FIRST READING
Deuteronomy 4:32–34, 39–40
Moses said to the people:
“Ask now of the days of old, before your time, ever since God created man upon the earth; ask from one end of the sky to the other: Did anything so great ever happen before? Was it ever heard of? Did a people ever hear the voice of God speaking from the midst of fire, as you did, and live? Or did any god venture to go and take a nation for himself from the midst of another nation, by testings, by signs and wonders, by war, with strong hand and outstretched arm, and by great terrors, all of which the LORD, your God, did for you in Egypt before your very eyes? This is why you must now know, and fix in your heart, that the LORD is God in the heavens above and on earth below, and that there is no other. You must keep his statutes and commandments that I enjoin on you today, that you and your children after you may prosper, and that you may have long life on the land which the LORD, your God, is giving you forever.”
RESPONSORIAL PSALM
Psalm 33:4–5, 6, 9, 18–19, 20, 22 (12b)
R. Blessed the people the LORD has chosen to be his own.
Upright is the word of the Lord, and all his works are trustworthy. He loves justice and right; of the kindness of the LORD the earth is full.
R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
By the word of the LORD the heavens were made; by the breath of his mouth all their host. For he spoke, and it was made; he commanded, and it stood forth.
R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
See, the eyes of the LORD are upon those who fear him, upon those who hope for his kindness, to deliver them from death and preserve them in spite of famine.
R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
Our soul waits for the LORD, who is our help and our shield. May your kindness, O LORD, be upon us who have put our hope in you.
R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
SECOND READING
Romans 8:14–17
Brothers and sisters:
Those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received a Spirit of adoption, through whom we cry, “Abba, Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if only we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.
ALLELUIA
Revelation 1:8
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Glory to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; to God who is, who was, and who is to come.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
GOSPEL
Matthew 28:16–20
The eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had ordered them. When they all saw him, they worshiped, but they doubted. Then Jesus approached and said to them, “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”
REFLECTIONS:
How can we know God? Jesus revealed to his disciples
the great mystery of our faith the triune nature of God and the inseparable
union of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Jesus' mission is to reveal
the glory of God to us a Trinity of persons God the Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit and to unite us with God in a community of love. The ultimate
end, the purpose for which God created us, is the entry of God's creatures
into the perfect unity of the blessed Trinity. The Jews understood God
as Creator and Father of all that he made (Deuteronomy 32:6) and they understood
the nation of Israel as God's firstborn son (Exodus 4:22). Jesus reveals
the Father in an unheard of sense. He is eternally Father by his relationship
to his only Son, who, reciprocally, is Son only in relation to his Father
(see Matthew 11:27). The Spirit, likewise, is inseparably one with the
Father and the Son. The mission of Jesus and of the Holy Spirit are the
same. That is why Jesus tells his disciples that the Spirit will reveal
the glory of the Father and the Son and will speak what is true. Before
his Passover, Jesus revealed the Holy Spirit as the Paraclete and Helper
who will be with Jesus disciples to teach and guide them into all the
truth (John 14:17,26; 16:13). In baptism we are called to share in the
life of the Holy Trinity here on earth in faith and after death in eternal
light.
Clement of Alexandria, a third century church father, wrote: What
an astonishing mystery! There is one Father of the universe, one Logos
(Word) of the universe, and also one Holy Spirit, everywhere one and the
same; there is also one virgin become mother, and I should like to call
her 'Church'." How can we personally know the Father and his Son, our
Lord Jesus Christ? It is the Holy Spirit who reveals the Father and the
Son to us and who gives us the gift of faith to know and understand the
truth of Gods word. Through the Holy Spirit, we proclaim our ancient faith
in the saving death and resurrection of Jesus Christ until he comes again.
The Lord gives us his Holy Spirit as our divine Teacher and Helper that
we may grow in the knowledge and wisdom of God. Do you seek the wisdom
that comes from above and do you willingly obey God's word?
Jesus' departure and ascension into heaven was both an end and a beginning
for his disciples. While it was the end of Jesus' physical presence with
his beloved disciples, it marked the beginning of Jesus' presence with
them in a new way. Jesus promised that he would be with them always
to the end of time. He assured them of his power a power which overcame
sin and death. Now as the glorified and risen Lord and Savior, ascended
to the right hand of the Father in heaven, Jesus promised to give them
the power of his Holy Spirit, which we see fulfilled ten days later on
the Feast of Pentecost (Luke 24:49 and Acts 2:1-4). When the Lord Jesus
departed physically from the apostles, they were not left alone or powerless.
Jesus assured them of his presence and the power of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus' last words to his apostles point to his saving mission and to
their mission to be witnesses of his saving death and his glorious resurrection
and to proclaim the good news of salvation to all the world. Their task
is to proclaim the good news of salvation, not only to the people of Israel,
but to all the nations. God's love and gift of salvation is not just for
a few, or for a nation, but it is for the whole world for all who will
accept it. The gospel is the power of God, the power to forgive sins, to
heal, to deliver from evil and oppression, and to restore life. Do you
believe in the power of the gospel?
"May the Lord Jesus put his hands on our eyes also, for then we too
shall begin to look not at what is seen but at what is not seen. May he
open the eyes that are concerned not with the present but with what is
yet to come, may he unseal the heart's vision, that we may gaze on God
in the Spirit, through the same Lord, Jesus Christ, whose glory and power
will endure throughout the unending succession of ages." (prayer of Origin,
185-254 AD)
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