"Thy Kingdom come" Luke 11:2

Again, in his book “Jesus of Nazareth”, Pope Benedict XVI’s verse-by-verse analysis of the Our Father goes straight to the premise of each statement. In this verse, he explains that we are acknowledging the primacy of God and that where God is absent, nothing can be good. Like a true scholar, he cites Matthew 6:33 to back his analysis (“Seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well”).

But what the Pope states next speaks to the core of one of the main objections levelled by atheists, agnostics, and other degrees of doubters against Christianity. How can a loving and omnipotent God allow such injustice and suffering in the world?

“This is not a promise that we will enter the Land of Plenty on condition that we are devout or that we are somehow attracted to the Kingdom of God. This is not an automatic formula for a well-functioning world, not a utopian vision of a classless society in which everything works out well of its own accord, simply because there is no private property. Jesus does not give us such simple recipes.

“What he does do, though…is to establish an absolutely decisive priority. For ‘Kingdom of God’ means ‘dominion of God,’ and this means that His will is accepted as the true criterion.”

I recall reading once, in one of C.S. Lewis’ many publications, an explanation of the paradox of free will and God’s omnipotence and dominion. God granted humankind the freedom to choose to follow either our own will or His will. Lewis then argues that since we are all tainted by original sin, even if we choose to submit to God’s will, the suffering and injustice of this world is a consequence we bring on ourselves through selfishness and sin.

I often find the representation of God as Father a useful guide in considering issues such as objections to Christianity based on the great deal of suffering in this world. I watch my sons on play structures at the park and want to encourage them to play, exercise and conquer fears of heights so I let them run the risk of falling of the play structures. When they sometimes do fall, then I gather them up in my arms and take care of them. At this time, this is my best attempt at reconciling the paradox of free will and God’s omnipotence and dominion. I am not a Biblical scholar or theologian but from the little I understand of God’s Word, what matters is the intentions in our hearts. So, if in exercising our free will we are not making the dominion of God our absolute decisive priority, that’s when we get ourselves and others in trouble.

The Pope also goes on to draw a parallel between the order of priorities that Jesus instructs us to invoke in the Our Father and the Old Testament account of Solomon’s first prayer on rising to the throne. In a dream, God gives Solomon the opportunity to make one request that the Lord promises to grant. Here is what Solomon asks for in 1 Kings 3:9: “Give thy servant therefore a listening heart to govern thy people, that I may discern between good and evil”

The Pope concludes by stating: “To pray for the Kingdom of God is to say to Jesus: Let us be yours, Lord! Pervade us, live in us; gather scattered humanity in your body, so that in you everything may be subordinated to the Father, in order that (1 Corinthians 15:28) ‘God may be all in all’.”