Buenos Aires, Argentina, Oct 15, 2006 / 22:00 pm
During his weekly reflection, Archbishop Emeritus Carmelo Giaquinta of Resistencia, Argentina, said there is a “misunderstanding of the Kingdom of God” in today’s world.
In his message, the archbishop emeritus invoked words of the Second Vatican Council: “There must be a careful distinction between earthly progress and the growth of the Kingdom of Christ. Nevertheless, the former, inasmuch as it can contribute to better ordering human society, is of much interest to the Kingdom of God.”
After explaining that “before, the Kingdom of God was seen from the perspective of a false transcendentalism, with no roots in earthly life, and an abyss was created between earthly progress and the Kingdom of God,” he warned that “during recent decades the temptation is the opposite: a Kingdom of God so immanent that its fate is confused with that of earthly society.”
“The understanding of the mystery of the Kingdom of God is not the fruit of intellectual toil, but rather of the greatest gift of God, which opens His richness to us if we receive it with the spirit of a child,” Archbishop Giaquinta maintained.
He then explained what it meant to “receive the Kingdom of God as a child,” referring to the meaning of the word “little ones” in the original Greek.
“The word ‘little’ does not refer to smallness of size but rather to smallness as an object of preferential love,” he said, noting that a child receives that preferential love with joy and gratitude.
The archbishop emeritus reiterated that such a person “is happy knowing that he does not exist for himself, but rather owes everything to another. This kind of child is the ‘little one’ to whom Jesus refers. And He praises the Father for such ones.”
“Is this the way you and I receive the Kingdom of God?” he asked in conclusion.
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