The reading of the Gospel

May God’s Kingdom come!

by Father Mathurin of the Mother of God AT the outset of this year, first of all I would like to offer my best wishes to our Heavenly Father, who we celebrate on the first of January. Throughout this year, we are going to do something special to honor Him. We wish for our Heavenly Father the realization of what Christians pray for when they say the Our Father: Thy Kingdom come! This is the prayer given by Jesus when the Apostles asked Him, “Teach us how to pray.” When you pray, say, “Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name! Thy Kingdom come!” This is the very profound wish that we formulate for this year. May the Kingdom of God come at last! We would not want this prayer to be an abstraction in our minds, a mere formula, a monotonous repetition, but may it be a sincere aspiration that is fulfilled in our lives and all over the world. Thy Kingdom come! Over the course of time, God sent patriarchs and prophets who foretold to the Jewish people a future king, a Messiah; and through this Messiah, His Kingdom would come. Imagine the hope of Israel: the Scribes, the Pharisees, the Doctors of the Law, the synagogue and all the chosen people had been awaiting this Kingdom for over a thousand years. But the synagogue was divided as to the type of Kingdom projected by God. Many sects had arisen, and each one defended its position. The Pharisees believed that the Kingdom would be established in a certain manner; the Sadducees affirmed that it would be something else; the Herodians foresaw it in another way, and so on. The divisions multiplied. The Jewish people were not mistaken in waiting for the Kingdom of God, the Messianic Kingdom, but they were mistaken in their understanding, their interpretation of that Kingdom, perceiving it as a material, earthly kingdom, a dominating power. Everyone was mistaken, except a few holy souls who waited in hope and prayer. The Jews were striving for human glory and thought that Israel and its king would rise up over all, as conquerors and dominators. That is why they did not recognize the Messiah when little Jesus was born among His people. It was not what they were expecting: a little Infant!... The world was made through Him, and the world knew Him not. He came unto His own, and His own received Him not. During this Christmas season, we have contemplated the birth of a tiny Infant, come to establish His Kingdom. He will do it through His examples and through His doctrine. Still today, we await the Kingdom of God. We speak of it often, and we desire to see it established on earth. This expectation gives rise to a great hope within us.

Where can the Thought of God be found?

To you, my brothers and sisters, to the Holy Church, here is the watchword that I give for this year: The reading of the Gospel, but reading in prayer, asking for the Thought of Jesus. Let us entreat God to grant us His Spirit, so that His Kingdom may come. Jesus Himself declares: This is why I have come, to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom of God. Jesus already preaches from the moment of His birth. Contemplate His poverty, contemplate His silence, contemplate how He chooses to be forgotten and abandoned. This is why I have come, to preach the Kingdom of God and to establish it. The entire synagogue is waiting for Him. The Jews know all the prophecies, yet they do not understand. We will see the Divine Child remain unknown for the thirty years of His hidden life... These thirty years are also part of the establishment of His Kingdom. After these thirty years of silence, Jesus withdraws for forty days into the desert to pray and do penance. Then Satan comes to tempt Him. He does not yet know that Jesus is God; however, he sees that this young man, now thirty years old, just might be the One who would come to establish the Kingdom that was prophesied. He cannot be sure. Since Satan is very vain and proud, he offers Jesus the vanity of an earthly reign. He presents to Him all the kingdoms of the earth and says to Him, “I give these to whom I will!” But that does not impress Jesus; it is not even a temptation for Him, because He did not come for earthly kingdoms. Later, just before His death, He would say to Pilate, My Kingdom is not of this world. When Jesus went out to preach, He said: The Kingdom of God does not come in a manner that catches the eye. It cannot be said, “Behold, here it is,” or, “Behold, there it is.” For the Kingdom of God is within you. That is His infallible word. “My Kingdom is within you, you who will follow My teaching, imitate My example. Behold My Kingdom!” I invite you to read the Gospel with extreme attention. You will see that Jesus speaks constantly of His Kingdom, which He has come to establish. When the Master preaches the great evangelical virtues, it is for the purpose of acquiring this Kingdom, even starting here below. So then, it is destined to us not only for eternity, but already on earth.

Time is running short!

This watchword that we give you, permit me to say that I transmit it insistently. Just as God established a nation so that His Kingdom might come, He has now brought our little Community into being for the same purpose. He Himself would say to His Apostles, You have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you. Jesus had chosen them, one by one, to preach and to establish His Kingdom, and to bear witness to it at the cost of their very life. In the same manner, my brothers and sisters, and you all our dear Christian friends, God has sought us out, He has invited us to establish His Kingdom. Once again I say to you, It cannot be said that it is here or there. The Kingdom will not be here or there if it is not within you and me. The Kingdom of God will not be established on earth if God does not reign in you and me first. And believe me, God is in a hurry to establish His Kingdom. As in the time of His first coming on earth... the time is now fulfilled! Contemplate, imagine, delve more deeply into the hidden life of Jesus, God made man, mandated by His Father to establish His Kingdom on earth. Contemplate those thirty years of silence which were an integral part of the establishment of His Kingdom, and discern what kind of Kingdom He wants to establish within us. And during the three years of Jesus’ public life, you will observe that the theme of the Kingdom of heaven comes back on almost every page of the Gospel. “The reign of God,” “The Kingdom of heaven,” “The Kingdom of God”: these are three terms that Jesus constantly employs. When you read all the other passages, do so with the idea that everything must serve to establish His Kingdom, since Jesus says that this is the purpose of His coming among us. If you permit, I will read a few quotes from the Gospel: Blessed are they who have the spirit of poverty, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven. The affirmation is in the present tense: it is theirs now! The Kingdom belongs to those who have the spirit of poverty, who love poverty. Blessed are they who suffer persecution for justice’s sake, for the sake of the truth, for Me, says Jesus, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven. Here again, the affirmation is in the present tense. Whoever accomplishes the Law and teaches it shall be great in the Kingdom of heaven. We all seek a bit of greatness. The one who will be great is the one who accomplishes the Law, who lives the Gospel.

To discover the secrets of God

My brothers and sisters, read the Gospel unhurriedly, in prayer. Read the Gospel humbly, with a sincere will, a heartfelt desire to live every one of its pages, to satisfy the expectations, all the demands of Jesus. This is the necessary condition for the establishment of His Kingdom. As you read it, implore God who became incarnate to show us the way: “My Jesus, I want to carry out Your teachings! I want Your Kingdom to come!” Read the Gospel slowly. During the time when Jesus was on earth, the Scribes, the Pharisees, the Doctors of the Law were among the great intellectual authorities of their day. And yet, they did not recognize the Messiah! That is serious! All their knowledge was focused on the coming of the Kingdom of God, and they did not recognize Him! When you read your Gospel, make your reading a prayer. Do you want to know and discern the Thought of Jesus in your life? Jesus is not a scholar who made lengthy studies to eventually become a professor, a doctor... no! It is God Himself who became incarnate to show me the Way, to teach me, to reign in me. Through His word, and how much more through His examples, starting with His birth in a manger, He tells me what I must do. I have come to spread fire upon the earth, and what is My will but that it be kindled! says Jesus. His heart is burning with the desire to see His Kingdom of love established over all the earth. O my brothers and sisters, may I ask you to read your Gospel at least five times this year? May I ask that of you? May every one of you read it at least once; and you children, once with your parents. My brothers and sisters, take time, a lot of time, to study the Gospel. If we do not impregnate ourselves with the Thought of Jesus, how can we claim to establish His Kingdom? Even if we had an immense sum of knowledge, to the point that no one could contradict our great erudition, what would all that be worth if we did not know what Jesus, the Word of God incarnate, Eternal Wisdom, comes to teach us? Here, exactly, is another sentence: Unless your justice does not prevail over that of the Scribes and Pharisees, you shall not enter the Kingdom of heaven. The ambition of those men was to have great minds so that everyone would regard them as highly educated men. We often resemble them. We want to show everyone that we are witty; we want to shine. May God preserve us from this vanity. The Eternal Word made Himself little, disappeared for thirty years, and with what infinite humility does He teach us the Truth!

Pride engenders blindness

One day you see Jesus go into the synagogue at Nazareth. He takes Holy Scripture and reads from a page of Isaiah which begins like this: The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me... When He finished the reading, He closed the book and said, The passage of Scripture that you have just heard is fulfilled today. The word “Kingdom” was not formulated, but these words surely announced the arrival of the Kingdom of God. And all the Jews knew that this prophecy applied to the One who would come to establish the Kingdom. So what did they do? Infuriated, they jostled Jesus out of the synagogue and wanted to push Him off the cliff. And on other occasions, when Jesus openly declared the divinity of His mission, the Jews picked up rocks to stone Him. My brothers, let us be humble, let us be humble! Let us humbly seek the Thought of God. The worst thing that could happen to us would be that the Thought of God escapes us. What an irreparable woe it would be if we were to spend our life on this earth without knowing the Thought of God, if we were always distracted, sensual, vain, proud, living only for earthly interests. Yet the Jews were religious, consecrated to the service of God, they were the chosen people! They picked up rocks to stone Jesus. Let it never be so for anyone among us. Seek first the Kingdom of God and His justice, seek it before all else. Jesus is very insistent when He speaks of His Kingdom. But let us understand clearly what He means by His Kingdom. My brothers, God brought this Work into being to establish His Kingdom. You see the sign at the entrance of our monastery that proclaims: “Kingdom of the Infinite Love of Jesus Crucified.” It is Jesus who asked us to erect that sign. Our Jesus is obsessed with His Kingdom. He wants to establish it at all costs. The devil knows it; he fights against God. To place obstacles in His way, the devil does everything in his power to establish his carnal kingdom. The Beatitudes are a condemnation of this diabolical spirit. Blessed are they who have the spirit of poverty, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven... Each beatitude is contrary to the kingdom of God’s enemy. Blessed are they who are persecuted, blessed are they who suffer, blessed are they who mourn. Read the entire Sermon on the Mount attentively. Read the entire Gospel this way: each page, each paragraph, as a real prayer. Invoke the Holy Spirit every time. In this disposition of humility, you will discover that despite Jesus’ first steps towards each one of you, despite the fact that He has especially chosen you to collaborate with Him in the establishment of His Kingdom, you have too readily been working in your own interest. It will plunge you deep in sorrow. When someone works out of self-interest, out of vanity, he works for the opposite kingdom, that of the devil. The Kingdom of God must come. That is our mission this year, for our Heavenly Father and His dear Son are becoming insistent. When you read the Gospel attentively, you will see that it is urgent. Let yourself be touched. Apply the words of Jesus to your present life, and you will see that it is more urgent than ever. Not everyone who says to Me, “Lord, Lord,” shall enter the Kingdom of heaven, but those who do the Will of My Father in heaven. The Gospel abounds in secrets for establishing the Kingdom of God within me. When that Kingdom is established in a soul, it is contagious. Little by little, gradually, it spreads: parents communicate it to their children, the children among themselves, the sister to her sister, the brother to his brother. We talk about the divine truths, we want to live them, and we encourage one another for the establishment of the Kingdom of God in our hearts. Actually, it is established in one person at a time. All this begins first of all with me, with you.

Evangelical lessons

In the Gospel, Jesus often compares the Kingdom of heaven to a seed that someone takes and buries in the ground. If we only understood! Sometimes we might be tempted to think: “If God really wants to establish His Kingdom through us, why is it that we are buried alive here? We have been here over fifty years, and the more time goes on, the more buried we are.” That is truly the way of God! Let us contemplate our Jesus: His birth goes almost unnoticed. For thirty years He remains hidden, buried; He preaches three years during His public life and then dies in an ignominious manner. He is brutally killed; and as soon as He is dead, they hasten to bury Him; for the Jews, Jesus is no longer anything but a corpse. He resurrects to show us that He is truly God and that He came to establish His Kingdom here on earth by His examples and His teaching. My brothers, pay attention to this. Discover each one of the examples of Jesus. Apply every one of His words to yourselves. That is how His Kingdom is going to be established. Jesus compares the Kingdom of heaven to a grain of wheat... To a net cast into the sea which catches many fish; on the beach, the fishermen keep the good fish and throw away the bad ones. To what shall I liken the Kingdom of heaven? To a mustard seed. To leaven buried in flour. You put it into the dough and the leaven disappears, you no longer see it; without leaven in the flour, the bread is hard to eat, it is like a brick. The hidden treasure and the precious pearl are other images of the Kingdom of heaven. It is a hidden treasure that we must find. I invite you to find that hidden treasure this year. One day, the Apostles had been disputing among themselves who would be the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven. After all, in a Kingdom there is a hierarchy! There is the king, his court and his ministers; and among the ministries, certain ones are more important than others. Knowing that the Apostles had been arguing about precedence, Jesus, calling a little child to Him, set him in their midst; and He said to them, “Unless you change and become like little children, you will not enter into the Kingdom of heaven.” All these teachings manifest to us the Thought of God concerning His Kingdom. The Kingdom of heaven belongs to those who resemble little children. Jesus says it just like that, the Gospel word! Whoever does not accept the Kingdom of God as a little child will not enter into it. I have just quoted three Gospel sayings for you that teach us to become like little children. Look at the Manger, the very first example Jesus gave us! On another occasion, the mother of the sons of Zebedee – John and James – presents her request to Jesus: “Command that these, my two sons, may sit one at Your right hand and one at Your left hand in Your Kingdom!” Jesus replies, Can you drink the cup that I Myself am about to drink? Strange question, isn’t it? They speak of the Kingdom and He asks, Can you drink the cup that I Myself am about to drink? What must we understand here, my brothers? That in order to have a share in the Kingdom of God, Jesus invites us to drink His bitter cup. Then He answers His own question: Yes, He says, you shall drink it. And indeed, John and James drank the cup of bitterness unto martyrdom. Here, the Thought of God is clear: Can you drink My cup? One day a young man, rich in the goods of this world, presented himself to Jesus and exposed to Him a whole list of his good works, declaring that he had practiced all the Commandments; and then he adds, “What more can I do to enter into Your Kingdom?” Jesus says to him, If you will be perfect, leave everything behind, abandon everything, and follow Me! Attached to his riches, the young man turned away. And Jesus insisted, My little children, how difficult it is for those who trust in riches to enter the Kingdom of heaven! When we rely on material well-being, the Kingdom is closed to us. The Master insisted, says the Evangelist. The question of riches comes back often in the Gospel. A few days before the Passion, as the crowd acclaimed Jesus who was entering Jerusalem, the little children were crying out: Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! They were proclaiming the Kingdom of Jesus. In the thought of the Jews of that time, these exclamations announced the promised king. These words unleashed the rage of the Scribes and Pharisees. A scant few days later, Jesus would be taken to be crucified. You will read the entire Gospel contemplating Jesus, come to establish His Kingdom. You will see Him on the day He appears before Pilate, just before He is brutally killed... Pontius Pilate asks Him, You are a king? Jesus answers, You have said it, I am a King! That is what His Kingdom consists of! After His death and His resurrection, Jesus showed Himself to the Apostles throughout forty days, and Holy Scripture says that during that time, He spoke to them of the Kingdom of God. It shows that the Kingdom is important. That is our watchword for this year. Good Heavenly Father, Thy Kingdom come! This is the great desire of our hearts this year, it is our fondest wish. Let us ask Jesus to communicate His Thought to us. May His examples and His words come alive before us. May our lives conform to His teaching. This is how the Kingdom of God will come. Time is running short!... This is the watchword that I give you: Establish the Kingdom of God on earth. Study in the Gospel the means to make it happen.