“Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
“The kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21). The kingdom of God is a kingdom of love, and the divine love within you, heaven, the earth, and those in the earth is this kingdom. Now, it is already present, for Christ reigns over all: “Give to the king thy judgement, O God” (Psalm 71:2); “The Lord said to my Lord: Sit thou at my right hand: Until I make thy enemies thy footstool” (Psalm 109:1), but this prayer is asking for the kingdom to be made more manifested in the earth, through you and through others. It is asking your Father for an increase of love in the world: “If you shall ask me anything in my name” that is, in your office of being alter Christus, an expression of love incarnate, fighting for Love, “that I will do” (John 14:14). Ask with great confidence for this love, then, “Let him ask in faith, nothing wavering” (James 1:6), and you will be made a partaker in this kingdom. If you ask with fear of judgement, you do not know the fullness of the tender love of God: “Fear is not in love: but perfect love casteth out fear, because fear hath pain” (1 John 4:18). This is not a condemnation, but an invitation, to invite the Holy Spirit to come and open your heart even more to His love. Once you have this sweet confidence in the love of God, it becomes a confident prayer for this fire to remain, and to come down on others that they may know the infinite love of God: “And Elias answering, said to the captain of fifty: ‘If I be a man of God, let fire come down and consume thee, and thy fifty.’ And there came down fire from heaven, and consumed him, and the fifty that were with him” (4 Kings 1:10). Because it asks for an increase of the kingdom of God, it therefore moves against the kingdom of the enemy: “For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood; but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the world of this present darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in the high places” (Ephesians 6:12). See the great conflicts that have arisen throughout history for the sake of romantic love, shall you not, o beloved of God, take up arms to fight for Love Itself? “Take hold of arms and shield: and rise up to help me. Bring out the sword, and shut up the way against them that persecute me” (Psalm 34:2-3). Pray then, that the will of the Lord be done, rather than the will of man, devil, or worldly power, for “the law of the Lord is unspotted, converting souls: the testimony of the Lord is faithful, giving wisdom to little ones” (Psalm 18:8). You are inviting the happy life, the life of love, into the lives of others by praying, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” It is an invitation for hearts to rejoice, for the life of heaven is one of perpetual rejoicing: “After these things I heard as it were the voice of much people in heaven, saying: ‘Alleluia. Salvation, and glory, and power is to our God” (Apocalypse 19:1). Think how much is contained in this little prayer, that yourself and others may join in the angelic choirs and “adore the Father in spirit and truth” (John 4:23). Thus, it is to bring praise and good works forward by those who are unclouded by error, with no sadness weighing the heart: “A joyful mind maketh age flourishing: a sorrowful spirit drieth up the bones” (Proverbs 17:22), with their minds and hearts raised entirely to the love of God. Jesus invites you to call heaven into earth, transforming it into a kingdom of His love: “And he saw in his sleep a ladder standing upon the earth, and the top thereof touching heaven: the angels of God ascending and descending by it” (Genesis 28:12). While the ladder itself is Jesus: “Amen, amen, I say to you, you shall see the heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man” (John 1:51), you may climb it as often as you please by thinking on the things of heaven, then bringing down heavenly graces to the earth by prayer. “On earth as it is in heaven” can also refer to drawing those who do not follow the will of the Lord into the thundering river of His love: “And he shewed me a river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb” (Apocalypse 22:1), as well as drawing your entire self, body and soul, into love, for “earth” could refer to the body which is material, while “heaven” could be your heart and mind, which is spiritual: “Unhappy man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? The grace of God, by Jesus Christ our Lord. Therefore, I myself, with the mind serve the law of God; but with the flesh, the law of sin” (Romans 7:24-25). No one loves well and with their whole selves by their own goodness, but through imploring the Beloved: “He brought me into the cellar of wine, he set in order charity in me” (Song 2:4). Therefore both you and others need the help of prayer, encountering God’s love, and spiritual reading: “Let thy thoughts be upon the precepts of God, and meditate continually on his commandments: and he will give thee a heart, and the desire of wisdom shall be given to thee” (Ecclesiasticus 6:37), that all may be able to do God’s will, which is to love, well, God and others for God’s sake. Thus, God is the one that does the good, but He calls on you to invite His kingdom to come and His will to be done, for lovers do all things together, and He desires to join with you in His mission of love: “For I am the Lord thy God, who take thee by the hand, and say to thee: Fear not, I have helped thee” (Isais 41:13).