"Are you at this time going to restore the Kingdom of Israel?"

Jesus' response is sometimes taken as a ducking of their question, implying perhaps that what they ask for will only take place in end times. However, it is possible to take the Lord's response as not when but how and by who.

It is the witness of the Apostles from Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth that will bring about the new Israel, the kingdom of God, which is apparent in the world as the Church. Witness in the early church was demonstrated through a presence in charity, dialogue and how the community loved one another. It was very effective in evangelisation. This witness is no different to what we are called to do in our work with school communities.

For some people, there is the view that we are to expect Jesus to come back and reign over a Jewish kingdom in Israel in the end times, even perhaps to rebuild the stone temple and restore animal sacrifice. For this reason, some Christians treat the modern State of Israel as a quasi-sacred entity that deserves our carte blanche political support. Perhaps here at home, our stone temples tend to be our church buildings, tabernacles and pews. They are beautiful expressions of our faith that can be easily deified.

The Catholic tradition has not and does not endorse this view, and it would seem to represent a retrograde action in salvation history. Why would we want to return to a temple of stone when we have the Temple of Christ's body, which has now transformed our bodies into His Temple? Have we not learned the lesson that God does not dwell in temples made by human hands? (Acts 7:48)

Moreover, people fail to realise that the Church (which is us) is the unfolding manifestation of the kingdom of God on earth. The Kingdom coming, therefore, is in our hands and the significance of this within the context of our schools is enormous.