PODCAST: Auspice Maria Ep 10: Where is the Kingdom of God?
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Transcript:
Welcome to the Auspice Maria podcast. I'm Bishop James Ruggieri of the Diocese of Portland in Maine, and I'm grateful you're here with me today.
In this series, we've been exploring the mission of the Church—not just in abstract terms, but in real, concrete movements.
And before getting into more of the specifics of this, I just would like to invoke the Holy Spirit to accompany us during this podcast.
We pray:
Spirit of God, inspire us, move us, help us to just simply be open to your promptings, your inspirations. We make this prayer through Christ our Lord. Amen.
So in recent weeks, I've been trying to expound on these three dimensions of the mission of the Church. It's really one mission, but broken down into three dimensions:
Proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ,
Bringing people into a living encounter with Christ, and
Building the Kingdom of God.
Today, in this episode, we come to that third part—the Kingdom of God. It's a phrase we hear often in Scripture and in the Church. But what does it really mean?
Let's begin where Jesus begins—with proclamation. From the very beginning of his public ministry, Jesus makes the Kingdom his priority. We hear right at the very start of Mark’s Gospel, chapter 1, verses 14 to 15:
“After John had been arrested, Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God. ‘This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the gospel.’”
Before Jesus performs any great miracles, before he calls the Twelve, before he goes to the cross, Jesus declares, as I’ve just read to you from Mark: “The Kingdom of God is near.”
He also instructs his disciples to preach the same message. In Luke chapter 9, verses 1 to 2, we read:
“He summoned the Twelve and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.”
The Kingdom was not an afterthought for Jesus. It was his central message—a new way of life, a new reality breaking into the world through him.
And to help us understand it, he gave us parables—short, practical stories from his cultural setting and time period that hint at the depth of this Kingdom.
For example, let me share the Parable of the Dragnet with you from Matthew’s Gospel, chapter 13, verses 47 to 50:
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net thrown into the sea which collects fish of every kind. When it is full, they haul it ashore and sit down to put what is good into buckets; what is bad they throw away. Thus it will be at the end of the age. The angels will go out and separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.”
What’s the message of this parable? The Kingdom gathers. It draws in everyone, good and bad alike. It’s not a club for the perfect. It’s a net that catches a whole spectrum of humanity. And ultimately, the final sorting is God’s work—not ours.
Another parable about the Kingdom is the famous Mustard Seed. The version I’d like to share with you is from Mark chapter 4, verses 30 to 32:
“To what shall we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable can we use for it? It is like a mustard seed that, when it is sown in the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on the earth. But once it is sown, it springs up and becomes the largest of plants and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the sky can dwell in its shade.”
Here in this parable, Jesus tells us the Kingdom starts small, imperceptible, but it grows into something vast and sheltering.
So what is this Kingdom? Where is it? I turn to Luke chapter 17, verses 20 to 21:
“Asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he said in reply: ‘The coming of the kingdom of God cannot be observed, and no one will announce, “Look, here it is,” or “There it is,” for behold, the kingdom of God is among you.’”
Some translations say “within you” in reference to that phrase “among you.” Other translations say “in your midst.” The Greek phrase for "among you" suggests "already present in your midst."
The Kingdom of God then is not just futuristic—it is already here. It begins with Jesus. It is manifested in his Church. Wherever Jesus reigns, there is the Kingdom.
But it’s also not yet. It’s not yet in its fullness.
We pray, when we pray the Lord’s Prayer—the Our Father:
“Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
There is a tension here. The Kingdom has begun, but it’s not complete. That tension—the “already and not yet”—is at the heart of Christian life.
We could say, and correctly so, we live in the tension. We live in the gray—already and not yet. We live in the in-between.
We’re citizens of heaven, but we’re still on earth. We’ve received grace, but we still struggle. The Kingdom has dawned, but it hasn’t yet reached its noonday glory.
And how are we meant to live in this Kingdom? Jesus tells us in the Beatitudes, which are the charter of the Kingdom, in Matthew chapter 5, verses 3 to 12.
And I’d like to share all of them with you, because really they are so foundational to understanding the culture of the Kingdom of God.
Jesus taught his disciples as he went up the mountain,
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land.
Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
These Beatitudes aren’t just private, spiritual platitudes. They are the blueprint for a new society—a new culture.
And that’s what I want to emphasize now. The Kingdom of God is a culture—not a worldly culture, but a divine culture. A culture built on love.
Because as St. John says in his first letter, chapter 4, verse 8: “God is love.” And we can say: Where God reigns, love must reign.
This culture of love is also a culture of life. Thirty years ago, in 1995, Pope St. John Paul II wrote his encyclical letter Evangelium Vitae—The Gospel of Life.
There he called us to build a culture of life in opposition to what he described as a growing culture of death.
He wrote in his opening words:
“The Gospel of life is at the heart of Jesus’ message, lovingly received day after day by the Church. It is to be proclaimed with dauntless fidelity as good news to the people of every age and culture.”
This culture of life respects human dignity from the moment of conception till natural death. It rejects abortion, euthanasia, assisted suicide.
It includes care for the poor, defense of the vulnerable, hospitality to the immigrant, solidarity with the suffering.
A parish that proclaims the Kingdom must look something like this.
It protects unborn life and also walks with single mothers.
It defends marriage.
It worships reverently and also feeds the hungry—both materially and spiritually.
That’s what the Kingdom looks like in action. And it’s beautiful. It’s attractive.
When people see it, they recognize something holy, something whole.
So we’re called to live and build the Kingdom even as we long for its fullness.
We live in hope of what St. Paul describes in his first letter to the Corinthians, chapter 15, verses 24 to 25:
“Then comes the end, when he, Jesus, hands over the Kingdom to his God and Father. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.”
That day will come. But in the meantime, we build the Kingdom—not by power or political success, but by faith, hope, and love.
For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of food or drink, as St. Paul tells us in his letter to the Romans, but of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.
This is the mission of the Church: to make the Kingdom more visible, more tangible.
So imagine this with me for a moment: a parish where people feel welcomed.
Where families find safety.
Where children are formed not just in knowledge, but in wonder and in faith.
Where the elderly are honored.
The poor are loved.
The lonely are not forgotten.
Where the Eucharist is adored, and the Gospel is sincerely lived.
That, my dear brothers and sisters, is a Kingdom parish.
That is a Kingdom culture.
And that’s the kind of Church the world is longing for—even if they don’t know it.
People today are searching—searching for meaning, for truth, for love. The Kingdom of God offers all of that.
So let’s be bold. Let’s build a culture where people encounter Christ—not just in our words, but in and through our lives.
Because when Jesus reigns, the Kingdom is here.
And where the Kingdom is, there is joy, peace, and life that never ends.
Thank you for joining me this week for the Auspice Maria podcast. And I’d like to just end by placing all of this under the intercession and protection of Mary, our Mother, as we pray:
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
