" Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which
Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they did homage to him;
but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, «All authority 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 lo, I am with you always, to the close of the
age.» "
Homily:
" Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which
Jesus had directed them. "
The gospel that the Church proposes to us on this feast of the Most Holy
Trinity describes an apparition of the Lord after his Resurrection, an
apparition that most likely took place just before the Ascension,
although we cannot be more precise about when it occurred. Some have
suggested that this is the apparition to which Saint Paul referred when
he said: "Then he appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one
time." (1 Cor. 15:6) In any case, let us note that the Lord gave a
precise order to his disciples: they had to go to a specific place,
and to no other; they were to go to the mountain he had indicated to
them. And it was by obeying Christ, the Master of us all, that the
disciples of the Lord were favored with his apparition. The same is
true for us: it is by obeying the Church, who speaks in the name of
Christ, that we can receive the graces that God wants to give us in
order that we might see him with the eyes of faith, and thus
contemplate him in ourselves and in all our brothers!
" And when they saw him they did homage to him. "
This is a very beautiful gesture! The disciples, in doing homage to
Jesus, recognize in him the Son of God, the Word of the Father, Creator
of all things in Heaven and on earth. For Jesus, this man who is
similar to all other men, is God, first and foremost. He has just
proven it in a solemn manner, once and for all, by rising from the dead
by his own power, which is that of God his Father. This is why those
who were witnesses to his life, his passion, and his death, now lie
prostrate before he who will henceforth live forever and ever! They
adore the Lord Jesus just as the elect of Heaven and all angels, of
every kind, do in the vision of glory: the disciples of Christ, and we
who follow them, see the Lord God in the faith that gives us life, just
like those who have already attained the eternal and limitless bliss of
celestial glory!
" And Jesus came and said to them, «All authority 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
Image via Wikipedia
Spirit.» "
The Lord Jesus affirms his authority and his power: he thus proclaims
his divine power and, by this very fact, all the reality of his
divinity. Jesus is the Son of God. He came to the earth, sent by the
Father, in order to reveal to us what he himself is - the Word of God,
the Word born in the Love of God and men, but a Word that was crucified
and rejected by the men who see in It only a human word! Indeed, the
Word of God reveals itself to us only in the Death and through the
Cross of Christ. Now, Saint Paul says to us: "Do you not know that
all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into
his death?" (Rom. 6:3) Consequently, in order to be able to
contemplate the glory of God who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we
must be baptized, we must be purified of all our faults in order to be
able to hear this Word of God!
So if there is a teaching on the Trinity that is to be taught and
preached in the name of Christ and of his Church, it is first and
foremost a proclamation of the Cross of Christ, for it is through it
and through it alone that the Mystery of the Most Holy Trinity will be
revealed to the entire world! "We preach Christ crucified, a stumbling
block to Jews and folly to Gentiles." (1 Cor. 1:23) These are the
words of the great Apostle Paul, he who was allowed to contemplate the
glory of God in Heaven (cf. 2 Cor. 14). It is through the Cross and in
the Cross that the Most Holy Trinity is revealed to the world in the
Lord Jesus: there is no alternative! He who wants to share in the
divine life through the grace of his baptism must be ready to imitate
Christ in his life and in his death!
" «... teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.» "
Jesus is the Word of the Father, that which is endlessly spoken by the
Father, that is to say by the one from whom everything in the Most Holy
Trinity flows. For without the Father, there is no Son: the relation
of Son can be conceived only in virtue of the relation of Father. But
as Jesus is the Word of the Father, there is no other preparation for
listening to this divine Word than to listen and to put into practice
the human word of Christ, a human word that is then so close to the
Word of God that it is for us the direct way to the divine Word itself.
This is why Jesus commands his disciples to transmit to men the words,
under the form of orders, that he had entrusted to them.
If all men and women of the entire world obey the order of Christ given
Image by Lawrence OP via Flickr
glory of the Most Holy Trinity: the Father, the Son, and the Holy
Spirit! May this be our most fervent desire on this day: to obey the
Word of God by participating with faith and with love in today's
Eucharist, just as the Most Blessed Virgin Mary always said "yes" to
the Order of God, ever present in her!
Canon Dr. Daniel Meynen
http://meynen.homily-service.net/
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