Last week, we heard Jesus sent the disciples to proclaim, “The Kingdom of God is at hand.”
In the same chapter, Jesus then warns the disciples of opposition and persecution.
But, the Kingdom of God is here, so three times Jesus assures them, “Do not be afraid.”
The Gospel of Matthew ends with Jesus again assuring the disciples, “I am with you always” (28:20).
Jesus is always with us, especially in his words and in the Eucharist.
And to us now, he says, “Do not be afraid.”
Go, Preach, and Heal
Jesus has been going “to all the towns and villages, proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and curing every disease and illness” (9:35).
Then, he commissioned the disciples to do the same.
He shared his missions with them. He now shares his mission with us.
In order to proclaim the gospel and to be instruments of God’s healing, we must first imitate Jesus’ compassion whose “heart was moved with pity” for the people, second, be mindful that Jesus gives us the authority, and third, be generous (“Without cost you have receive, without cost you are to give”).
Image source: Sacred Heart of Jesus by Pompeo Batoni, www.wikipedia.org
Living Bread
“I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever.”
These two sentences summarize the mystery of God’s love for us.
We cannot gain God’s eternal life on our own. So, out of love for us, Jesus, the Son of God, came to share God’s life with us.
In the Eucharist, he remains with us to be out food of eternal life.
“God So Loved the World”
Out of love God created the universe and humanity in God’s image and likeness.
Out of love, God “pardoned our wickedness and sins,” and chose us and made us God’s own (1st Reading).
Out of love, God “gave God’s only Son so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life” (Gospel).
And “the God of love and peace is with us” out of love (2nd Reading).
Let us celebrate this day of God’s love.
Image source: www.peakpx.com
“Peace be with you”
During the Last Supper, we learned from Jesus’ prayer that Jesus glorified God by accomplishing the work that God gave him to do. He did that by making God known to the disciples. (John 17: 1-4)
Now, to the disciples who are fearful and who had abandoned or denied Him, Jesus gives them peace and forgiveness through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Thus, to know God is to know God’s forgiveness and peace.
Moreover, giving them the Holy Spirit, Jesus now entrusts his mission to his disciples, “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”
Image source: www.agnusday.org
I Am With You
Before Jesus was born, the angel declared that the Savior is “Emmanuel, which means, God is with us.”
Now, as Jesus ascends, he says, “I am with you always, until the end of the age.”
He is with us, always.
“You and I”
We continue to listen to Jesus’ words to his disciples during the Last Supper.
Last week, Jesus said, “I am in the Father and the Father is in me.”
Today, he continues, “I am in my Father and you are in me and I in you.”
God so loves us that in Jesus’ death and resurrection, God has brought us into this union of love between God the Father and God the Son.
