We have a king, but the question is, are we members of the kingdom? Jesus is the King of kings. Though His kingdom is not from here, He wishes it to be brought here.
Christ has established His kingdom here on earth in the Church, and He has called upon all to enter in and enjoy this kingdom. He does not wish to rule over us with force and coercion. He wishes that we enter freely and willingly. The grace of Faith is a gift from God. The Church does not force the Kingdom upon anyone she offers it to them. Those who obstinately refuse this grace will not be part of the Kingdom and will not taste of the pleasures therein.
Our King wishes to establish His kingdom of truth in our intellect; His kingdom of justice and holiness for our will and His kingdom of love and peace for our heart. In a word Christ wishes us to be completely immersed in His kingdom. Each and every faculty that we possess, all that we have and are must enter into this kingdom.
There is no dual citizenship. We are either with Him or we are against Him. There are no Christmas and Easter Catholics nor Sunday morning Catholics in the kingdom. Only those who live everyday as Catholics can truly be said to be Catholic and thus members of the Kingdom of God.
The King loves his people and gives them all that they need to live as worthy members in His kingdom. The citizens of this kingdom need only graciously accept these gifts and use them for the furtherance of the kingdom. The King has done everything for His people and all that He asks of the people is that they cooperate with Him.
Our King has given us the truth in the Holy Mother Church; we need not search to find it. It is here and waiting for us. The King offers it to us freely. The Church defines and explains the truth infallibly for every question that may arise, past, present, and future. The one and only truth is possessed by the Church which is Christ's kingdom here on earth.
There are consequently many false kingdoms or churches that may claim to have the truth. For all those who truly cooperate with the grace given freely by the King the error of these false kingdoms are eventually made clear. All that is left for us to do is to accept this truth and conform our intellects to that of the King.
For our wills the kingdom contains justice and holiness. Only the true Church can legitimately lay claim to being just and holy. The doctrines and practices of the true Church are just and holy. There are many false churches that lay claim to justice and holiness but again for those who have the grace the distinction becomes painfully clear. And just as we must do for our intellect so we must do for our will. We must conform our will to the will of the King. This is in truth what we pray for when we say: "Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven." We ask that our will here on earth be just as the will of God in Heaven.
For our hearts the kingdom contains love and peace. This sadly is also counterfeited by the many false churches. As before, if we cooperate with the grace that the King offers us we cannot fail to see the distinction between the imposture love and peace, and the true love and peace of God. Christ gave us His love. No greater love has man than to lay down his life for those that he loves. This is what our King has done for us. And this is what the true Church continues to do. In imitation of Christ those of His kingdom continue to sacrifice themselves for those that they love. Christ came to this world to bring us His peace. He sent His apostles out with the universal greeting "Peace be to you." For all those who have truly entered the Church _ Christ's Kingdom here on earth _ they will truly have His peace. They will have conformed their intellects to His; they will have conformed their wills to His; and they will have conformed their hearts to His. And in this state they will have perfect peace regardless of whatever may take place in this world around them. They hear the voice of the King and are confident and at peace.
Let us not hesitate to enter into this kingdom and be of the truth and hear His voice!