Meditating on the Lord's Prayer with St Genesius
Thy Kingdom come
Who is the Lord? St Genesius had to answer that question as his heart pondered over the teachings of Christ he had heard. And where is his kingdom? Is it confined to heaven? Or is it also here on earth? Living in the age we do we are told that the world is secular: religion and faith have no place here, they may exist within the private realm of individuals but only to remain there. Yet in his teachings Jesus intends us to begin to make the kingdom of God present here on earth, not that this will be the kingdom – this world will pass away, but to make this world a place of preparation for the world to come. In praying that the kingdom may come we recognise that the world belongs to God and his children, we pray that his kingdom may be present in this world, in his children who live as citizens of that kingdom here and now in anticipation of, and preparing for, the eternal kingdom in the next life. The kingdom of God cannot be excluded from this life though men and women oppose it. It is the mission of the Church to make the kingdom of God present here, and as members of the Church that is our mission. How do we do so? Through prayer, yes. But first through our own lives conformed to the values of the kingdom of God, and then in our apostolic work winning souls for Christ, citizens of the kingdom who in turn join us in our mission.
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