The Mexican Episcopal Conference -CEM- has made available to dioceses, parishes, and the faithful chapter 37 of its catechetical series Venga a Nosotros Tu Reino, titled “The Kingdom Is Already Among Us”. Preached by Ramón Castro Castro, Bishop of Cuernavaca and president of the CEM, the catechesis is disseminated through the CEM’s official YouTube channel and reproduces the prelate’s preaching in full.
In a hopeful yet demanding tone, Castro Castro reminds us that when Jesus speaks of the Kingdom of God, he does not refer only to a future reality. “The kingdom of God is already among you,” he states clearly. It is about “a living presence that transforms the heart and history.” The Kingdom becomes visible “whenever we love, forgive, serve, and build justice.” It does not always appear in great events, but “in the simple and faithful gestures of everyday life”.
In the Mexican context, the prelate points out that the Kingdom is manifested concretely in those who “seek the truth, accompany the victims, care for life, defend dignity, and work for peace”. They are “silent but powerful signs that God continues to act.” The message takes on special relevance in a country that has accumulated tens of thousands of intentional homicides so far this six-year term, thousands of missing persons, and a persistent institutional erosion recently denounced by the CEM itself, which has warned about the “slow erosion of institutions,” the infiltration of organized crime, and the impunity that corrodes national hope.
This installment continues practically a cycle of 38 weekly catecheses launched in July 2025 on the occasion of the centenary of Pope Pius XI’s encyclical Quas Primas (1925), which instituted the solemnity of Christ the King of the Universe. The initiative also commemorates the legacy of the Cristero War (1926-1929), when thousands of Mexicans shouted “Long Live Christ the King!” in the face of religious persecution by the State. Far from being merely a historical evocation, the series seeks to update the message of Quas Primas: Christ’s reign is not a private matter nor merely eschatological, but a social and political proposal that challenges the present reality.
“This catechetical journey has reminded us that the kingdom is not only a matter of action, but a shared task,” the bishop emphasizes. The faithful do not walk alone: “Christ walks with his Church and sends us into the world as witnesses of hope.” The Kingdom advances “when faith is translated into commitment and when prayer becomes action”. For this reason, the CEM invites Catholics to be “collaborators with God in building a more just, fraternal, and solidary society.”
The central purpose of the entire series has been precisely this: to recover the social doctrine of Christ’s reign to apply it to the “civilizational crisis” that Mexico is experiencing. In a moment when the violence of organized crime, corruption, and inequality continue to tear at the social fabric—as the bishops have repeatedly denounced in recent messages on peace and reconciliation—the catecheses call for moving from devotion to concrete transformation. It is not about passively waiting for a future Kingdom, but making it present today in neighborhoods, families, institutions, and public life.
Castro Castro concludes by entrusting the journey to Our Lady of Guadalupe, “who accompanies her people and always teaches us about her Son.” With her, Mexican Catholics learn “to say yes to God’s project.” And he issues a final call: “Strengthened by faith, let us continue working with joy until the kingdom of God is fully manifested. Thy kingdom come.”