Kitchen Catechism: Words of Wisdom
Build the Kingdom of God.
Jesus came to earth to establish the Kingdom of God; a place where every human could learn what was required to gain the right to eternally reside with God in perfect happiness. He sealed the Covenant, the promise of eternal life in the Kingdom, by dying on the cross and thereby opening up the Gates of Heaven to us humans.
Jesus left the Keys to the Kingdom with St. Peter and through him to the Catholic Church till the end of time with the promise "the gates of hell shall not prevail against it"(Mt 16.18). Further, it is my personal belief, and I don't think it is contrary to any Catholic Church teaching, that the Kingdom of God doesn't exist in buildings or things of human design; the only place it really exists is in the 'hearts of the believers'. Grand cathedrals and beautiful churches are wonderful to have but if they were all wiped off the face of the earth, along with all church institutions and organizations, the 'Kingdom' would be as strong as ever within 'the hearts of the believers'.
Only God knows what's in a person's heart, so only God knows who truly resides within His Kingdom.
I firmly believe all of the above and that belief compels me to learn all I can of what Jesus taught about His Kingdom - how we can reside in it here on Earth and forever after in Heaven.
Knowing Jesus had left a 'blueprint' for the structure of His Kingdom before He ascended into Heaven, I pondered what would be the best way to gain the knowledge I desired. My thinking led me to realize that if you studied a 'structure' from it's foundation up you would learn much more of it's strength or weakness than if you studied it from the top down. The top or outside may be grand and dazzle the eye but the foundation is what supports it and holds it together.
My study, therefore, had to begin with the Bible, the teachings and traditions left us by the Apostles, the writings of the early Church Fathers, and then continue to the present time with the "Catechism of the Catholic Church".
The 'Kingdom of God' is mentioned hundreds of times in both the Old and New Testaments. The 'Kingdom' was an important theme in all of Jesus' teachings and the four evangelists, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John who wrote the gospels, quoted Christ often as referring to 'His Kingdom'.
Some of the things Jesus said which are particularly meaningful to me are:
Luke 17.20-21 Some Pharisees asked Jesus when the Kingdom of God would come. His answer was: "The Kingdom of God does not come in such a way as to be seen. No one will say, 'Look, here it is!' or 'There it is!'; because the Kingdom of God is within you."
Matthew 12.25-28 The Pharisees accused Jesus of driving a demon from a man by the power of the devil. Jesus told them: "Any country that divides itself into groups which fight each other will not last very long. And any town or family that divides itself into groups which fight each other will fall apart. …. No, it is not the Devil but God's Spirit, who gives me the power to drive out demons, which proves that the Kingdom of God has already come upon you."
Mark 12:28-34 A teacher of the law heard some Sadducees questioning Jesus and he liked the answers Jesus gave. He asked a question of Jesus. "Which commandment is the most important of all?" Jesus replied: "The Lord our God is the only Lord. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength." The teacher of the law said to Jesus, "Well done! It is true as you say." Because his remark was wise, Jesus told him: "You are not far from the Kingdom of God."
Matthew 6.8-13 also Luke 11.2-4 The apostles asked Jesus how they should pray. He answered: "Your Father already knows what you need before you ask him. This, then, is how you should pray." 'Our Father in heaven: May your holy name be honored; may your Kingdom come; may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today the food we need. Forgive us the wrongs we have done, as we forgive the wrongs that others have done to us. Do not bring us to hard testing, But keep us safe from the Evil One.
John 18.33-36 "Are you the king of the Jews?" Pilate asked Jesus. Jesus answered: "My kingdom does not belong to this world."
Acts. 1.1-4 The Acts of the Apostles begins: "In my first book I wrote about all the things that Jesus did and taught from the time he began his work until the day he was taken up to heaven. Before he was taken up, he gave instructions by the power of the Holy Spirit to the men he had chosen as his apostles. For forty days after his death he appeared to them many times in ways that proved beyond doubt that he was alive. They saw him, and he talked with them about the Kingdom of God."
The concept of 'The Kingdom of God' was always of interest to me but I never saw it expressed outside of the Bible until a short while ago I saw a book advertised written by Edward P. Sri and titled Mystery of the Kingdom on the Gospel of Matthew. I ordered it immediately and was not the least bit disappointed when I read it.
Following are quotes taken from the book:
In the Introduction written by Scott Hahn I read:
(concerning the importance of understanding the 'Jewishness' of St. Matthew's gospel) "The stand-alone New Testaments …..can condition readers to dissociate the New from the Old Testament and lose the thread of continuity that runs through all of salvation history." And "…opening pages of the New Testament concern themselves with the fulfillment of Israel's hopes, that a son of David would come to establish a kingdom that would last forever." "For Matthew and for Jesus, the kingdom is the specific form God's covenant took: first, imperfectly, with King David and later, in a perfect way, with His ultimate and everlasting heir, Jesus Christ."
"In this study of Matthew, we see a sublime demonstration of St. Augustine's principle for understanding the Scriptures: the New Testament is concealed in the Old, and the Old is revealed in the New. For the kingdom, in the New Testament as in the Old, takes a concrete form: in the New Testament, it is the Church."
The Second Vatican Council, in "Lumen Gentium" no. 3, had this to say:
"To carry out the will of the Father Christ inaugurated the kingdom of heaven on earth and revealed to us his mystery; by his obedience he brought about our redemption. The Church-that is, the kingdom of Christ already present in mystery-grows visibly through the power of God in the world."
Cardinal Christoph Shonborn says in his "From Death to Life: The Christian Journey" about the above passage:
"Thus there lies no distance between the Church and the kingdom of God." Scott Hahn adds: "The Kingdom is where the King is present; where the Eucharist is, there is the King."
The 'Kingdom' being such an important theme to me, I was really elated when very recently Pope John Paul II announced there would be a new, additional set of Mysteries for praying the rosary (to be recited on Thursdays). When I read they would be called the "Mysteries of Light" and the third mystery was to be - "The Proclamation of the Kingdom" - my heart jumped for joy! Of this third mystery the Pope said: "The proclamation of the Kingdom and the invitation to conversion are a clear mandate to everyone to pursue the path of holiness."
Now that I have told you about my thoughts as well as what I have learned from reading about the 'Kingdom of God'; I want to tell you the effect it has had on me. It has made me certain I want to dwell, always, within the Kingdom while here on earth and forever and ever in the next life. The narrow, less traveled path is where I must set my sights. This will always be a struggle because being human, being weak, I am oh so inclined to the temptation of the wide, easy road where there is lots of company. So a mindset has to be built and a focus established. The mindset must be to conform my will to the will of God and the focus must be the ways this can happen. St. Peter, so likable because of his human weakness, had this advice in 2 Peter 1.1-11:
"To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have been given a faith as precious as ours: May grace and peace be yours in full measure through your knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. God's divine power has given us everything we need to live a truly religious life through our knowledge of the one who called us to share in his own glory and goodness. In this way he has given us the very great and precious gifts he promised, so that by; means of these gifts you may escape from the destructive lust that is in the world, and may come to share the divine nature. For this very reason do your best to add goodness to your faith; to your goodness add knowledge; to your knowledge add self-control; to your self-control add endurance; to your endurance add godliness; to your godliness add brotherly affection; and to your brotherly affection add love. These are the qualities you need, and if you have them in abundance, they will make you active and effective in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But whoever does not have them is so shortsighted that he cannot see and has forgotten that he has been purified from his past sins. So then, my brothers, try even harder to make God's call and his choice of you a permanent experience, if you do so, you will never abandon your faith. In this way you will be given the full right to enter the eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."
Peter says it all and I add my fervent wish 'that you and I may dwell always and forever and ever in the 'Kingdom of God'.