The risen Lord Jesus said: “I am with you always, even to the
end of the age.”
Jesus has promised to be with us
always to give us HOPE. Pope Francis
recently compared Jesus accompanying us to a mountain guide. Jesus like the guide goes ahead and pulls us up when
necessary. He leaves his position to
come to our aid when we are stranded or cannot move forward and upward. He is with us always.
Secondly, and following from this
gift of HOPE, Jesus has given us a GREAT COMMISSION.
Today's Reading from the
Gospel according to St. Matthew [Mt. 28:16-20] speaks of this great commission that was given to the
Apostles by Jesus and so to us under their guidance and the guidance of those
who are their successors.
First, HOPE.
Blessed John Henry Newman
gives us a picture of that hope based upon what has been revealed to us about the
resurrection and ascension of Jesus. He says:
“ it is our comfort to know, that ‘if any man sin,
we have an Advocate, Jesus Christ the righteous and he is the propitiation for
our sins.’ As the Jewish high priest,
after the solemn sacrifice for the people on the great day of the Atonement, went
into the Holy of Holies with the blood of the victim, and sprinkled it on the
Mercy-Seat, so Christ has entered into heaven itself, to present before the
Throne that sacred Tabernacle [his human body] which was the instrument of his
passion – his pierced hands and wounded side,
– in token [of] the atonement
which he has effected for the sins of the world?”
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| Mercy Seat |
Newman goes on to say
that this great mystery revealed in part to us and can only be expressed by: “the weak and stammering tongues of earth . .
. We are allowed with Angels to obtain a glimpse of the mysteries of Heaven . .
. . We hold it as a mystery, or (what was anciently called) a Truth
Sacramental.”
Newman speaks of this
Truth about the humanity of Jesus, now ascended into Heaven where he intercedes
for us as one who shares fully our humanity; Newman calls Jesus’ action of
love: “the pledge of a doctrine which
reason cannot understand, namely of the influence of the prayer of faith upon
the Divine counsels.”
A profound mystery of
hope.
SECOND – THE GREAT COMMISSION
Since Jesus is with us to
give us hope, we are likewise commissioned to share this same hope with every person and nation, baptizing
(immersing) them in his hope and making them disciples of the one who has won
salvation for us and has ascended, going before us into the Kingdom of Heaven
to intercede for us and bring us to be with him.
The GREAT COMMISSION
gives authority to accomplish this mission of hope.
Prior to granting someone
the authority to do something, it is necessary to establish that one has the
authority to give such an authority. Jesus began by stating that He has been
given such an authority. "All
authority in Heaven and on earth has been given to me." [Mt. 28:18]
What authority are we
talking about here? To answer that, it is necessary to refer to today's Second
Reading from the Letter of Paul to the Ephesians. [Eph. 1:17-23]
"God
put power to work in Christ when he
raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly
places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above
every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to
come." [Eph. 1:20-21]
Then we hear St. Paul
say, "I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of
glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know Him,
so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope
to which He has called you, what are the riches of His glorious inheritance
among the saints and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who
believe, according to the working of His great power." [Eph.
1:17-9]
St Paul prayed that we
may enjoy this spirit of wisdom and revelation so that we may share in
knowledge of the Father of glory, not only of His Plan, but of knowing God as
Holy Trinity the perfect communion of
God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. St. Paul prayed that we may experience this
great love of God expanded to all
humanity in and through the divine and human natures of Christ, such love being
manifested through our love for each other in true Christian action and hope.
This immeasurable power
unites where once there was division. It heals where pain once existed. It
forgives where condemnation once thrived. Such a love is not bound by gender, age, race,
nationality or social class. It has no barriers whatsoever.
St. Paul continues
by saying, "And (God the Father)
has put all things under (the) feet (of Jesus) and has made him the head over
all things for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all
in all." [Eph. 1:22-23]
Jesus is the
invisible anointed Head (our mountain guide), Leader of the visible Catholic
Church that He has established on earth. He is also the Leader of the past,
present and future saints who belong to the invisible mystical Body that enjoys
its seat in the heavenly Jerusalem.
Having dominion over all creation, Jesus
commissioned His apostles and us:
"go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them into the name
of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit . . . And remember, I am with you always, even to
the end of the age."
[Mt. 28:19-20]
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