The Kingdom of God:
The Sermon on the Mount
by Archbishop Dmitri Royster
St Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1992
128 pages
Goodreads

Notes from Chapter 4:

The Kingdom, as He [the Lord] used the term, refers:
– to man’s spiritual state when he experiences the presence of God,
– to the society (the Church) which he specifically called out of this world’s society,
– and to the life with God in the world to come.
We must, however, understand that there are attitudes or states of mind that are necessary for attaining the kingdom,
and are manifest in those who become partakers of it.
p.24

I find it interesting that these attitudes are both requirements and manifestations.
I’ll be curious how the author develops the individual dimension of the Kingdom, its ecclesiastical dimension, and its eschatological dimension, as announced at the beginning of this excerpt.

He described as “blessed” those who possessed these attitudes and states of mind.
The blessedness of which He speaks 
is the happiness that belongs to those who experience the reign of God in their lives;
it is a happiness by which they come to know the happiness of the world to come,
where God’s presence will be enjoyed in the fullest sense.
p.25

Just as eternity is already here, and not for after our death, the Kingdom has begun.
It also makes me think of the “already but not yet”. We can experience glimpses of it, in full only later.

PLEASE SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS ABOUT THESE NOTES
Any reflection on these quotes?