Moses reminded the Israelites of their needs not only to acknowledge the omnipresence of God both in heaven and on earth but also to keep His commandments for His wonderful deeds out of His love (Deuteronomy 4:32-40). Recognizing God’s presence in all things in the universe is an integral part of the Ignatian spirituaity, and this helps us to retain our reverence to God for His mighty power and deeds, thus, prompting us to observe His commandments faithfully. And those who acknowledge God’s omnipresence and keep His commandments are the chosen and blessed by God, as reflected in the Responsorial Psalm (33:4-5, 6, 9, 18-19, 20, 22).
The Second Reading (Romans Rom 8:14-17) tells that
we are also God’s chosen, chosen to be adopted as children of God, upon receiving
the Holy Spirit, which Paul calls as the Spirit of adoption, so that we can
rightfully and affectionately call God the Father, “Abba, Father!”, which
sounds more like “Dear Daddy!” And because we are now adopted children of God,
we are co-heirs with Jesus the Son! What a great privilege we now have, upon
receiving the Holy Spirit on Pentecost!
Now, receiving the Holy Spirit is not just about
having the privilege as being chosen to be adopted children and the co-heirs
with Jesus the Son.
Remember, in the First Reading (Deuteronomy 4:32-40),
Moses also reminds that those who were chosen by the omnipotent and omnipresent
God observe the commandments of God.
So, what are the commandments for us?
The Gospel Reading (Matthew 28:16-20) describes the
last commandment that Jesus gave to his disciples, after his resurrection and
before his ascension, in commissioning them for their apostolic missions:
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
(Matthew 28:18-20).
By his authority, given by the Father (Matthew 28:18; cf. 11:27), Jesus, the Son, on behalf of the Father, commissioned the disciples with the above command. In this command to make disciples in all nations, Jesus revealed all three beings in the hypostatic union: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. These three beings are one because they all share the same θεία ουσία/theia ousia (divine substance). Therefore, the Father alone cannot be experienced without the Son and the Holy Spirit. In fact, it is the Father, who has sent both the Son (John 3:16) and the Holy Spirit (John 14:16, 26). And, the only way, as well as, the truth and the life, to experience the Father is Jesus the Son (John 14:6-7). It is because of the consubstantial oneness of the Father and the Son (John 10:30), and the nature of this oneness is that the Father is in the Son, as the Son in the Father (John 10:38; 14:10-11, 20; 17:21). So, the one who sends the Holy Spirit is the Father in Son’s name (John 14:16, 26), as well as, Jesus the Son from the Father (John 15:26). And because of this triune nature of one God in Trinity, Jesus the Son, who is the Παράκλητος/Parakletos (Advocate) (1 John 2:1) can be with us through the Holy Spirit, who is ἄλλον Παράκλητον/allon Parakleton (another Advocate)(John 14:16)(John 14:18b, 28). Therefore, Jesus remains with us always until his return at the end of the age, even after his departure through the ascension (Matthew 28:20), assuring his promise not to leave us as orphaned (John 14:18a).
It is the Father, who gave Jesus the Son the Holy Spirit
without limit and placed all things in his hands, in sending him to us (John
3:34-35), and he made it known to his disciples through his public ministry (John
17:25b-26). As Jesus the Son is the only one to have seen the Father (John
1:18), he was sent to reveal the Father to us in the world through the work of
the Father in his work (John 5:17, 19-23).
The Holy Spirit, as the Spirit of truth, will
declare everything that the Father has given Jesus the Son (John 3:35), in
guiding them to all truth, as we are sent on our apostolic missions (John
16:13-15). This parallels the fact that Jesus the Son and the Holy Spirit are
to function in the same way in regard to revealing the Father to those who have
not yet know God (John 17:25a). This is why, as reflected in the Gospel Reading
(Matthew 28:16-20), by the Father’s authority, given to him, Jesus the Son is
commissioning us to be sent with the Holy Spirit to reveal the Father. And, it
also means to make the Son, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit known to those who do
not know God.
Mainly, Jesus’ intent to send us on our apostolic
missions is to make God be known to the world through love, replicating the
Father’s love through our actions, as we remain in the Son’s love (John
15:9-17). Why love? Because, after all, God is love (1 John 4:8, 16).
This is why in today’s Gospel Reading (Matthew 28:16-20),
Jesus tells to make disciples in all nations, baptizing them in the name of the
Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
How do we make our God and the truth of no other
gods, be known to people of all nations and of all cultures and languages?
How do we make our one triune God be known to the
world through love?
Remember, the same Holy Spirit to have made us the
beloved adopted children of God (Romans 8:15), co-heirs with Jesus (Romans
8:17), empowers us, guides us to all truth, and remain with us, as the Son,
Jesus, remains with us and in us, just as the Father always remains with Jesus
(John 8:29; 16:32). Therefore, making disciples in all nations means to expand
the family of God the Father, by baptizing them in the name of the Father, of
the Son, and of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19).
So, Jesus said, “Go”
(Matthew 28:19a), as he promised to send us as the Father sent him (John 20:21)
and offered the Holy Spirit (John 20:22). And before we are sent out of Mass
with the command of “Ite, Missa est”,
we have received the Word and the Body and the Blood of Christ in the Sacrament
of the Holy Eucharist at Mass. It is because God has chosen us to be His
beloved children and to serve Him through our apostolic mission, as commanded
by the Son, empowered and guided by the Holy Spirit.
Let us help the world discover our triune omnipotent and omnipresent God in all things through love! God is omnipotent and omnipresent because God is triune, in hypostatic homoousios union in Trinity.
No comments:
Post a Comment