Social change and the Kingdom of God

Just over a week ago, Malta bid farewell to Dom Mintoff. It is not my intention here to evaluate his contribution to the evolution of Malta’s political and social history. This has been done well by others, though opinions did not always converge.

God’s Kingdom is more all-embracing than earthly progress- Fr Robert Soler

One thing seems to be undisputed: Mintoff’s deep concern for those who were materially poor or otherwise disadvantaged (‘il-batut’), and his pivotal role in the setting up of the welfare state in Malta. In this area he certainly brought about positive social change.

This led me to ask myself: how does the social and political progress of a nation relate to the Christian’s search for the Kingdom of God?

Vatican Council II states that “although earthly progress must be carefully distinguished from the growth of Christ’s Kingdom, nevertheless its capacity to contribute to a better ordering of human society makes it highly relevant to the Kingdom of God” (‘Gaudium et Spes’, nr. 39).

Two things are affirmed here: human advancement is relevant to the Kingdom of God, but God’s Kingdom is more all-embracing than earthly progress.

Firstly, Vatican II is saying that while the Kingdom of God and earthly progress are not on a par, positive social change is “highly relevant to the Kingdom of God”.

Christ instils deep longings in his followers through the Holy Spirit: these include a yearning for peace and the common good, as well as the desire to bring about an ever-growing measure of social justice.

Where there is attention to the weakest members of a society, solidarity, reconciliation, goodwill, fraternity, dialogue, and so forth, there is concurrently a positive experience that serves as a foretaste of the Kingdom of God in its fullness.

The Council passage cited above adds that the expectation of a richer life beyond this life, far from weakening, actually stimulates, the resolve to work for better social conditions.

Secondly, the Council is saying that God’s Kingdom goes far beyond efforts to build a better society and to achieve greater progress. It cannot and does not stop at social change.

The Kingdom of God is qualitatively different from earthly pro­gress. It is preached and announced by Jesus himself as being close (Mk 1:15). It is the ‘good news’, therefore the liberating gospel itself about Jesus, the God-made-man who died and rose for us.

It touches the depths of the human being and concerns especially the intimate relations of human beings with God: this in turn creates new relationships with others. God’s Kingdom grows in our hearts and minds especially through the biblical word of God and our receiving the sacraments.

At the same time, Jesus taught His disciples to pray “Thy Kingdom come”. This certainly is a prayer that God reigns over human beings, but many New Testament passages referring to the Kingdom also point to an event that lies outside history and will close it, namely the second coming of Christ.

This implies that God’s Kingdom is among us but, somehow, mysteriously still in the future.

This double aspect of the Kingdom as both present and future reality is evident in the many gospel parables of the Kingdom.

They show through imagery and narration that “the Kingdom is the preaching of the Word; it contains both good and bad; it grows to greatness from imperceptible beginnings; it is a treasure for which a man should trade all his possessions.

“It imposes obligations of love and forgiveness. It admits all comers. It demands an alert readiness. The emerging conception is of a single reality which is present and operative but which inevitably must reach a fulfilment of cosmic scope,” writes Fr John McKenzie, SJ.

Since earthly progress is this-worldly, it cannot be placed on the same level as the Kingdom of God, which reaches human hearts here on earth but is also expecting us beyond this life.

Positive social change can provide a foretaste of the Kingdom, but only God can fully quench our thirst, now and in eternity.

Fr Soler is a member of the Society of Jesus.