ALL the earth is filled with the kindness of the Lord, and blessed are the people He has chosen as His own (Psalm 33:4-5, 6, 9, 18-19, 20, 22). Jesus ordered His followers to share to all the saving love of God and promised to be with them always (Matthew 28:16-20).
Your kindness be upon us
Psalm 33 is a hymn of praise, outlining why the Lord should be praised. The outstanding reason to praise God is God Himself: His loving kindness (hesed). He has revealed Himself to be faithful always, faithful to His covenant and trustworthy, loving justice and what is right. Then, there is the power of God the Creator. In an echo of the opening chapter of Genesis, by His word the heavens were made and by His breath human beings live. God’s will, God’s word, is behind the order maintaining the universe. The marvels of creation reflect God’s faithful care (aman) for the world, and His love for justice and right judgment.
Specifically, in God’s dealing with humankind there is so much of his kindness and providence and might. God’s faithful adherence to His purposes, His continuing love is evident in His care for all who fear Him—those who stand in awe of Him and are afraid to lose Him. And He looks after those who thus hope in Him and confidently wait for His kindness. The Lord looks upon them with eyes of steadfast love and compassion; He is their help and shield. As their savior, He will preserve them in their great needs and deliver them from final destruction. That is why the worshipping community can only cry out: “Let Your steadfast love, Lord, be upon us! We hope in You!”
Teach them My commandments
IN Galilee where He began His ministry and established His friendship with His disciples, and on a mountain reminiscent of His groundbreaking teaching about the blessed life in the reign of God, Jesus declared that all power in heaven and on earth has been given to Him. He is the Son of Man exalted by God and granted eschatological authority (Daniel 7:14).
In this light, Jesus commissioned His followers to go forth and make disciples of all nations. God’s saving love is for all, and no social, cultural, ethnic and gender boundaries are to restrict them in their mission. Jesus and His gospel, and so His followers, are open to the fullness and diversity of life. Creative dialogue and inculturation are basic aspects of their mission of evangelization.
The followers of Jesus are to teach and to baptize. They are to teach, not just abstract doctrines but the way of life, the morality, that conforms to the reign of God in the gospel.
The Trinitarian formula for baptism is a compendium of the fundamental elements of the teachings of Jesus. The Father is the source of all life and goodness, who sent His Son to save erring humankind. The Son, in total obedience to the Father, sacrificed Himself so that we may have life and in fullness. The Holy Spirit, the gift of the Father and the Son, is the bond of love that leads to eternal life. Adopted by the Father, redeemed by the Son, and sanctified by the Holy Spirit, the believer is re-created and reborn to a new life of communion with God.
I am with you always
TO live according to the commandments Jesus entrusted to us is to live in union with the Almighty, to exist in the mystery and life of the Triune God. Jesus, the Emmanuel, guarantees us in this until the end of time, a union that becomes everlasting at the end as in a pilgrimage.
This transformation into a life of communion with God begins and continues in the name of the Trinity in their undivided unity. Interestingly, the divine name is simply referred to, but not actually given, in accord with the Jewish tradition. It is one name, not three, threefold in the manifestation of creative, saving, sanctifying love for us.
To be disciples of Jesus is to share in His intimacy with the Father and to be filled with the Holy Spirit. It is to live a life of love inclusive of all and to be clothed ultimately with divine glory.
Alálaong bagá, the command of Jesus to His followers to make disciples of all nations, sharing communion to all, is part of the ongoing creating love of God. Creation is the common work of the Holy Trinity, as the Catechism of the Catholic Church (292) teaches. The psalm pictures this undivided unity: God the creator, the Father and author of life, works by His Word—the Son, and by His Breath—the Holy Spirit, the Father’s “two hands,” according to Saint Irenaeus. This creative co-operation by the Triune God clearly goes on in the baptismal initiation of the believers, in the Christian way of life.
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Join me in meditating on the Word of God every Sunday, 5 to 6 a.m. on DWIZ 882, or by audio-streaming on www.dwiz882.com.