JMJ
For people to bring the teaching of Christ to bear in their lives and the world essential to the propagation of the Kingdom of God, a vigorous debate concerning the meaning of Christ’s words concerning His Kingdom is necessary since cultural paradigms can skew original meanings. It is contrary to Christianity, and to Jesus Himself, to base this discussion on a relativistic interpretation employing a fluent situational dogma and redefining the meanings and applications of the Gospel to suit the needs and desires of any culture–rich or poor.
The poor, however, are more naturally inclined toward correct interpretation for they have few material concerns to protect and are less distracted by wealth maximization than simply meeting basic needs, but should the poor’s sense of justice extend beyond need and fail to limit itself to a more equal distribution of wealth, which God intended for the benefit of all man and not merely an ambitious minority, they, too, are certain to miss the point.
The Kingdom of Heaven is not only an end; it is counter-intuitively also starting point, mother to itself. The Kingdom of Heaven is not a situation we negotiate to create. The Kingdom of Heaven is the Alpha and the Omega. The Kingdom of Heaven is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. The Kingdom of Heaven is the Mystical Body of Christ to which we are all called to be a part. The Kingdom of Heaven is not about wealth–in fact, it denies the principle of material wealth and clearly points to God as the only value in time and in eternity.
For love of God, we are to care for and preserve His creation, for God’s creation is by God and of God. Creation’s essence is God’s spoken substance and, therefore, His prerogative alone and is (and so should be viewed as) sacred to man. Any attempt to usurp this prerogative or desecrate God’s creation for any purpose is sin, sacrilege, and worthy of damnation. We do not create the Kingdom of Heaven, we enter into and dwell in it.
Much of the world limits Christ’s message to the “spiritual.” Christ brought His message in spirit, this is true, for it is in the Spirit we are to be born again, but Christ, also, brought His message in the flesh–in how He lived, in all His actions, in what He did–and for this reason we must take His Gospel in Word and Action to be the true nature of man, body and soul as one. To favor body over soul or vice versa, splits and will ultimately destroy the man and is contrary to the Life Jesus offered us. Division is of the devil.
It is not for us to determine the Kingdom, but for the Kingdom to determine how we are to live.
(C) Copyright 8 August 2020
For Lourdes Sake 