KINGDOM SPACES

There was once a rich man ...

Today's gospel parable about the rich man and Lazarus (Lk 16:19-31) got me thinking about the Kingdom of God. I like to imagine the Kingdom of God as “existing in the spaces between us.” We are each responsible for what characterizes those spaces: mutual care? anger? jealousy? empathy?

In the case of the rich man, he was not even aware of the existence of the beggar at his front door. What characterized the space between him and Lazarus, at least from the rich man's perspective? Maybe indifference. In any case, it was not the “Kingdom” Jesus had come to establish on earth.

Interestingly, the parable ends with the image of a space between the two characters: an unbridgeable space separating the two of them. And it is too late for the rich man to bridge that space by filling it with compassion. He is, however, the one responsible for the chasm.

So there are at least a couple of lessons for us in this parable. First, we need always to be aware of the people that God has placed in our lives, especially those whom we may be tempted to pass by without noticing them. (It’s no coincidence that this poor man, Lazarus is the only character in any parable who is given a name), And second, we are responsible for how we treat those people. So we could say that the Kingdom means filling the species between us with love, right?

Yes, I suppose that's true. But we should not forget that the Kingdom is not always filled with "nice" experiences. The experience of the Kingdom also includes sharing in the sufferings of Christ, the King.

So when we are experiencing pain and suffering, we have to try to experience them as a share in the mystery of Christ's pain and suffering. These ended, as promised, in victory over death and suffering. Ultimately, the kingdom is about Easter.

My faith in Christ the Risen King assures me that if today is Good Friday for me, then Easter is coming!

I once heard this saying, attributed to a wise old rabbi: "God is not nice. God is not your uncle. God is an earthquake." 

I don't know about you, but I have certainly met this Earthquake God a few times. But this God is also the God of the Paschal mystery who raised Jesus from the dead. The God of love whose ways are unfathomable to us.

Our faith assures us that in the end, God always wins, and the Kingdom always comes. When we pray "Thy Kingdom come," we are committing ourselves to help to bring it about by filling all the spaces in our lives with Christlike love.