Have you ever seen the movie "August Rush"? In the movie, a little boy longs to find his parents and ultimately finds them with tremendous joy. Every person wants to belong to a happy family. Every person wants a home. This week's Mass readings speak of the family that every soul longs for, and reminds us how to enter that family. Please read the 2nd Reading and the Gospel. They are both very short. Commentary follows the Gospel. The first reading and the Psalms are after the commentary.
Reading II
Rom 8:14-17
Brothers and sisters:
For 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.
Gospel
Mt 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."
God's Greatness and Love
In the first reading, Moses talks about how incredible it is that God rescued the Israelites from slavery in Egypt by miraculous means. He says that, "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." Moses has a pretty good point here. The 2nd Reading on the other hand, reminds us that God does something even more extraordinary than a rescue by miracles. He offers to adopt us into his family.
Some people want to be a part of a great family. Perhaps they want to be members of powerful political families or members of the royal family in England. But God offers us something much greater than this. He welcomes us into the GREATEST family. The head of THIS family did much more than create an Earthly kingdom like Rome or the English empire. He created the universe! Is there another family whose head created the universe? Paul reminds us of how to enter God's family in the 2nd Reading when he talks about "those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God". Here, he makes a reference to baptism. In baptism, God adopts us into his family.1 It is only through baptism that we are literally changed and then live anew "led by the Spirit".
Through baptism we become God's heirs. When we think of the word "heir", what comes to mind? "Heir" makes me think of someone who will inherit something. So in baptism, what is it that we inherit? Through baptism, we are given the grace to enter heaven2 and we share in "the priesthood of Christ in his prophetic and royal mission."3 In other words, through baptism we inherit Jesus' MISSION.
The Great Mission
Here we clearly see Jesus calling the baptized to the "priesthood in his prophetic and royal mission". It is not necessary for us to be the original apostles to understand this. In fact, we ARE apostles of God today. In the Gospel, Jesus clearly reminds us of what God's intentions are for mankind when he says, "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". God intentions towards all people is that they be joined to him as adopted sons and daughters. We, who have inherited Jesus' mission are expected to make disciples out of everyone.
Take Courage
Just as the 2nd reading says, the Holy Spirit whom God has given us is not a spirit of fear. In other words, we are members of God's family, and in God's family, there is no reason to be afraid. And since we are truly adopted children of God, we can call God "Father" as Paul says in the 2nd reading.
The good news about joining Christ's priesthood and mission is that we don't have to be scared about being ill-equipped. God himself equips us for our Christian mission through the sacraments. In the second reading, Paul speaks of us "suffering" with Christ and being "glorified with him". The Catechism says that "Believers who respond to God's word and become members of Christ's Body, become intimately united with him: "In that body the life of Christ is communicated to those who believe, and who, through the sacraments, are united in a hidden and real way to Christ in his Passion and glorification." This is especially true of Baptism, which unites us to Christ's death and Resurrection, and the Eucharist, by which "really sharing in the body of the Lord, . . . we are taken up into communion with him and with one another." (paragraph 790). All this means is that we CAN undertake this mission because God helps us through the sacraments.
The Highest Purpose
God's evangelical mission for us is a great mission and the best we could ever have. Christ's request that we bring others into his loving family is the highest purpose that any person can have. As Christians, we must be thankful for this honorable mission and we must take courage because God gives us the equipment (the sacraments) to undertake this great mission. Jesus says in the Gospel, "behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age." Let's keep that in mind when we go to Mass. Let us remember our mission every time we make the Sign of the Cross. Let's think of how God keeps his promise of remaining with us each time we take the consecrated host in our mouths.
In the Gospel reading, the disciples saw Jesus after his crucifixion "but they doubted". At Mass, let us not doubt but rather believe that Jesus is "with us always, until the end of the age." We belong to the holiest, most powerful, most loving family EVER because................
God loves us
Real Life
I just returned from Vietnam, where I met my mom's side of the family for the first time. They were so loving to me from the first moment they saw me. My older cousin (whose face I'd never seen before) was glowing when she greeted us. She hugged us as though she had known us for a long time. She later showed me her poor home. My heart ached when I saw her little shack, which sits atop a pool of dirty, foul-smelling water. She cried as she told me about how water enters her house when it rains (it rains nearly every day in Vietnam). She also wept as she told me how unacceptable her house was for her 17-year old daughter to live in.
In the end, a Catholic family decided to buy a house for my cousin and her family. You see, my mom's family has not been baptized (they are Buddhists). During my trip, I constantly thought about how I wanted them to be baptized. I pray that my poor relatives in Vietnam see the face of God through the people who are helping them financially. I do have great confidence that my cousin's new sponsors will remain strong because those sponsors are sustained by God through the sacraments.
some kids outside of my cousin's house
the interior of my cousin's house
my cousin holding my 2nd cousin
me with some kids near my cousin's house
me in my cousin's house
my brother and some kids
me about to eat a strange Vietnamese fruit1- Catechism of the Catholic Church paragraphs 1270 & 804
2- We can still destroy our opportunity to go to heaven by sinning seriously (persistence in mortal sin to the end of our lives)
3- CCC 1268
Reading 1
Dt 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
Ps 33:4-5, 6, 9, 18-19, 20, 22
R. (12b) 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.
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