“All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”
“The great secret of heaven is now published through the whole world”[i] Jesus revels this secret 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...”[ii] “…the mystery hidden from ages and from generations past. But now it has been manifested to his holy ones, to whom God chose to make known the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles...”[iii] “…by sending his only Son and the Spirit of Love in the fullness of time, God has revealed his innermost secret: God himself is an eternal exchange of love, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and he has destined us to share in that exchange.”[iv]
What is the great secret of heaven? There is one God in three persons. The three persons of the Blessed Trinity is an eternal exchange of love. Another secret now revealed to the world is that all people are invited to share in this eternal exchange of love. God, the Father is love; God, the Son is the beloved; God, the Holy Spirit is the shared love between. The invitation to share in this love is for all.
How does this secret dispel the falsehoods of old? Before Christ, people believed either in several gods or one God. The one God however had not revealed Himself in three persons. Before Christ, God seemed very distant, revealing Himself to a group of people, for example the Israelites, or to certain individuals, such as the priest or prophets. Jesus tells us in the Gospel that God is three persons and that all nations are invited to have an intimate relationship with the three persons of the one God.
So do we have a relationship with Jesus Christ, the Lord? Yes, we are called by Christ Himself to be baptized in the name of the Son. Baptism is to die with Christ and so rise with Christ. “I have been crucified with Christ; yet I live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me; insofar as I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who has loved me and given himself up for me.”[v] We also have a relationship with God the Father. “He [God the Father] destined us for adoption to himself through Jesus Christ, in accord with the favor of his [God the Father] will.”[vi] We also have a relationship with God the Holy Spirit. It is through the Holy Spirit that the mystery, the secret of God is revealed. “But as it is written: ‘What eyes has not seen, and ear has not heard, and what has not entered the human heart, what God has prepared for those who love him,’ this God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit scrutinizes everything, even the depths of God.”[vii] What love, that not only do we have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, the Son, but that we have a personal relationship the Father and the Holy Spirit as well. It would not be possible to have a personal relationship, if each person of the Triune God, was not a person.
Besides revealing the Blessed Trinity, what else does Jesus instruct “the eleven”? Jesus first tells them to baptize, He then tells the apostles to teach all nations to “observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always until the end of the age”[viii] The apostles are told, therefore to baptize and to teach and then He tells assures them that He will be with them. He will be with them through the Holy Spirit and physically in the Most Blessed Sacrament; the Eucharist. This short statement of Christ is rich in Sacraments as we see baptism, Confirmation, and the Eucharist present in the Gospel. It is no mistake that Jesus is speaking to “the eleven”, for it is the eleven that will be the first bishops. The bishops, throughout the history of the Church have been responsible for teaching and sanctifying (doctrine and sacraments). The proven method of evangelization is to teach and to sanctify (make holy). Truth and Holiness lead to a conversion in which we can be united to the Triune God.
VIDEO - Thomas Tallis - If Ye Love Me
If ye love me, keep my commandments,
and I will pray the Father,
and he shall give you another comforter,
that he may bide with you forever, in the spirit of truth.
How can we possibly return this love? Jesus says, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.”[ix] The disciples are told to teach all nations to observe what Jesus’s commands, so that all nations may love Him. What happens if we keep His commands? He says, “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always, the Spirit of Truth, which the world cannot accept, because it neither sees nor knows it. But you know it, because it remains with you, and will be in you.”[x] When we keep the commands of Christ we are given the Holy Spirit and the Spirit remains with us and in us. The connection between “observe all that I have commanded you” and “I am with you always” is clear. If we keep all that Christ commands us, He will be with us. What is it that Christ commands? We can’t forget that the promise of the Advocate takes place at the Last Supper and it is at the Last Supper, that Jesus gives one of His most important commands, “Take and eat; this is my body.” He also commands, “Drink from it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant…” These words are said in the Consecration at Mass, and it is at Mass that we are observing one of the most important of Christ’s commands. In the observance of this command, we understand what Jesus said, “And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”[xi]
Why are “commandments” so important? In keeping them we show are love for Jesus and we receive the promise of the Spirit of Truth, thus remaining united with Christ. Keeping the commandments of Christ will set the Christian aside, will make the Christian stand out. There are many that would call themselves Christian but will not keep His commands. “Then the dragon [Satan] became angry with the woman and went off to wage war against the rest of her offspring, those who keep God’s commandments and bear witness to Jesus.”[xii] To keep the commandments therefore does the following:
1. Gives glory, honor and love to Jesus
2. Gives us the gift of the Spirit, who remains in us
3. Identifies us as a follower of Christ an authentic witness to Jesus
4. Puts us at war with Satan (a war we win if we remain in Christ)
How are Jesus’s words in Matthew 28:16-20 seen in the Liturgical Year? Jesus says the words in Matthew 28:16-20, just prior to ascending to Heaven. In the liturgical year we celebrate the following feasts in the following order:
The Resurrection (proof that Jesus is God), which begins the Easter season
The Feast of the Ascension (where Jesus revels the Trinity), which closes out the Easter season.
The Feast of Pentecost (where the Holy Spirit is fully revealed).
Holy Trinity Sunday - It makes since that after Pentecost, once all the persons of the Blessed Trinity have been revealed in the fullness, we celebrate the great feast in which we honor and adore all three persons of the Blessed Trinity.
Corpus Christi (Body and Blood of Christ) - After revealing the Trinity in the Gospel, Jesus says “And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.” It is in the Blessed Sacrament, the Eucharist, that Jesus remains physically with us until the end of the age.
It is through these great feasts of our Church, that we unite with the Life of Christ and through the liturgy, as we worship and adore the Blessed Trinity, we rise from the natural to the supernatural. “In the communion of grace with the Trinity, man’s ‘living area’ is broadened and raised up to the supernatural level of divine life. Man lives in God and by God.”[xiii]
[i] Abbot Gueranger, O.S.B. The Liturgical Year; Vol. 10; Time after Pentecost Book I
[ii] Matthew 28:19
[iii] Colossians 1:26-27
[iv] Catechism of the Catholic Church; 221
[v] Galatians 2:19-20
[vi] Ephesians 1:5
[vii] 1 Corinthians 2:9-10
[viii] Matthew 28:19
[ix] John 14:15
[x] John 14:16-17
[xi] Matthew 28:20
[xii] Revelation 12:17
[xiii] Saint John Paul II