Today’s Gospel contains St. Luke’s version of the Our Father. In this version we hear, “Father, hallowed be your name, your Kingdom come…” St. Matthew says, “your Kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven, reminding us that the Kingdom is not totally other worldly. The kingdom begins here and now. A priest once shared that while on a plane the person next to him told him he was an atheist. He said he couldn’t believe in a God, who with all the suffering and sorrow in this world would leave his work to human beings. But, yet, isn’t it wonderful that God would trust us so much that he would leave the building up of the kingdom to us. He did, after all, leave us the example of his Son. We get into trouble when we don’t follow that example!
Jesus said, “You have not chosen me, I have chosen you to go and bear fruit that will last.” (John 15,16) Of course in John 15, 5 he says, “Apart from me you can do nothing.”
A friend of mine who is an avid NCIS fan said she noticed that when they answer the phone they identify themselves as “Special Agent…” What if we all thought of ourselves as God’s Special Agents, entrusted with the building up of God’s Kingdom here on earth NOW? We don’t have to do it alone!
What are you going to do today to build up the Kingdom?
