the Gospel.
To say, “Thy Kingdom Come” means “Dear Lord, please let your rule, your Kingship, govern not only our self-presentation but also what we do and think in secret. May everything about me, every part of my life, be in conformity with the laws of your Kingdom.” And that doesn’t happen easily. In fact, there’s a very strange passage in the Gospel of Luke, where Jesus says, “The Kingdom of God is proclaimed, and everyone who enters it does so through violence” (Luke 16:16).
What does that mean? The violent are the ones who get into the kingdom? Yes, the violent. Those who are willing to be violent towards themselves. Those who are willing to amputate occasions of sin, even if it feels like you’re cutting off your hand or plucking out your eye. Those who are willing to put love of God ahead of love of spouse or parent or child, even if it feels like you’re attacking your own heart.
That’s the only way we can fully enter into the Kingdom, by violence, not gentleness towards our vices. So when we say, “Thy Kingdom Come,” understand and focus on what you need to ask Our Father. You need to ask Him for the strength to do whatever brutally difficult thing needs to happen so that you can enter His Kingdom fully.
Four
The Peace of Heaven
So praying for God’s Kingdom to Come means a commitment to evangelization. Praying for God’s Kingdom to come means a commitment to your own purification. But of course, the ultimate goal of evangelization and purification is that we all be together in perfect peace and joy in Heaven.
This is how St. Paul describes Christ’s Kingdom, “The Kingdom of God is righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Rm 14:17).
So at the end of the day, we are asking God to bring us to Heaven soon. Let us do our work well here, let us undergo whatever purification we need to – and then, good Father, bring us to you in that supreme peace and joy of the Kingdom that is heaven.
Five
The Three Aspects of the Church
The Kingdom of God is the Church, and as there are three phases in the Church, so there are three phases in the Kingdom.
There is the Church militant. These are the members of the Kingdom on earth, who fight to spread the faith, keep the faith, and live the faith. We pray that we may be good soldiers for the Church when we say, “Thy Kingdom come.”
There is the Church suffering. These are the members of the Kingdom in purgatory, who are entering into the fullness of unity with Christ through the suffering that purifies them. We pray that they may enter into their reward soon when we say, “Thy Kingdom come.”
Then there is the Church triumphant. These are the heroes of the Kingdom, who celebrate at the eternal banquet of the King. We pray for their intercession that we may join them soon, whenever we say, “Thy Kingdom come.”