THE GOOD NEWS
ARCHBISHOP BELTRAN
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The Good News ...Go and Make Disciples Homily My dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ: With great joy we gather together for this graduation ceremony. We congratulate you who have successfully completed this course. We are proud of you and honored to be here. This afternoon, if you entered the Pastoral Center by way of the main entrance, you passed a tall tower surmounted by a cross. On the base of that tower there is an inscription of today’s Gospel: “You, therefore, go 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 comm-anded you.” It is interesting to note that today’s Gospel is the actual conclusion of the account according to Saint Matthew. Saint Luke and Saint Mark quote the same command and then conclude with a brief statement of the Ascension of Jesus. Saint John incorporates these ideas and then reflects on them before the conclusion of his Gospel. The fact that all four Gospels record this command and then come to an end is striking testimony to the importance of this commissioning. The Gospels are the Good News of Jesus. Therefore, they don’t conclude with His resurrection or ascension. Rather, the Good News - Jesus - continues in and through us. We are the Church. We are the people of God. When Blessed John XXIII convoked the Vatican Council, his directive was that the Council should be predominantly pastoral in character. As the Holy Father himself said in his opening allocution, the Church is the loving mother of all, spreading everywhere the fullness of Christian charity. Each of you graduates receiving the bachelor degree or the archdiocesan diploma has had to spend a great deal of time and study to earn this recognition. This is good provided the knowledge you acquired is neither an end in itself nor solely a proud achievement. Rather, with the mind of the Church as expressed in the Council, you see the Church - and that means you yourself - as continuing the work of Jesus. Jesus is our Lord, our Redeemer. He likened Himself to a Good Shepherd. He said He came to serve and not to be served. He did not hesitate to lay down His life for His sheep! So it must be with us. As Catholic people we are privileged to relate to Jesus in a most intimate manner in the sacramental life of the Church. In our quest for knowledge, we are directed and schooled by the Spirit through the Church. In our prayers and labors, we are sustained by the glorious vision of the final kingdom in which God will be all in all. This is the way the Church described itself at the second Vatican Council. Hopefully your studies and efforts have enabled you to come to this same realization. It is essential that, while we recognize our own failures and sins, we make every effort to proclaim that our Church is more than a human institution. It is of Divine origin. It is nourished and sustained by Jesus Himself. In the very first Easter season, Jesus appeared to His disciples on numerous occasions. He taught them and opened to them the Mysteries of the Kingdom. He performed miracles to strengthen their faith in Him. Then He commissioned them and sent them out to continue His mission to all people. In a similar way, the Church uses the Easter season to
re-kindle in us the grace of our baptism. It reminds
us of our responsibilities. It sends us forth to continue
the Good News of Jesus. This is most evident in this
graduation ceremony today. Your diploma is a reminder
that you, together with the rest of the Church, must reach
out and share what you have learned. You must be witnesses
of the goodness and graciousness of God. And you must
never forget the promise that Jesus made in today’s Gospel
- after He sent us to evangelize, to teach and to share.
He said: “Behold, I am with you always |
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