Make disciples of all nations
TODAY is Sunday, the 4th for the month of May, 2020, and the Ascension Sunday in the Liturgical and Sanctoral Calendar of the Catholic Church.
Today’s Psalm is taken from Ps 47:2-3, 6-7, 8-9. It says: God mounts His throne to shouts of joy; a blare of trumpets for the Lord.
This Sunday’s 1st Reading is from Acts 1:1-11, and it says:
In the first part of my work, Theophilus, I wrote of all that Jesus did and taught, from the beginning until the day when he ascended to heaven.
But first he had instructed, through the Holy Spirit, the apostles he had chosen. After his passion, he presented himself to them, giving many signs that he was alive; over a period of forty days he appeared to them and taught them concerning the Kingdom of God. Once, when he had been eating with them, he told them, “Do not leave Jerusalem but wait for the fulfillment of the Father’s promise about which I have spoken to you: John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit within a few days.”
When they had come together, they asked him, “Is it now that you will restore the kingdom of Israel?” And he answered, “It is not for you to know the time and the steps that the Father has fixed by His own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, even to the ends of the earth.”
After Jesus said this, he was taken up before their eyes and a cloud hid him from their sight. While they were looking up to heaven, where he went, suddenly, two men dressed in white stood beside them and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand here looking up at the sky? This Jesus, who had been taken from you into heaven, will return in the same way as you have seen him go there.”
On the other hand, today’s 2nd Reading is from Eph 1:17-23. It says:
Brothers and sisters, may the God of Christ Jesus our Lord, the Father of glory, reveal himself to you, and give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation, that you may know him.
May he enlighten your inner vision, that you may appreciate the things we hope for, since we were called by God. May you know how great is the inheritance, the glory, God sets apart for his saints.
May you understand, with what extraordinary power, he acts in favor of us who believe.
He revealed his almighty power in Christ when he raised him from the dead, and had him sit at his right hand in heaven, far above all rule, power, authority, dominion, or any other supernatural force that could be named, not only in this world, but in the world to come as well.
Thus has God put all things under the feet of Christ and set him above all things, as head of the church, which is his body, the fullness of him, who fills all in all. And this Sunday’s Gospel is from Mt 28:16-20: As for the eleven disciples, they went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw Jesus, they vowed before him, although some doubted.
“All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations. Baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teach them to observe all that I have commanded you. I am with you always, even to the end of the world.”
Read: The Acts presents the event of Ascension of the Lord. The epistle presents the Pauline prayer that we may receive the fullness of God’s revelation with a deep understanding of its efficacious mystery. The Gospel reveals Jesus giving the missionary mandate to his apostles.
(Our thanks to the Bible Diary, a publication of the Claretian Communications Foundation, Inc. Quezon City, Philippines, from where we source these God’s Words that we share to our readers every Sunday of the year.)