Thy Kingdom Come"

Today's Mass Readings

In today’s reading from the Gospel of Luke, we see that one of the images Jesus uses to describe the Kingdom of God is that of a mustard seed. The mustard seed is known for its small seeds, and yet mustard plants grow into large bush-like trees which can shelter birds. The mustard plant grows relatively fast and has an almost weed like tenacity in the proper environment. Similarly, a little bit of yeast has a proportionately huge effect on its environment. The kingdom of God, then, has also grown from such a small seed, i.e., Jesus’ earliest followers, and become an international and cosmic kingdom. Today, Christianity is found all over the world. In fact, the majority of Christians living today, live in Africa, Asia, and South America. Far more Christians live in these continents than all of the Christians in Europe, North America, and Australia combined. Christianity may no longer be called a European religion. When we take into account all of the Christians in heaven, we see that this international and cosmic kingdom of God has grown quite large indeed. What began with Jesus and His disciples has grown into a kingdom that spans the globe, as well as across time and in heaven.

While the above fact is true, the Kingdom of God is also something that Jesus asked us to continually pray for. For example, in the "Our Father" Jesus taught his disciples to pray "Thy Kingdom come" as if the Kingdom lay somewhere in the future. We get a sense of that also in today's first reading, where St. Paul says, "We know that all creation is groaning in labor pains even until now; and not only that, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, we also groan within ourselves as we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies" (Rom 8:23).

Thus, the Kingdom of God is at once a present and a future reality. The possession of the Kingdom is our hope even as we expereince a foretaste of it in the here and now. As St. Paul suggest, "For in hope we were saved" (Rom 8:24).

We each form an essential part of this kingdom and the Kingdom forms an essential part of us. Let us strive to continually expand this kingdom through our words, actions, indeed our very lives.

Jeff Morrow & Fr. Satish Joseph