Thy Kingdom Come
By Fr. Joe Tetlow, SJ
Fr Ron Gonzales reminded us of the Our Father in his blog "Thy Will Be Done." Here's some thoughts about what we say just before that: "Thy Kingdom Come."
First, only God knows when thy kingdom will come, and the full glory of the children of God will be revealed. We can't bring just judgment to the world. God can and will.
Meanwhile, human sin keeps our world chaotic, like right now in Russia and Ukraine, and maybe our political life. Face it: none of us on earth can end all the chaos. It's the mystery of evil. But we are given to know that God can end the chaos. He will defeat sin and death. If we really believe this, we are bringing His Kingdom at least a little bit into our world. We can keep a quiet heart and mind even now—part of His Kingdom.
For the truth is that we are His Kingdom in the world. When we pray "Thy Kingdom come," we are talking about ourselves. Our mission is to live a holy life as far as we can. And certainly, we can refuse to pitch in and make the chaos worse by grousing, worrying, and complaining. We can just do the works my Father has given me to do, like Jesus, in my family, my work, my conversations—just do the next good thing, knowing that God is infinitely powerful to accomplish His project of a just and loving world, in His good time.
Right now, we're the ones spreading the Kingdom of God on earth. Think of it: When the Kingdom comes at the end, what will risen human life look like? Well, everyone alive will be loving, joyful, patient, kind, gentle, and truthful. Really, we can start that right now.
We pray "Thy kingdom come" and we start it now—today. Why not?