The Church, as a community of believers in God’s promise, is an evidence of His presence, and even His
presence: “To fulfill the Father’s will, Christ inaugurated the kingdom of heaven on earth and revealed to
us the mystery of the Father, and by his obedience he redeemed” (LG 3).
The attempt to define the identity of the Church in the light of the Kingdom and its dependence on
Christ is noticeable above all in the fifth point of Lumen Gentium, in which we read: “The mystery of the
Holy Church is revealed in her foundation. The Lord Jesus started his Church by preaching the good
news, namely the coming of the Kingdom of God, promised for centuries in Scripture (…). And this
kingdom has shone upon mankind in word, in deeds and in the presence of Christ ”(LG 5). In the above
conciliar statement, one can see a connection between the proclamation of the Kingdom of God and the
founding of the Church of Christ. Jesus wants the Church and founds the Church to continue his saving
work. The Church was born from the proclamation of the Kingdom, and then in the history of the world
she becomes the herald of the Good News of salvation, that is, the Kingdom of God, which will be fully
revealed to us at the end of time.
On the other hand, the most important words of the constitution Lumen Gentium, which speak of the
interdependence of the Church and the Kingdom of Heaven, are the following statements of the Council
Fathers: of all nations and is the seed and foundation of this kingdom on earth ”(LG 5). These words
direct our attention directly to the present in the Gospel according to St. Mark the metaphor of a seed
thrown into the ground that germinates and grows (see Mark 4: 26-29).
We can therefore say that the Church, but only in a metaphorical sense, is the Kingdom of God, which is
fully revealed in Jesus Christ (in His works, events and miracles). The more faithful he is to his Founder,
the closer he comes to the Kingdom, that is, to God’s reign. In this way, the Church is not only a means
or instrument of salvation, but also becomes the earthly form of its realization and the seed of the
kingdom that will fully come at the end of time..
