HOPE OF FUTURE GLORY
Welcome back! We have missed you so much. For the past nine weeks, as public Masses have been suspended because of the coronavirus pandemic, most of us have been on a Eucharistic Fast; today we come together to feast at the Table of the Lord on this glorious solemnity of the Ascension.
Our gospel is taken from the conclusion of the Gospel of St. Matthew. Matthew’s gospel quickly moves from the disciples’ discovery of Jesus’ empty tomb, to Jesus’ appearance to Mary Magdalene and the other Mary, to the commission that Jesus gives his disciples in today’s excerpt.
The Final Commission, as this text is sometimes called, is given on the mountaintop. Throughout Scripture, the most significant saving events in the history of God’s people happen on a mountaintop, and Matthew has used this motif throughout his gospel. Earlier in his gospel, Peter, James, and John had seen Jesus transfigured on the mountain. Also, in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus taught the crowds from the mountaintop in what we now call the Sermon on the Mount.
Here we are told that the eleven disciples go to the mountaintop in Galilee, as Jesus had instructed them to do through Mary Magdalene and the other Mary. They see the risen Christ, and both worship and doubt at the same time. If God had made everything perfectly clear, there would be no need for faith and no possibility of doubt. Instead, we are asked to believe.
Jesus approaches them and commissions them to baptize and to teach, and to “make disciples of all nations.” It is a task for which Jesus had previously prepared his disciples; in Matthew 10, Jesus sent the twelve apostles to preach the kingdom of God and to heal. The Twelve were sent only to the House of Israel; in this Final Commission, the eleven are told to go to “all nations.”
The mission of Jesus is now to be taken to all people; the task now is to baptize and to teach.
Jesus commissions his disciples to baptize in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, one of the earliest and clearest statements found in the New Testament for baptism in the name of the Trinity. In the Acts of the Apostles and in the letters of Saint Paul, baptism is more frequently offered “in the name of Jesus.”
The ending of Matthew’s Gospel can be understood as the beginning of the Church. Jesus commissions his disciples to continue to teach in his name and to bring others into the community of believers through baptism. The Gospel of St. Matthew ends, as it had begun, with the promise that Jesus will continue to be Emmanuel, “God with us” for all eternity.
Malcolm Guite, A Sonnet for Ascension
We saw his light break through the cloud of glory
While we were rooted still in time and place
As earth became a part of heaven’s story
And heaven opened to his human face.
We saw him go and yet we were not parted.
He took us with him to the heart of things.
The heart that broke for all the broken-hearted
Is whole and heaven-centered now, and sings,
Sings in the strength that rises out of weakness,
Sings through the clouds that veil him from our sight,
While we ourselves become his clouds of witness
And sing the waning darkness into light,
His light in us, and ours in him concealed,
Which all creation waits to see revealed.
El Evangelio de hoy está tomado de la conclusión del Evangelio de San Mateo. El Evangelio de Mateo pasa rápidamente del descubrimiento de los discípulos de la tumba vacía de Jesús, a la aparición de Jesús ante María Magdalena y la otra María, a la comisión que Jesús les da a sus discípulos en el extracto de hoy.
La Comisión Final, como a veces se llama este texto, se da en la cima de la montaña. A lo largo de la Escritura, los eventos salvíficos más importantes en la historia del pueblo de Dios ocurren en la cima de una montaña, y Mateo ha usado este motivo a lo largo de su Evangelio. Anteriormente en su Evangelio, Pedro, Santiago. y Juan habían visto a Jesús transfigurado en la montaña. Además, en el Evangelio de Mateo, Jesús enseñó a las multitudes desde la cima de la montaña en lo que ahora llamamos el Sermón del Monte.
Aquí se nos dice que los once discípulos van a la cima de la montaña en Galilea, como Jesús les había ordenado que hicieran a través de María Magdalena y la otra María. Ven al Cristo resucitado, y adoran y dudan al mismo tiempo.
Jesús se les acerca y les encarga bautizar y enseñar, y “hacer discípulos de todas las naciones.” Es una tarea para la cual Jesús había preparado previamente a sus discípulos; En Mateo 10, Jesús envió a los doce apóstoles a predicar el reino de Dios y a sanar. Los Doce fueron enviados solo a la Casa de Israel; en esta Comisión Final, a los once se les dice que vayan a “todas las naciones.” La misión de Jesús ahora debe ser llevada a todas las personas; su tarea ahora es bautizar y enseñar.
El final del Evangelio de Mateo puede entenderse como el comienzo de la Iglesia. Jesús encarga a sus discípulos que continúen enseñando en su nombre y que traigan a otros a la comunidad de creyentes a través del bautismo. El Evangelio termina, como había comenzado, con la promesa de que Jesús continuará siendo Emmanuel, “Dios con nosotros” por toda la eternidad.
Notes
Churches in the Archdiocese of San Antonio, including St. Joseph's Downtown, reopened Tuesday, May 19, with the usual schedule of weekday and weekend Masses, sacraments, and ministry. We will practice social distancing and you are asked to use a face mask to keep everyone safe and healthy.
A video of Sunday Mass at St. Joseph is posted on YouTube at the St. Joseph Church Downtown Media page starting this weekend. We thank the Strelchun Family and John Francis for filming and editing the video so beautifully. Visit the St. Joseph Media (Downtown) page on YouTube. Mass for each Sunday and major feasts will be recorded.
Please pray for St. Joseph's former pastor, Fr. Mario Marzocchi, SSS, who is recovering from a serious infection and facing other health issues in suburban Cleveland, Ohio. His mailing address is: Regina Health Center; 5232 Broadview Road; Richfield, OH 44286.
The Rites of Christian Initiation for our elect and candidates will take place at the 12:30 Mass on Pentecost Sunday, May 31.
In a spirit of caring for each other in these difficult days, we encourage you to support efforts to feed our neighbors in need via Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of San Antonio and local food banks.
otesChurches in the Archdiocese of San Antonio, including St. Joseph's Downtown, reopen Tuesday, May 19, with the usual schedule of weekday and weekend Masses, sacraments, and ministry. We will practice social distancing and you are asked to use a face mask to keep everyone safe and healthy.
A
video of Sunday Mass at St. Joseph is posted on YouTube at the St. Joseph Church Downtown Media page starting this weekend. We thank the Strelchun Family and John Francis for filming and editing the video so beautifully. Visit the St. Joseph Media (Downtown) page. Mass for each Sunday and major feasts will be recorded.
Please pray for St. Joseph's former pastor, Fr. Mario Marzocchi, SSS, who is recovering from a serious infection and facing other health issues in suburban Cleveland, Ohio.
In a spirit of caring for each other in these difficult days, we encourage you to support efforts to feed our neighbors in need via Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of San Antonio and local food banks.
Thank you for supporting St. Joseph Downtown through our parish website (
https://stjsa.org/) or Give Central (
https://www.givecentral.org/location/935).