The Kingdom Of God Is A Reality
By Fr Dexter Brereton, CSSp ThM STL
The Kingdom of God is there for the taking…it will be given to anyone who makes the time and the effort to fight for it, it belongs to all those willing to struggle for it. It belongs to those who YEARN for it. Life and happiness do not belong naturally to some people and not to others, they are not the natural inheritance of persons born into great wealth, possessed of great beauty, or even to people who are born into religious families.
Here is the same lesson illustrated in Trinidad cultural history: When I was a boy growing up, one of the common stereotypes that we knew was the trope of the tourist from America or Europe dancing in the middle of the Carnival parade. These persons enjoyed themselves but regularly danced out of time with the music and so foreigners in our carnival were considered by some persons as objects of derision, people in the wrong place, doing something that was not natural to them. Half a century later much has changed in the world. Carnival has been exported to many parts of the world and even in places like far-off Japan, Steel Orchestras, made up of Trinidad & Tobago’s national instrument can be found… and they look and sound wonderful. In fact it is a little sad to hear Trinis debate what has become of their national instrument and how it is in danger of being “lost.” In fact, the steelpan, or ‘steel drum’ as some people call it belongs to anyone who is willing to take the time to know it, to play it, to nurture it.
Jesus says: “…there will be weeping and grinding of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and yourselves turned outside. And men from east and West, north and south, will come to take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God.” Like that wonderful Carnival culture, like the pan which emerged out of the belly of the slums of East Port of Spain, the Kingdom of God is a reality that transcends national boundaries and is a gift to the world. The Gospels tell us that the Kingdom of God lies in God’s unknown future, but it is also here, in the present, but in fragmentary ways. We see it not whole and complete but in flashes. For example, the entire nation of Trinidad & Tobago, is reeling and moaning under violent crime, but the fact that this is the topic of so much debate is a sign that deep down there is a yearning for a life of peace and dignity. This yearning is a sign of the Kingdom. It is there in “men (and women) from east and west, north and south who wish to come to take their places at the feast of the kingdom of God.”
Today’s reading encourages us to be broad-minded in our appreciation of God’s beauty in the world and admire God’s presence wherever we see it. As Christians we are invited to open our eyes and to be adorers of God who presents Himself in so many different people and in so many different ways. The world is not empty of beauty, in fact God’s grace and goodness touches the world wherever people yearn for whatever is TRUE and BEAUTIFUL.
This weekend, there are reports of the Amazon forest burning uncontrollably in some places. The cry which has gone up in the international community is surely a sign of the Kingdom of God which creates in humans a yearning to live in peace and harmony with nature. In this cry we see that men (and women) from east and west, north and south who wish to come to "take their places at the feast of the kingdom of God.” Just as the beauty of pan has spread all over the planet, the beauty of God’s Kingdom, the goodness and power at the heart of every human being, has made itself felt everywhere. Are we ready to welcome the signs of this kingdom – big or small?
