Fr Alex Swain

Beloved in Christ,

Thy kingdom come.

A frequent petition, as we daily recite the Lord’s prayer.

I think this phrase (and much of the prayer, quite frankly) can become so rote that we forget the shocking and wondrous reality which it imparts.

In today’s Gospel (Matthew 10:5-15), Jesus sends the twelve disciples to proclaim the good news that “the kingdom of heaven has come near.”

And what does the celestial approach of the eternal kingdom look like?

The curing of the sick, the raising of the dead, the cleansing of lepers, the casting out of demons.

People made whole and restored.

This is what the nearness of the kingdom of heaven brings.

How shocking it is that we are invited to make known the nearness of the kingdom of heaven!

Like the disciples, Jesus sends us out to proclaim the good news that it is very near indeed. We are asked to make whole that which is broken.

This involves spiritual realities – praying for the sick, the suffering, asking for God’s healing on all whom we pray for.

And, of course, it involves action.

Ora et labora—pray and work, as the old Benedictine motto goes.

Our daily tasks and work are opportunities of encounter with the nearness of the kingdom of heaven.

Part of the wonder of the Christian life is to be caught up and transformed in the life of Christ. To receive the attributes, bit by bit, of Jesus Christ.

This is sanctification, this is theosis.

This is making known the kingdom of God.

As we make the world more whole through intercession and action, as we strive to combat the forces of spiritual darkness and injustice which so mar our world, we are reminded that, ultimately, the most profound manifestation of the kingdom of God is to love.

As St. Paul so beautifully writes today, love is patient and kind and not envious or boastful, it bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.

When we pray thy kingdom come, St. Paul remind us that love is the purest hallmark of our faithful witness to the Good News of Christ.

Let us work and pray this week and proclaim the good news of salvation. In so doing, may we faithfully and obediently and hopefully engage the profound love of God in our lives for the world.

Faithfully,

—Fr Alex