Gospel Reading: Mt 28:16-20
The eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had ordered them. When they 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.”
Reflection
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit
While the Trinitarian formula is found at the end of the gospel of Matthew, the three Divine Persons are mentioned together in other places in the gospels (e.g., Mt 3:16-17; Jn 14:16-17, 26) and in the New Testament (e.g., 1 Pt 1:2; 2 Cor 13:13; Gal 4:6; Eph 1:13).
We Catholics believe in the Holy Trinity. We have received this from the apostolic tradition immortalized in the New Testament. Based on this doctrine, we are also taught to accept responsibility. Like the Apostles, we are commissioned to make disciples everywhere in the name of the Holy Trinity and teach them to keep Jesus’ commandments.
What are these commandments? We can discern them if we go back to the life story of Jesus or reflect on the Word of God, especially the gospels. We are helped also by the homilies of our ordained ministers in the liturgy as they relate faith to life and vice versa.
In the Second Reading, we learn that the Holy Spirit allows us to call God as “Abba” (daddy or papa). The Spirit unites us to God who is often perceived to be far away from us. God is a good parent, both fatherly and motherly. As children, we must recognize God’s fatherhood and ourselves as God’s children.
The First Reading tells us that the Father is not a weak or fainthearted parent. The Father is powerful and can overcome whatever may harm us. Though God displays a very masculine behavior as portrayed in the Old Testament, we must not stray away from the Father’s embrace, to keep ourselves out of danger.
Let us live our faith in the Triune God, Father and Son and Holy Spirit.
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SOURCE: “365 Days with the Lord 2018,” ST. PAULS Philippines, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 895-9701; Fax 895-7328; E-mail: [email protected]; Website: http://www.stpauls.ph.
