Skip to main content

Go Into the Whole World






Go Into the Whole World
Feast of the Ascension of the Lord
Mk 16:15-20

This Sunday’s reading is about the Ascension of the Lord into heaven. Having spent sometime with his disciples after his resurrection, Jesus now ascends into heaven to return to the Father. But before he is taken up to heaven, he tells his disciples: “ Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature. “ This exhortation to proclaim the Gospel to every creature is also called by some commentators as the great commission. It is called so not simply because of the task that they were commanded to do but because of the corresponding authority that went with it. 
And where did this authority come from? This authority comes from Jesus who has conquered death and who is now taking his rightful place, sitting at the right hand of the Father ( Mark 16: 19). To “sit at the right hand of the Father” is a phrase used by the early Christians to describe Jesus as the Messiah who has been given the power and authority to subdue everything under his feet (see Ephesians 1: 19 – 21). The Lord has conquered death and sin. There is no power in this world that is no longer subject to him. It is by this authority that his disciples were to proclaim the Gospel to every creature.
This proclamation of the Gospel is intended to bring about faith and a change of life to all who hear and listen. This is why Jesus says: “ whoever believes (faith) and is baptized (conversion and change of life) will be saved. Moreover, this proclamation is not just confined to the mere utterance of words. It will be accompanied by extraordinary signs. Jesus enumerates these extraordinary signs saying: “ These signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will drive out demons, they will speak new languages. They will pick up serpents with their hands, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not harm them. They will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
The Lord’s ascension speaks definitively about Jesus’ power over everything. There is nothing in this world that will not be subdued by his power. But let us not have a mistaken understanding of this power. This is not a power that comes through violence and force as most powers do. There is nothing of that sort. This power is revealed in and through the proclamation of the gospel itself. This is the kind of power that will overcome the world. The gospel that is proclaimed has the power to change and transform even the hardest and most impenetrable of hearts.
The proclamation of the gospel is a task that is given to all who have encountered the Lord. Like the disciples who were given the task of proclaiming the gospel to every creature, we too, who have encountered him, are given the same task to tell other people of the kind of life we have in the Lord.
We need to tell people how the Lord continues to lead us and guide us, how he continues to bless us and protect us, how he continues to provide for our needs and how he hears our prayers especially in difficult times. We have to tell people about the Lord’s presence in our life, how he forgives our sins and how he transforms us into his own likeness each day.
And just as Jesus promised, every proclamation that we make will be accompanied by signs - signs that somehow reveal the power of the words that we proclaim. We may not even notice perhaps that by testifying to the Lord’s goodness, we are able to bring healing and comfort to the people around us. Or perhaps when we speak of the Lord’s faithfulness, we are able to bring hope to many people who may have lost any kind of faith or hope in their lives.
We may not be able to bring the dead back to life as the apostles did while witnessing to Jesus. But by speaking about Jesus, we may be able to bring people back to life – back to a life of faith.  We may not hold any venomous snake in our lifetime; but people may simply just wonder and be amazed at how we could deal with very difficult and life threatening situations as we live our lives faithfully in the Lord.
            The confidence that we have in proclaiming the good news is a testament to the Lord’s presence in our lives and in his power working in and through our lives. In ascending into heaven, Jesus did not leave us all by ourselves in this world. On the contrary, through his ascension, Jesus becomes present more than ever through the Gospel that we proclaim and through the wonderful signs that accompany our lives. Amen.


“I will tell of your goodness; all day long I will speak of your salvation, though it is more than I can understand. I will go in the strength of the Lord God; I will proclaim your goodness, yours alone. “  - Psalm 71: 15 - 18



Comments

  1. UnknownMay 11, 2018 at 1:37 AM

    I am blessed today by your gospel reflection Sir Mike. As a struggling servant of the church, the reflection tells me to go on and persevere in serving God through witnessing. Bring back to a life of faith - definitely one of my goals for life!!!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ash Wednesday

#DAYLIGHT – Daily #MenOfLight #GospelReflection February 26, 2020 Ash Wednesday Gospel: Mt 6: 1 – 6, 16 – 18 Sharer: Bro. Mike Lapid +++++++++++++++++++++++ Gospel “Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven. 2  “So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. 3  But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4  so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. 5  “And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. 6  But whenev...
Post a Comment
Read more

Parable of the Sower

Parable of the Sower 15 th Sunday in Ordinary Time Mt 13: 1 – 9 Introduction Today’s reading presents to us the parable of the sower. This parable compares God to a sower sowing the seed of his word. The Gospel That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. 2  Such great crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while the whole crowd stood on the beach. 3  And he told them many things in parables, saying: “Listen! A sower went out to sow. 4  And as he sowed, some seeds fell on the path, and the birds came and ate them up. 5  Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil. 6  But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and since they had no root, they withered away. 7  Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. 8  Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth...
2 comments
Read more

The Road to Jerusalem

The Road to Jerusalem Luke 9:51-62 13 th Sunday in Ordinary Time Introduction Today’s Gospel speaks about Jesus’ resolute will to head to Jerusalem. Jerusalem was to be the place where he would suffer and die. His determination to head to the city of David speaks of the urgency of this task and his single mindedness to fulfill his mission. The Gospel Today’s Gospel was written by Luke the evangelist. Luke tells us that when the time drew near when Jesus would be taken up to heaven, he made up his mind to go to Jerusalem. But before that, Jesus and his disciples had to pass by a Samaritan village. Jesus sends ahead of him some messengers who entered a Samaritan village to prepare a lodging for him. But the people in that village refused to receive him as they came to know that he was headed towards Jerusalem. Samaritans and Jews in those days were at odds with one another. Samaritans were generally unfriendly to Jews heading to Jerusalem as they passed ...
Post a Comment
Read more