Entering the Kingdom

The liturgy begins...

Blessed be God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

And blessed be his Kingdom, now and for ever. Amen.

Because that's where we're going in the liturgy... entering that Kingdom. Entering that life. God's life--the Trinitarian life: Movement, love, infinite depth... creation, not out of necessity, but out of love, joy, delight.

I wonder if I can even go there. I wonder if I can even write these words. Yes, but only to say right away that they are inadequate beyond measure. And yet we have to go there, right? Because in the liturgy that's where the Church goes.

Entering the Kingdom, or rather, the Kingdom coming to us (is there a difference? Maybe). The important thing is this: Whatever the liturgy is, it's not less than a taste of the Kingdom here and now (even if it's only a taste because it's fullness lies in our future where Christ stretches out his arms to draw us to himself).

Why, then, do we want less? Why do we settle for cheap entertainment, interesting words, maybe a spark of insight and even (usually) less than that? Cheap thrills are regularly recognized as the lure away from real communion with God outside the Church. Why should we expect it to be any different in the Church?