The Kingdom of God is At Hand, Part II

By Fr. Christopher Foeckler, MJ • Phoenix, AZ

The “People of God” is the way the Second Vatican Council identified the members of the Church of Christ. The Catholic Church is the Kingdom of God on earth!

Since the Lord knew He was to leave this world after His crucifixion, death and resurrection to ascend into Heaven to receive a crown and scepter, He appointed a Vicar on earth to whom He gave the keys of His Kingdom while He was away. At Caesarea Philipi, Christ renamed Simon as Peter and declared: “You are Peter and on this rock I will build my Church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. Whatever you bind on earth, shall be bound in Heaven; whatever you loose on earth, shall be loosed in Heaven.” (Mt 16:18-19)

The Catholic Church is a spiritual kingdom, not a political one. We are to “render to Caesar the things of Caesar and to God the things of God.” So, we have a dual citizenship in our home country and in God’s spiritual kingdom. While the Kingdom of God is in the world, it is not of the world, as Christ told Pilate before His death, who acknowledged His words by putting the epitaph on His cross: “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews”. As citizens of the Kingdom of God, we are to be like leaven, small in quantity but very active, mixed into the whole mass of secular society working to raise it up as the Church has done for two millenia, greatly influencing the many cultures it has evangelized for their better with the Gospel of love and peace, life and holiness.

The Church is made up of those who believe in Christ and are baptized, among whom are saints and sinners – the wheat and the chaff – who are allowed to grow together until the end when they will be separated at the Last Judgement.

The Church is also hierarchical. The Vicar of Christ and the successors of the apostles – the Bishops – are to bind and loose on earth what is loosed and bound in Heaven for the glory of God and the salvation of souls, maintaining the hidden presence of the King through the sacraments and in our tabernacles.

We can be both good citizens of the Kingdom of God and the kingdoms of this world. In fact, those of the Kingdom of God are among the best citizens of the world when they live the Beatitudes. Yet, the worldly minded only see them as competitors and traitors, persecuting them even unto death at times, as did the Romans and many others to this day.

But the King of Heaven will come again – in glory and triumph at the end of time and will lead His faithful people into the Eternal Kingdom of Heaven where there will be no more tears or persecution, no more sin or temptation, and death will be no more! This is the Kingdom we pray to come when whenever we say the “Our Father”, where God’s will is always done and the fullness of justice and peace will reign forever!

The Kingdom of God is at hand. While we do not know exactly when it will come, let us stand upright and rejoice when it does appear, for then our salvation will be at hand and we will see our King!