“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore 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 have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age.” (Mt 28:18-20)
These are the words You, as the Risen Lord, spoke to the eleven disciples on the mountain in Galilee. They remain true forever.
These are the holy words that moved the missionaries to go to the ends of the earth and joyfully serve Your holy mission amid the greatest hardships and sufferings.
These are the words that the Holy Spirit continually brings to our remembrance, so that they may never be lost and Your people may not forget their mission.
Who could possibly doubt these words, beloved Lord?
How could it be otherwise? For You rose from the tomb and entrusted Your disciples with this task. Faithfully they fulfilled it, and the Church proved herself to be Your beloved Bride, serving the nations the food of the holy Word and nourishing them at the table of grace.
Countless people have been raised up through Baptism, and thus the new life from You has been planted within them. Always and under all circumstances, the Church has carried out the task You set before her and has stood proudly and gratefully in Your service. Thus she became for humanity a city on a hill and the light of the world.
But today, dear Lord, things have changed, and we lament this to You from the depths of our hearts.
Today, beloved Lord—You who appeared to the disciples and ascended into heaven before their eyes—it is often no longer taken for granted that the successors of Your apostles will fulfill the mission You entrusted to them as You commanded.
Have Your words fallen into oblivion? Do people no longer believe them? Has the Holy Spirit, who reminds us of all You said and did, withdrawn from the Church? Do we no longer believe in Your kingship, which You even testified to before Pilate?
What has happened? What errors have crept into Your Church? How could the enemy have slipped in to destroy Your work and rob it of its power?
How, dear Lord, can we today—just as Your missionaries once did—help all peoples, fearlessly and with full conviction, to find faith in You, the Risen One, when many shepherds no longer proclaim this at all?
Without hesitation, we must nevertheless continue to hold fast to You and to Your Word. For it is not You who have erred, but those who teach that other paths lead equally to our Heavenly Father. They have become blind if they no longer proclaim the whole truth of the faith to other peoples and show them the way to the Church.
You and Your Word—that is what matters. Your apostles did not allow themselves to be deterred when people tried to forbid them to teach in Your name, for all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to You. You remain with us every day until the end of the world, and Your commission remains in force. This we want to serve.
Meditation on the daily reading: https://en.elijamission.net/2025/05/04/
Meditation on the daily Gospel: https://en.elijamission.net/2022/04/22/
