Thy Kingdom Come

"This invocation should be the pendulum swing of your entire life, and everything should revolve around this invocation to Good. For the Kingdom of God in the hearts, and, from the hearts, in the world, would mean Good, Peace and every other virtue. So mark your life with countless pleas for the coming of this Kingdom. But living pleas, that is to say Actions in your life by applying your sacrifice of each hour, for to act Good means to sacrifice nature for this purpose."

Evolution of the wording :

• Latin: Adveniat regnum tuum;
• Before 1966: May your kingdom come,
• Current: Thy kingdom come,

Does the Kingdom of God refer to the "Kingdom of God?" or the "Kingdom of Heaven?" For St. Augustine, in his "Confessions" and other works, this request concerns the coming of the Kingdom of God not only at the end of times, but also in our daily life, through personal conversion and social justice. This Kingdom is therefore external and internal, contemporary and yet to come all at once. And this thought encompasses that of many theologians.

For Maria Valtorta this apparent diversity conceals a unity which she explains at length in her commentaries on the Apocalypse. This commentary, of great theological depth, is astonishing when you consider that Maria Valtorta had no theological training except for the Visions and dictations she received.

The Kingdom of God

(Excerpts from Maria Valtorta's commentaries on the Apocalypse. Subheadings, added, do not bind the editor).

Christ establishes the Kingdom of God in us and on earth

From His first words as Master to His last in the Cenacle and the Sanhedrin, at the Praetorium and on Golgotha, then from these to those before the Ascension, Jesus never ceased to bear witness to the Father and to the Kingdom of Heaven.

The Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of Christ: these are two kingdoms that are one, since Christ is one with God and God has given Christ, and through Him all things that were made by Him, after the Eternal had already seen them all in His only Son, who is infinite wisdom, origin as God, end as God, and cause, as Man-God, of creation, divinization, and redemption of man. These two kingdoms are one, because the Kingdom of Christ in us grants us possession of the Kingdom of God.

When Christ says to the Father: "Thy kingdom come" as founder, King of kings, Son and eternal heir of all the eternal Goods of the Father, He establishes it on earth and makes it dwell in us. He unites His Kingdom with that of His Father, linking the Kingdom of Heaven to that of Earth, as by a mystical bridge which is His long cross as Man among men who do not understand Him, and as a Martyr because of men and for the Good of men. To this Kingdom of God, He gives for royal palace the Church, for statutes the laws of the Church, and for King Himself, who is its Head and eternal Pontiff. Like any king, He establishes His ministers and clearly defines it as the "anticipation" of the eternal Kingdom. Finally, He gives the Church the name of "new earthly Jerusalem" which, at the end of times, will be transported and transformed into the "celestial Jerusalem", place of eternal happiness for the resurrected, who will live there a life known only to God.

This Kingdom is visible and invisible

This Kingdom of God in us is visible through the Church, but also invisible. It resembles its Founder who, as man, was and remains a visible King and, as God, an invisible King since He is pure Spirit. One believes in Him by pure faith, for no eye or any other human sense has ever seen God before He incarnated, no more than the first and third Persons of the Trinity; but they are recognized in the works they have accomplished or still accomplish.

Just like man, this Kingdom was made in the image and likeness of its Founder: now He is truly and perfectly man — and as such the visible prototype of men as the Father had created them contemplating them in His eternal Word and in His incarnate Word — but also truly and perfectly God — and hence pure Spirit, whose divine spiritual nature is invisible, but living without beginning or end, since He is the "Living One". Such is the Kingdom of God, represented on earth by the Church, a visible and living society without possibility of end since it was established by the Living One. Such is the Kingdom of God in us, invisible since spiritual, alive in its spiritual part and living since its creation, provided that man does not destroy the Kingdom of God in him by sin and persistence in sin, thus killing even Life in his Soul.

This Kingdom must be conquered

This Kingdom must be served and conquered. It must be served on earth and conquered in the hereafter, through the events of daily life. By the use of reason and until death. Every year, month, day, hour, and minute is service to the subject of God, doing His will, obeying the Law, living as a "child" and not as an enemy or an animal who prefers a life of petty bestial and transitory pettiness to a life led so as to deserve heavenly joy. Every year, month, day, hour, and minute is an opportunity to conquer the Kingdom of Heaven.

"My Kingdom is not of this world," the incarnate Truth affirmed several times to His chosen ones, to His friends, and even to those who rejected and hated Him out of fear of losing their poor power. "My Kingdom is not of this world," testified Christ when realizing they wanted to make Him king, He fled alone to the mountain. ( and ). "My Kingdom is not of this world," Christ answered Pilate who questioned Him. ( and ). "My Kingdom is not of this world," He said again, the last time, to His Apostles before His Ascension. And regarding the time of its reconstruction, which His elect still humanly hoped for, He replied: "It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by His own authority." ( and ).

In Maria Valtorta

In EMV 203.5-12, during the second Passover, Jesus gives the gift of the Our Father to the eleven Apostles, Judas having been absent. On this second petition, Jesus announces the ultimate triumph and union of the Church, His Kingdom, with that of Heaven, the Kingdom of God.

"Thy kingdom come on earth as it is in Heaven."

Desire with all your strength this advent. It would be joy on earth if it came.

The Kingdom of God in the Hearts, in the Families, among citizens, among nations. Suffer, take pains, sacrifice yourself for this Kingdom. Let the earth be a mirror reflecting in each the life of Heaven. It will come. One day all this will come. Centuries and centuries of tears and blood, of errors, persecutions, a mist crossed by flashes of light that will irradiate the mystical Lighthouse of my Church — if it is a boat that will not sink, it is also a rock that will withstand the waves and will hold Good high the Light, my Light, the Light of God — all this will precede the moment when the earth will possess the Kingdom of God. It will then be like the blazing of a star that, after having reached the perfection of its existence, disintegrates, an oversized flower of the ethereal gardens to exhale in a sparkling flutter its existence and love at the feet of its Creator. But it will come. And then, it will be the perfect, blissful, eternal Kingdom of Heaven."

In EMV 364.7: During the third Passover, Jesus directs His commentary on the Man of the Gospel He came to announce, the forerunner of the Church.

"Thy Kingdom come in every place on earth where You are known and loved, where still You are not known. And may it come especially for those who are thrice sinners, who despite knowing You do not love You in Your works and manifestations of Light, and who seek to reject and stifle the Light that has come into the world because they are Souls of Darkness, who prefer the works of Darkness and only know how to want to stifle the Light of the world and offend You Yourself, for You are the most Holy Light and the Father of all lights, starting with the one made Flesh and Word to bring Your Light to all Souls of good will."

In EMV 630.23: The risen Jesus confirms that through His Passion, He has obtained for us access to the Grace which establishes the Kingdom of God in us. In the Maria Valtorta commentary exposed above, she had reported this causal link: "The Kingdom of God in us, [is] invisible since spiritual, alive in its spiritual part and living since its creation, provided that man does not destroy the Kingdom of God in him by sin and persistence in sin, thus killing even Life in his Soul."

"The Kingdom of God in you now can be obtained more easily because I obtained it for you through my death. I have redeemed you with my pain. Remember it. And let no one trample on Grace because it cost the life and Blood of a God."

In her dictation of July 7, 1943: Jesus emphasizes the importance of this second petition of the Our Father because it contains within it the unity of the Kingdom of God: internal and external, present and to come. Maria Valtorta, in her commentary, added: "Every year, month, day, hour, and minute is an occasion to conquer the Kingdom of Heaven."

"Thy kingdom come". "This invocation should be the pendulum swing of your entire life, and everything should revolve around this invocation to the Good. For the Kingdom of God in the Hearts, and from the Hearts, in the world, would mean Good, Peace and every other virtue. So mark your life with countless pleas for the coming of this Kingdom. But living pleas, that is to say Actions in your life in applying your sacrifice of each hour, for to act Good means to sacrifice nature for this purpose."

Azarias (Azarias Book, 2nd Sunday after Pentecost, page 163), for his part, had recalled this warning:

The dead do not enter the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God begins in the Spirit of man on earth by union with God, it is completed in heaven by full possession of God. Here on earth, God is in you and in heaven, you will be in God. But God does not enter into the decay of death, and the rot of death does not enter heaven. As in the eternal Jerusalem there will be no Temple "because its Temple is the Lord" (cf. Revelation 21:23-27) in which we will all be.

To go further

• Our Father
• Our Father who art in Heaven
• Hallowed be Thy Name
• Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven
• Give us this day our daily bread
• Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us
• Lead us not into temptation
• But deliver us from evil

In the Catechism

II. Thy Kingdom Come

§ 2817 This request is the "Marana Tha", the cry of the Spirit and of the Bride: "Come, Lord Jesus":

If God himself had not made it our duty to ask for the coming of this Kingdom, we would have ourselves uttered this cry, hastening to embrace our hopes. The souls of the martyrs under the altar invoke the Lord with loud cries: ‘How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?’ (Rev 6:10). For they must indeed obtain justice at the end of times. Lord, hasten the coming of your kingdom!" (Tertullian, or. 5).

§ 2818 In the Lord’s prayer, the reference is primarily to the final coming of the Kingdom of God by the return of Christ (cf. Titus 2:13). But this desire does not distract the Church from her mission in this world; rather, it engages her in it. For since Pentecost, the coming of the Kingdom is the work of the Spirit of the Lord "who continues His work in the world and completes all sanctification" (MR, eucharistic prayer IV).

§ 2819 "The Kingdom of God is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit" (Romans 14:17). The last times in which we live are those of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Thus begins a decisive struggle between "the flesh" and the Spirit (cf. Galatians 5:16–25):

Only a pure heart can confidently say: ‘Thy Kingdom come’. One must have been schooled by Paul to say: ‘Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body’ (Romans 6:12). He who keeps himself pure in his deeds, thoughts, and words can say to God: ‘Thy Kingdom come!’ (St. Cyril of Jerusalem, catech. myst. 5, 13: PG 33, 1120A).

§ 2820 In a discernment according to the Spirit, Christians must distinguish between the growth of the Kingdom of God and the progress of culture and society in which they engage. This distinction is not a separation. Man’s vocation to eternal life does not suppress but strengthens his duty to apply the energies and means received from the Creator to serve justice and peace in this world (cf. GS 22; 32; 39; 45; EN 31).

§ 2821 This petition is carried and granted in the prayer of Jesus (cf. John 17:17–20), present and effective in the Eucharist; it bears fruit in the new life according to the Beatitudes (cf. Mt 5:13-16; 6:24; 7:12–13).

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Place located in Jerusalem where Jesus celebrated Passover with his Apostles and instituted the Eucharist on the eve of his death (from Latin cenaculum: dining room). This place became the first Church at the request of the Virgin Mary.

The Gospel as it was revealed to me (Maria Valtorta).