Be sure to sit quietly with these words before coming to Mass this weekend: “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, 16-20)
This passage concludes the entire Gospel of St. Matthew and it is as if he has saved the best for last! It is remarkable that Jesus says to “go” in His name and do so with His authority. The authority goes with the mission, so to speak. And Jesus is very definite about what He has said. He respects the fact that the experiences, gifts, and talents of His disciples were varied, but He sends each one of them out to speak and act in His name. Their mission was both easy and hard: easy to understand and hard to carry out. It was to teach others all that He had taught them. Just as He asked them to follow His way, they were to ask that others follow His way, too.
Little has changed over 2,000 years. We have inherited the very same mission: the message of salvation must continue to be shared until the end of time. Indeed, even with all the changes in the Church and in society, neither Jesus nor His message has changed.
After sitting quietly with and pondering Matthew 28, 16-20, give this poem/prayer some thought: “You write a new page of the Gospel each day, through all that you do and whatever you say. Others read what you write, be it faithful or true. So what is the Gospel according to you?”
