Day 77: The Kingdom of God

"Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying: 'The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent, and believe in the gospel.'" "To carry out the will of the Father Christ inaugurated the kingdom of heaven on earth." Now the Father's will is "to raise up men to share in his own divine life". He does this by gathering men around his Son Jesus Christ. This gathering is the Church, "on earth the seed and beginning of that kingdoms". CCC 541

In today's reading, the Catechism goes into the beginning of Jesus' public ministry, proclaiming that the kingdom of God was at hand and inviting all souls to repentance, believing the Gospel. This would be something of a theme throughout His time in the public eye. What was shocking to some was that He associated with and called on sinners to the kingdom, even the poorest and most unclean, burdened by their sins (Mk 2:17). We are all like that one lost sheep which Jesus seeks out and rejoices once we are found (Lk 15:1-7). In all this we see the establishment of Christ's Church. As the Catechism Companion, Vol I notes:

The kingdom of God is the Church on earth. When Jesus says, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Matthew 3:2), he is saying that he is establishing a Church now. When we have a relationship with the King through the sacrament of Baptism, we are brought into the kingdom by being initiated in the Church... The kingdom in heaven is the Church triumphant. On earth, it is the Church militant. In purgatory, it is the Church suffering. Christ stands at the heart of the kingdom, his Church. (p. 158)

We are called to repentance, faith in and love of God, but also what the Catechism calls "a radical choice: to gain the kingdom, one must give everything" (CCC 526). It is that last which requires the utmost trust and love of God, and one which I constantly struggle with. Am I truly giving everything? What exactly does that mean? There are no easy answers and this is something that I can only take to God for them.

19th century Russian icon of Kingdom of Heaven