Please read the passage before the homily.
My sisters and brothers,
Today is the feast of the Holy Trinity. We have proclaimed words from the end of Matthew’s gospel account. Jesus commissioned his disciples to baptize in “the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Jesus also promised to be with us until the end of the age.
In commanding baptism, Jesus here commanded it to be done naming each member of the Trinity individually. All other accounts of Christian baptism in the New Testament use baptism in the name “of the Lord” or some variant of this.
Matthew did not relate the Ascension of the Lord into heaven. He emphasized to us that Christ was remaining with us until the end of the age.
This is for us the great mystery. Jesus died once for all and now lives forever. He has ascended into heaven, but he also remains with us. Jesus is always with us, but Jesus is still in heaven. Jesus is the head, and we are his body. Where the head is there is also the body. Where the body is, there also is the head. We, the body of Christ, are on earth and therefore Jesus the head is also on earth. Jesus, the head, is in heaven and, therefore, we the body are likewise somehow in heaven with our head.
In one sense we have heard of the closing verses of the Gospel according to Matthew. In another sense, the Gospel has not ended; rather it is continued in us. Jesus remains with us until the end of the age.
Jesus is with us as truly he was with the eleven. As we go out, Jesus goes with us. We on earth are one with him in heaven and Jesus in heaven is one with us on earth. Heaven and earth are joined together in Jesus because Jesus and we are joined together even on earth.
Perhaps we have over emphasized sin in our Christian life. If we only see sin, then we have fear about meeting Jesus. If, however, we see that we are already with Jesus somehow in heaven and on earth, then we can go out joyfully and make disciples of all the nations.