I am always with you

‘… I am with you always. (Matthew 28:20)

Matthew 28:16-20 (Year B: Trinity)

                                            Pic: Apkxda.com

Each of us is called to a special service at this time in our lives whether as parents, children, workers, citizens or carers. It might even involve leadership which entails loss of comfort, some unpopularity and a lot of opposition.  At the best of times life is hard for most.  But, we can be sure of a presence of love in our lives. God never asks the impossible. Rather, God gently invites us to be open and willing one step at a time. He assures us that he is with us always every step of the way. Even still, as when the disciples met up with Jesus on the mountain, ‘some doubted’. Doubt is only to be expected. But, doubt is not the final word or conclusion.

We can and must throw our lives into the fray and proceed on the basis of trust. That is where baptism comes into our life story.

The late Pope John Paul II was once asked by a school student what his greatest day ever was. The Pope replied as follow: ‘the day of my baptism’. (Someone joked that it went steadily down thereafter!). The truth is that baptism is the starting point and the high point of a life of learning to be a disciple. Whether a lay person or ordained we have the highest of commissions – namely to

(i)                encourage others to discover Jesus in the first place through the sincerity of our loving lives (‘… go and make disciples of all nations’),

(ii)              live out our own baptism and lead others to do likewise (‘..baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit’), and

(iii)             spreading the teaching of Jesus by practically living out, together with others, the commandment to love as Jesus loves so that resistance to such authenticity and witness is futile (‘…and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you’.

Life is too precious and too short to be wasted. While we still have the light of day let’s walk in the grace of the blessed Trinity witnessing to that community of loving persons in the way we treat others and ourselves. Amen.