Thy Kingdom Come

“Thy Kingdom come” (Matt. 6:10). The second petition in the Lord’s Prayer is often glossed over. What is the Kingdom of God? Where is it? What do we mean when we ask for it to “come” and how does that impact our lives here on earth?

Our Redeemer Himself, the Author of the Lord’s Prayer, said as part of His sermon on the Mount:

“Seek ye therefore first the kingdom of God, and His justice, and all these things shall be added unto you. Be not therefore solicitous for tomorrow; for the morrow will be solicitous for itself. Sufficient for the day is the evil thereof” (Matt. 6:33-34).

The Kingdom of God is referenced over 150 times in the New Testament and even the last verse of the Acts of the Apostles describes St. Paul as “preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, without prohibition” (Acts 28:31). Yet far from referencing an earthly military kingdom, Our Lord affirmed multiple times – to the confusion of even His disciples – that His Kingdom “is not of this world” (John 18:36).

To what, then, does the Kingdom of God refer? Turning to The Catechism of St. Pius X, we find the answer: “By the Kingdom of God we mean a threefold spiritual Kingdom; that is, the reign of God in us, or the reign of grace; the reign of God on earth, or the Holy Catholic Church; and the reign of God in Heaven, or Paradise.” The Kingdom of God therefore refers chiefly to all things necessary for our salvation.

The Kingdom of Nature, of Grace, and of Glory

Expanding further than The Catechism of St. Pius X, the Roman Catechism expounds upon the Kingdom of God as a three-fold kingdom of nature, grace, and glory. While the Kingdom of God is concerned with our own souls, it nevertheless also includes all created things since God, Who is the Author of all things, possesses them as His own creation.

The Church’s annual celebration of the Kingship of Christ commemorates in a tangible manner the Kingdom of God over all individuals, institutions, and nations. There is no part of the world that is not under God’s domain, regardless of whether or not leaders, citizens, or nations choose to recognize Christ the King. Thus, even pagan lands are truly the possession of Christ by nature, and it is our earnest prayer that all of society publicly honor and adore Our Lord as the true Ruler of our world and Master of our souls.

Msgr. Rudolph G. Bandas connects these sentiments with the reasons why Pope Pius XI instituted the Feast of the Kingship of Christ in 1925:

“The Feast of Christ the King was established by Pope Pius XI in 1925 as an antidote to secularism, a way of life which leaves God out of man’s thinking and living and organizes his life as if God did not exist. The feast is intended to proclaim in a striking and effective manner Christ’s royalty over individuals, families, society, governments, and nations… [This] Mass also describes the qualities of Christ’s kingdom. This kingdom is: 1) supreme, extending not only to all peoples but also to their princes and kings; 2) universal, extending to all nations and to all places; 3) eternal, for ‘The Lord shall sit a King forever’; 4) spiritual, Christ’s kingdom is not of this world.”

The Kingdom of God is also a Kingdom of Grace, as the Roman Catechism explains:

“By the kingdom of God is also understood that special and singular providence by which God protects and watches over pious and holy men. It is of this peculiar and admirable care that David speaks when he says: The Lord rules me, I shall want nothing [Ps. 22:1], and Isaias: The Lord our king He will save us. [Isa. 33:22]”

There is no greater treasure worth protecting on this earth than the state of sanctifying grace in our souls, as its presence will ultimately win for us Heaven – while its absence will damn us to hell. This is a dogmatic reality. Thus, regarding the Kingdom of Grace, we beg Our Lord to keep us and preserve us in grace, as The Catechism of St. Pius X similarly states:

“With regard to grace we beg that God may reign in us by His sanctifying grace, by which He deigns to dwell within us as a king in his palace; and that He may keep us ever united to Himself by the virtues of faith, hope and charity, through which He reigns over our intellect, our heart and our will.”

Thy Kingdom Come

When the Lord’s Prayer is said quickly and in haste, so many spiritual realities are ignored. Yet in the simple word “come” are contained multiple sentiments integral to the Christian life.

First, by praying for the Kingdom of God to “come,” we pray for the conversion of all those who are outside the Barque of Peter. Similarly, we pray through these words for the conversion of sinners – that is, for Catholics who persist in grave sin. And the final object of our petition is that Our Lord, the vanquisher of death, will reign over all of us.

This is our ultimate destiny as Christ has already won (cf. John 16:33), and we pray that the day will soon arrive when Christ will return in glory and reward those who are faithful to Him. St. Augustine, in commenting on the petitions of the Lord’s Prayer, wisely reminds us: “And as for our saying: Thy kingdom come, it will surely come whether we will it or not. But we are stirring up our desires for the kingdom so that it can come to us and we can deserve to reign there.”

For we will deserve to reign with Christ only if we die in the state of sanctifying grace, as Our Lord Himself affirmed with the words: “Not every one that saith to Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of Heaven: but he that doth the will of My Father Who is in Heaven, he shall enter into the kingdom of Heaven” (Matt. 7:21).

Three Dispositions in This Petition

The Roman Catechism enumerates three dispositions which should accompany this petition. First and foremost, the Roman Catechism reminds us that we must prize the Kingdom of God above all earthly things. The second disposition reminds us that we are all exiles on this earth working out our salvation in “fear and trembling.” And the final disposition, building on the previous, affirms our need to labor for the coming of the Kingdom. These sentiments are those of a man firmly rooted in the virtue of hope, as Fr. Pius Parsch (1884-1954), the renown liturgical scholar of the first half of the 20th century, explains:

“The man who is wholly rooted in temporal things, and [neither] desires nor awaits anything beyond them, is without hope. He is not a Christian, since he puts his entire trust in an earthly reward. The more a man sees through the emptiness of this life and prepares himself for the coming of the Lord, the more hope there is in him. Hence, we see that hope is one of the foundation stones of the Christian life, and without it there is no such thing as Christianity.”

Thus, a life rooted in the three theological virtues naturally seeks the fulfillment of Christ’s Kingdom in earnest, both now and hereafter. There is no earthly utopia; our homeland is Heaven. As Pope Pius XI reminds us in Quas Primas: “Men must look for the peace of Christ in the Kingdom of Christ.”

Conclusion

Far from a mere intellectual exercise, these reflections should cultivate a greater desire in our own souls to pray the Lord’s Prayer well. Fr. Parsch remarked:

“Let us pray the Our Father with the greatest reverence and devotion. It would be well at times to preface it with the introduction given in the Mass: ‘Admonished by Thy saving precepts and encouraged by divine instruction, we make bold to say.’ Let us often pray just one Our Father very slowly and without adding the Hail Mary, not because we in any way wish to disparage devotion to Our Lady, but because the Lord’s prayer is so sublime and in a class all by itself.”

The post What Does “Thy Kingdom Come” Mean? first appeared on The Fatima Center.

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