The Kingdom of Heaven is present among us in seed through the Church, since the Church is the Body of Christ. It is being included in the same Body that connects the Church militant (those of us who are fighting for our salvation in this world) with the Church suffering (those who are being purified after death) and the Church triumphant (the angels and saints in Heaven who are with God).
The Kingdom of Heaven is where the will of God is accomplished, as we profess in the prayer: "Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven." We should be constantly anxious to fulfill in us the will of God. Our sentiment at every moment should become, "not my will, but God's be done." This is the way that we actualize day by day and moment by moment our participation in the Kingdom of Heaven. This is the way that we assure that we are one of the living stones that make up the spiritual temple of the Lord.
Being constantly anxious to fulfill the will of God is the bedrock of our practical ethical life. We should think of it in the following way. First, we should realize that the first indication of the will of God is what occurs in our lives, what happens to us. We should accept what comes to us from God with gladness. In the words of the Liturgy, "we should bless God in all things." This takes tremendous practice and self-denial, because many things happen to us that are contrary to our desires. Those things are the most precious in the eyes of God, because it is an exercise of the virtues of humility and meekness when we accept things in our lives that are contrary to our desires. And why would this be so? Because, by our acceptance, we confess that there are many things about God's will that we cannot understand, but we will to love those things too for God's sake. This is very important, because it allows us to lovingly bless God in all things as we pass through our day to day circumstances.
Doing the will of God and living in the will God makes us living stones in His spiritual temple. The second thing we must do to live in the will of God is to habituate ourselves to sacrificing our advantage for the advantage of others. Take anger as an example. It is seldom the case that it will be virtuous for us to get angry because of injuries and offenses done to us. On the other hand, it will most often be virtuous for us to get angry at injuries and offenses done to others. In the same way, if we continually decide to sacrifice our advantage for the advantage of others, then we are very close to the will and heart of God.
These are the ways that we become living stones in the spiritual temple of the Lord, the Kingdom of Heaven. We should begin practicing the first of these points, lovingly accepting what comes to us from the hand of God, and we will find that the second point comes to us rather naturally. This is so, because an increase in our love for God makes us increase in our love for our neighbors as well. In this way, the virtue of charity, which is the very life of God, one in the Holy Trinity, begins to live within us and organically grow in us.
It was the pagan philosopher Socrates who taught through his disciple Plato that "the unexamined life is not worth living." That is truth for us in an even greater degree. These ways by which we become living stones in the spiritual temple of God are also things upon which we can examine ourselves. We should never allow a day to pass in which we do not ask ourselves to consider how accepting or rebellious we have been to the circumstances that God has willed for us. Similarly, we should always ask ourselves how we have sacrificed our comforts and advantages for the sake of others.
Yesterday's saint, Paul the Confessor, the Patriarch of Constantinople, is a good example of how to put all of this into practice. He was exceedingly accepting of the will of God as it manifested itself in his circumstances. After being the made the bishop of the Imperial Capital, he continually sacrificed himself for his people. He was daily taking active part in the distributions to the poor and teaching his people the catholic and orthodox faith, even as the Arians (those who do not believe that Christ is God) tried to destroy him. Twice he was driven from his home by the Arian Emperor and his servants. The second time, he was exiled to Armenia. There, far away from home, he was faithful in his prayers and sacrifices for the people for whom he was still responsible, even though he was separated from them by thousands of miles. One day, as he was celebrating the Divine Liturgy, the Arians entered the church where he was and strangled him in front of the altar with his own omophor. Thus, he, a living stone in the temple of the living God was translated to Heaven, where he took up his place in glory among those who have finished the race.
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