The missionary mandate

We will listen to the gospel corresponding to this day according to the traditional calendar:

Mt 28:16-20

Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them.  And when they saw him they worshiped 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.”

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GOD’S WORK OF ART

“The more I know You, the more I love You. The more I come to know You, the more kindly You reveal Yourself. Oh, what an unfathomable, perfect and pure treasure you are” (Blessed Henry Suso).

In these words a loving soul is revealed to us. Henry Suso is a German mystic († 1366), one of those saints who speak from their inner experience with our Father, one of those souls who have tasted the sweet fragrance of divine love and lived in intimate union with God.

But this experience is not reserved for a few privileged souls, but God wants to enter into this relationship of love with each one of us. We need to taste and see how good the Lord is (Ps 34:9), to experience how His love seeks us and wants to draw us to Himself.

When we begin to feel at home in this love, we discover how loving God is; with what tenderness, gentleness and at the same time firmness He shapes our soul, molding it according to the face of His Son. How great is His joy when we become more and more like the image in which He created us (Gen 1:27)! How our Father rejoices in His children!

When, thanks to the work of the Holy Spirit, we have become more and more obedient to His will, when the most serious distortions and disfigurements caused by sin have been healed in our being, when our stubborn self-will has yielded to the gentle voice of the Spirit, when our vanities have become a nuisance to us and pride has revealed its nothingness, our Father begins to complete His work of art with the greatest tenderness and care.

His love has already conquered our heart, and now He begins to work to make it like His heart. We begin to perceive God’s presence so lovingly that we cannot and will not deny Him anything. And every response of love increases the love until it reigns over us without restraint.