Thursday of the Thirty-second Week in Ordinary Time
When the world seeks a kingdom, it looks for great pomp and circumstance gilded with glittering ceremony. But in today’s Gospel passage, Jesus proposes an alternative perspective. Rather than the Kingdom of God coming with gaudy show, the Lord says to the disciples that the Kingdom of God cannot be observed; for the Kingdom of God was already among them.
Truly indeed, the Kingdom of God was already among them because Jesus, the true King himself, was standing before them. And where the king reigns, there is his kingdom. Of course, compared to the ostentatious demonstrations of riches, honors, and power usually exhibited by earthly kingdoms, Jesus’ approach takes a different form. But, then again, as Jesus reminds us elsewhere in the Gospels, his kingdom is ultimately not of this world.
And so, if we long for the coming of the Kingdom of God, let us prepare a space within our hearts where Christ may reign. If we await the glorious return of Christ, let us even now vigilantly foster the justice, peace, truth, and love that are pleasing to him and precious in his eyes. Then, after having imitated Christ’s labors in this earthly life, we will share in his victory in the eternal life to come, where the Kingdom of God will have no end.