The Solemnity of the Ascension of our Lord, Jesus Christ
God the Father in His infinite love as our Creator gave us life and many spiritual gifts to partake in His eternal life. Jesus Christ, His Son took our human form as a creature, suffered, died and resurrected to grant us new life and salvation. The Holy Spirit illumined and enlightened us with its gifts thereby inspiring and directing us to attain the kingdom of God after our lives on earth. How have we reacted to and reciprocated this love shown us by the Blessed Trinity?
Jesus in today’s gospel reading before His ascension into heaven, gives His disciples the Great Commission as the perfect way to reciprocate and show gratitude to the Blessed Trinity for the love shown us. Jesus for the first time ever makes His authority explicitly known with these words "All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me." After these words, He commissioned His disciples saying, "Go, therefore," since He has the power and authority given Him by His Father, He now delegates part of that power to them, giving them a mission to accomplish which is to "make disciples of all nations" that is, convert all nations to believe in Him and to become His disciples and followers. Jesus goes on to say "baptizing them" which exclusively points out the specific way or means they were to use in making non-believers His disciples. Then He emphasizes how this call to discipleship through baptism would be solidified, it must be Trinitarian, "in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit," showing that whoever is to be His disciple has to belong to and be incorporated into fellowship with the Most Holy Trinity. Jesus urged them further saying "teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you," since they are now part of Him, hence, they have to abide and keep the laws He has laid down in His Church and given to His disciples. He then ends by emphasizing to them "behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age," which means that He will continue to be with them to the end through His Church and His successors - the Popes.
My dear friends in Christ, how have we adhered to this Great Commission which is an act of love to God? Are we using the graces, mercies and blessings given us by God to spread His gospel in our world today? Are we really making disciples for God in our world today or are we dividing the Church, discouraging and deceiving the ones who sincerely want to be disciples of Christ by our words and actions especially in this time of the Corona Virus pandemic? How are we paying attention to and living out the effects of the sacrament of baptism we received in our world today? What are we really teaching the world today about God and how are we teaching the world to observe all Christ has taught and commanded us? My dear brothers and sisters, it is time to wake up from our spiritual slumber. It is time to heed and answer Jesus’s request to "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." When we encounter hardships in living out the commands of Christ or feel like it is too difficult to attain or burdensome, let us not give up on ourselves or give up on God, rather let us remember these words of Jesus to us in the gospel reading, "behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age." Amen!
