“Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”
The good thief, Saint Dimas, desires what all of us desire. The good thief wants to gain the happiness of heaven, of paradise. What must we do to gain the happiness of heaven? “To gain the happiness of heaven we must know, love, and serve God in this world.”[i] It is the mission of the Church to assist the faithful in their journey to paradise and to do this, the Church wants us to be with Christ “today” as we learn to know, love and serve him.
MUSIC – “Coldplay - Paradise - A Capella Cover - Mike Tompkins”
We profess in the Creed that we believe in “the Holy Catholic Church”. “The Kingdom of Heaven – Holy Church – is seen bringing forth out of her treasure ‘things new and old.’ Although she can never add new dogmas to the deposit of Faith entrusted to her, as the ages go by she is seen understanding more perfectly and explaining more fully those treasures in her keeping.”[ii] The Church is the Kingdom of Heaven, the Kingdom of God. Saint John the Baptism proclaims, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand”[iii] The first words of Jesus during his public preaching ministry is, “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”[iv] The rulers of this world, like Pontius Pilate do not always understand the Kingdom of Heaven, nor do they always understand the mission of Christ the King and the mission of His servants.
What is this kingdom of heaven? The Kingdom of Heaven is the Holy Catholic Church. Where does this kingdom come from and who is part of the kingdom? The kingdom comes from God, it is brought about by the “Word becoming Flesh and dwelling among us”[v] Saint John the Baptist and Jesus both proclaim that what has been prepared for all times is now at hand, “the kingdom of heaven”. The kingdom comes from God and is brought to all people through the life of the King of the kingdom, Jesus Christ. Those who are part of the kingdom are the servants of Christ the King, the faithful. The kingdom is not of this world but in this world. When asked by Pontius Pilate, if he was a king, Jesus says, “My kingship is not of this world; if my kingship were of this world, my servants would fight, that I might not be handed over to the Jews; but my kingship is not from the world.”[vi] Christ is a King and He has a kingdom, the kingdom is in the world but not of it, just as the servants of this kingdom or in the world but not of it. Jesus says at the Last Supper, “And now I am no more in the world but they [the members of the Church] are in the world”[vii] Although, the faithful are in the world, Jesus says they are not “of the world”[viii].
What is the mission of the kingdom, the mission of the Church? The mission of the Church is salvation of all mankind “Having been divinely sent to the nations that she might be ‘the universal sacrament of salvation,’ the Church, in obedience to the command of her founder and because it is demanded by her own essential universality, strives to preach the Gospel to all men.”[ix] The mission of the kingdom and that of the servants of the kingdom is that of the mission of Christ our King. The bishops of the kingdom, the successors of the apostles, are the generals of the faithful. Ordination “makes the bishop the legitimate successor of the Apostles and integrates him into the episcopal college to share with the Pope and the other bishops care for all the churches. It confers on him the offices of teaching, sanctifying, and ruling.”[x] The Church is the Body of Christ. Christ the King is the Head and the faithful are the members. It is the mission of the members to carry on and perpetuate in the world the mission of the head. This mission is to teach, sanctify or make holy and to govern or rule. The bishops are our leaders, generals and shepherds, and the lay people, by their baptismal vows, are called to faithfully follow the bishops and bring the mission of the kingdom to the world. “These faithful are by baptism made one body with Christ and are constituted among the People of God; they are in their own way made sharers in the priestly, prophetical, and kingly functions of Christ; and they carry out for their own part the mission of the whole Christian people in the Church and in the world.”[xi]
Give examples of how we teach (prophet), sanctify (priest) and rule (king) in the world? We are ushered into the kingdom of heaven, the Church through our baptism in which we share in the ministry of Christ (prophet, priest and king). We are a prophet when we speak the word of God. What are examples of words of truth, words of God, that the world needs to hear but does not want to listen? We are priest when we offer up our life as a “living sacrifice”[xii] and make sacrifices each day. Where in our world do we see people offering their lives, making sacrifices? Where do we see the opposite, people refusing to sacrifice, refusing to offer self for others? We are king, when we obey the rules of Christ and His Church. It is through our obedience that we faithful teach others the rules and how to follow the rules of Christ and His Church. What are some of these rules and why are they sometimes not welcome in the world?
Search: Priest, Prophet, King
How is the Church and State different? What does the Church provide? What does the State provide? “The Church and State differ in origin in that the Church was founded by a free act of God while the State has its origin from man’s natural needs and tendencies. They differ in purpose in that the Church aims to lead all men to eternal salvation, while the State exists to procure the temporal prosperity of its citizens. The Church’s authority is above the State’s as faith is above those of space and time. The relationship between the two should be one of harmony, for each is to recognize the rights of the other for the personal and social welfare of mankind.”[xiii]
There are some clear roles or rights that the state has (protection of borders and commerce, etc.) and clear roles or rights that the Church has (right to worship, support the dignity of life, etc.) and some times the roles and rights overlap (welfare and charity). The two must always be in dialogue and help each other in serving the common good, but we must always remember that the Church’s authority is above the authority of the State. The Church not only has the right, but the obligation to direct the State, especially in regards to the dignity of human life and other moral areas.
Do we believe in separation of Church and State? We believe in separation between Church and State. This means that the State may not force a religion on its citizens. This is also called religious liberty. The State may not persecute or deny its citizens the right to worship or practice their religion. We believe in the separation of Church and State but at the same time, we believe that our faith cannot be separated from our life. We bring our faith into all areas of the public sphere, including politics. Archbishop Chaput gives the analogy of a married person. A married person cannot just be married when they are at home, with wife and family, they must be true to their marriage and say they are married in all areas of life. We the Church are married to Christ the King. Would it be right to just be married to Christ the King only at Mass, only when we are at Church or within the comfort of our homes? No! We are married to Christ and remain faithful brides in all areas of our life. There should never be a separation between faith and life!
We are honored to be espoused to the King of Kings, an honor that we are not worthy of. It is Christ the King that first chooses us before we are able to choose Him. “The King is Jesus; in him God entered humanity and espoused it to himself. This is the usual form of the divine activity in relation to mankind. God does not have a fixed plan that he must carry out; on the contrary, he has many different ways of finding man and even turning his wrong ways into right ways…The feast of Christ the King is therefore not a feast of those who are subjugated, but a feast of those who know that they are in the hands of the one who writes straight on crooked lines.”[xiv] The Church, the bride of Christ is an integral part of God turning wrong into right, of turning crooked into straight. We must allow Christ to reign in our hearts and let that reign of Christ the King carry into every minute of our life. In the days of monarchy, it was a carriage that took, the King or Queen out into the public, to the people, we are like that carriage that must bring the King out into the public, to the people.
[i] Question #4; Baltimore Catechism
[ii] Abbot Gueranger, OSB, The Liturgical Year; Vol. 14
[iii] Matthew 3:2
[iv] Matthew 3:17
[v] John 1:14
[vi] John 18:36
[vii] John 17:11
[viii] John 17:16
[ix] Catechism of the Catholic Church - 849
[x] Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church; section 326
[xi] Lumen Gentium; Section 31
[xii] Romans 12:1
[xiii] Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J.; Basic Catholic Catechism Course; pg. 38-39
[xiv] Pope Benedict XVI