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Let us build God's kingdom this liturgical year
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November 29, 2023By PAT ARENSBERG
I am writing this two days before Thanksgiving. I am really looking forward to so many foods that I typically only eat a few times a year. I get to see relatives that I don’t see very often during the year. I really do love Thanksgiving. Being reminded that we have so much to be thankful for is a good thing, but I want to write about something else that happens this time of year.
You are probably aware that the Church has a rhythm to our liturgy. Sometimes we are celebrating (especially at Easter and Christmas seasons). Sometimes we are engaging in times of fasting, prayer and almsgiving. Sometimes it is Ordinary Time. These liturgical seasons are concluded with the Feast of Christ the King.
The Church reminds us that the Kingdom we really belong to is the Kingdom of God in heaven. We were made for complete union with Him. We are destined to be unified with our God for all eternity in a Kingdom without jealousy, selfishness, anger, hatred, lust, avarice, pride and the like. And the King is Goodness, Beauty and Truth. He not only has those attributes; He is the source of all that is Good, True and Beautiful.
The final Sunday of the Liturgical Year is always the Sunday before Advent begins (which also begins the new Liturgical Year). This seems a good time to reflect on what kind of citizens we have been over the last year. God’s Kingdom was inaugurated by Jesus, so His Kingdom is at hand. But the Lord also teaches us to pray, “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” So, God’s Kingdom is here, but it is also still coming. It is not fully here because too many of us citizens are very imperfect.
It is our mission to completely abandon ourselves to the THE KING. As we grow closer to Him, we become holier. Our lives become more evangelical by the example of our lives. Let us build up God’s Kingdom this Liturgical Year!
— Pat Arensberg is the Director of the Office for Evangelization and Family Life. Email him at [email protected]. For more information concerning the events of this office, visit us at mobilefaithformation.org
