In the Lord's Prayer, we pray for God's kingdom to come. As we approach the feast of Christ the King, we reflect on what the meaning might be of:

"Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."

Identities are formed early in life but only become part of our inner selves as we embrace mature understandings in our souls. I was born in Corpus Christi (Latin: "Body of Christ") and grew up in Christ the King parish. As a naïve child, I acquiesced to the bestowed identity that I was born into the Body of Christ with Christ as my King. Now, as an adult, each year when the feast of Christ the King is celebrated in the liturgy, I embrace more deeply that divine relationship.

Every time we say the Lord’s Prayer, we pray for the coming of the Kingdom in our world and that God’s will be fulfilled here and now. How do we reconcile the pervasive qualities of prevalent kingdoms – kingdoms we’ve known as hierarchical, oppressive, domineering, and imperialistic – with the kingdom of “justice, love, and peace?” (Pope Francis) In the Canticle of Mary, she claims that the Almighty casts down the powerful from their thrones and lifts up the lowly.” (Luke: 1:52)

How do we know God’s will? Jesus said he came to show us the way. He read the Scriptures aloud, he preached, he taught, he healed, he fed, he exorcised, and he worked miracles. Still, when the people didn’t get it, he told stories.

What would the Kingdom be like in heaven? A treasure hidden in a field? A pearl? A mustard seed? Eye has not seen, but there are many teachings on what heaven is like. Similes aside, we can only imagine. From growing up in the Body of Christ with Christ as my King, I imagine all will be dear, loved, and valued members of the heavenly body, gathered voices in the heavenly chorus of witnesses to the beauty and overwhelming embraces of Christ. I believe, that as Christ my King, he will bestow on each of us the abundance of his inheritance, the gift of who he is: love, peace, and joy. I believe, that in a timeless world of eternity, Christ the King will have time for each of us to sit on his lap, as he holds us close to his heart, in everlasting bliss.

How do we get ready on earth for the Kingdom of heaven? Live as Jesus lived. Prepare for heaven: Practice, practice, practice. And tell stories.

--by Jan

It is really not that hard to believe that Christ “will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end,” as it says in the Nicene Creed. It is not that hard to believe that someday, in some distant future, everything will be set right. What is hard to believe is that the realm of God is among us, in the present tense, as Jesus repeatedly said (Luke 17:21; cf. Mt 12:28, Lk 10:9, 11:20).

When we pray, “thy kingdom come,” the next line explains what we mean: “thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Not just someday, but now. As Frederick Buechner explained long ago, the realm of God "is not a place … but a condition." It is a way of existence. Buechner continues, "Insofar as here and there, and now and then, God's [royal] will is being done in various odd ways among us even at this moment, the kingdom has already come.” Of course, he goes on to say, “Insofar as all the odd ways we do [God's] will at this moment are at best half-baked and halfhearted, the kingdom is still a long way off."

In a similar vein, Frank Thomas has recently written, the "realm of God affirms what is good, true, and just in every age, and it corrects what is misguided, unjust, and wrong.” Our prayers that “God’s kingdom come, God’s will be done” are self-involving; we ourselves are part of the answer. To again quote Thomas: the realm of God “is a community in God’s care that lives in radical love, joy, peace, truth, and righteousness.” Wherever these characteristics are manifest, empowered by the Holy Spirit, the realm of God is among us. In Thomas’ words, “When God occupies a human heart, then the kingdom has come to earth.”

I leave you with the haunting question Thomas poses: “Is God’s government set up in our human hearts?”

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