Thy Kingdom Come
14th Sunday in Ordinary Time (C)
Celebrating this “Fourth of July” weekend, we are aware of the great challenge before us as Catholics, which is to fulfill Christ’s mandate to establish the Kingdom of God: “Say to them, ‘The kingdom of God is at hand” (Lk 10:9). Jesus looked out upon a world dominated by the power of Rome, and saw that “The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few” (Lk 10:2). Likewise today, Christ looks out upon a society unevangelized and calls laborers to the harvest. We are those laborers.
We do not face an easy task. The powers of the world are hostile to Christianity. We are sent “like lambs among wolves” (10:3). The early Christians faced centuries of persecution. We too face powers that are arrayed against Christianity, which consciously seek to destroy any vestige of Christianity in western civilization, and which promote an immorality to rival Sodom and Gomorrah. Far from living in a civilization where people can live their spiritual dignity and put God first, we are being enslaved by technology and economics, and manipulated by lies and propaganda.
The disciples were amazed to find that demons submitted to them (10:17), and Jesus explains they have been given abundant power from on high over all the powers of evil (10:19). In the anointing of Confirmation, the Holy Spirit is given so that disciples can act “in the name of God” to establish His Kingdom, reclaiming dominion for Christ.
But in a very particular way, it will be through Matrimony that Jesus establishes his Kingdom in the world. Jesus sends his disciples “in pairs” (10:1). Through the sacrament of marriage, Jesus joins two disciples as lifelong partners for the mission of evangelizing the nation and the world. By having children and raising them in the right way, Christians transform the world!
Thus yoked as a pair, Jesus sends his disciples from the altar into a town, a neighborhood, a home: their home. And he tells them to bring his Peace to those who live there. The obligation of the newly-wed (or long-wed) couple is to establish God’s peace in their home. They must give this peace to each other first of all, loving, respecting, serving, and helping each other. And then they must insist upon this peace among their children, a peace founded upon genuine love and reverence, and the presence of Christ himself in their home.
Jesus tells his disciples not to worry about money or provisions (10:4). It is a theme throughout his teachings. It’s not that they are not important or necessary, but we must “seek first the Kingdom of God, and all these things shall be provided” (Mt 6:33). Spouses and parents need to understand what are “means to an end,” and what the end or goal really is; what is subordinated to what. The mission is not to become wealthy through a successful career, but to establish God’s Kingdom in new souls, for the sake of which a career may be necessary.
Jesus stresses the need to remain in one house (10:7), and from that house practice hospitality, where others may benefit from one’s generosity. Stability is essential to the life of the church, and especially to the life of the family. This command is also an indirect prohibition against adultery, divorce, and remarriage. Parents need to live in one house together, their own home, and not be tempted to look at someone else’s home.
“Eat what is set before you” (10:8). As in the Eucharist of the parish church, the nourishment of family meals is essential to the mission. Humans don’t simply “eat food,” we “share meals.” The Kingdom of God is built through communion of souls, shared and expressed in the domestic eucharist of regular family meals.
“Cure the sick” (10:9). More than hospitals and nursing homes, family homes are places where the sick find the best care and healing. Whether it is children or the elderly, God blesses his disciples with abundant gifts for caring and nursing the ill. And this healing extends also to the psychological, emotional, and spiritual challenges faced by children as they grow up, and in the relational conflicts that arise among family members. To be a peacemaker is to be a healer.
Christian families live as “lambs among wolves” (10:3). They live in a godless and immoral “Sodom and Gomorrah” (10:12) which is being spared only because they themselves dwell in its midst (cf. Gn 18:16-34). Without strong moral and religious principles, it will be impossible to survive the polluted environment of our society. The immoral and demon-possessed citizens of Sodom sought to pressure the religious and “politically incorrect” family of Lot into accepting their evil ways (cf. Gn 19:9). Likewise, God’s people must resist, and even move if necessary. Christian parents need to be vigilant to the dangers and attacks being waged constantly against their household. Parents may have to pull their children out of public schools, throw the television away, or otherwise cut off the influence of social media that seeks to replace their own role. Christians have to be prepared to “stand against,” and give witness through public signs that they do not go along with everyone (10:10-11). They are sent to conquer the world, not be conquered by it.
If the Christian message is not received, Jesus says, “wipe the dirt of that town from your feet” (10:11). On the one hand this implies a protective rejection of much that is acceptable to the world around us, in order that we may not succumb to its seductions. On the other hand, it implies the positive task of seeking out and associating with those who accept our values, that they might be reinforced. Christian families need each other, and must work together to ensure their mutual well-being. Like the early Church, there must be strong bonds of communion among Christians, and we must find in our parishes a network of families united for the same goals.
Every day when we pray the Lord’s Prayer, we ask that “Thy Kingdom Come.” Jesus tells his disciples that through their lives and mission, “The kingdom of God is at hand for you” (10:9). When we use the charisms of our Confirmation, and the Sacrament of Matrimony, when we ensure that our homes are consecrated to Christ and placed under his dominion, Satan will “fall like lightning from the sky” (10:18) and the world will be conquered.