Tell the World of His Love

05-12-2024Weekly ReflectionFr. Bing Colasito

Jesus commissioned His disciples at the Ascension to go to the world and proclaim the gospel to every creature. The mandate is to go forth to the world and announce the GOOD NEWS. The World Youth Day, 1995, Manila theme song captures this command:TELL the world of His love!

Let us tell the world of His love, the greatest love the world has known. Search the world for those who have walked astray and lead them home. Fill the world's darkest corners with His light from up above. Walk every step, every mile, every road, and tell the world, tell the world of His love.

After accomplishing His mission on earth, Jesus ascended into heaven to sit at the right hand of God the Father. Our final destination is heaven; the Lord Jesus precedes us in heaven to prepare a place for us, so where He is, we will be also. (cf. Jn. 14:16) The Catechism of the Catholic Church, 666, summarizes the effect of the Ascension in these words: Jesus Christ, the head of the Church, precedes us into the Father’s glorious kingdom so that we, the members of His body, may live in the hope of one day being with Him forever. The goal of every disciple of Jesus is union with Him in His glorious kingdom. But to attain this, we have to accomplish our mission.

The task is to tell the world of His love. With modern technology and the trimedia, the world has become a smaller place. Through the Flocknote, I reach our parishioners to share the Daily Bread and the Sunday Reflections. But despite the Flocknote and our effort to communicate with our Parish Family, many remain isolated and unreached. Many alone and lonely people hunger for the WORD of God. Loneliness is still one of the biggest plagues in our modern society. Let us use the modern technologies at our disposal to tell the world of God’s love. But to be cautious not to allow our young generation to spend more time communicating with the outside world (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc.) and forget to communicate with the people around them.

Prayer is a vital means of communication with God. The good thing about prayer is we need no modern technology or social media platform to reach God and talk to Him.God speaks in the silence of our hearts. Listening is the beginning of prayer. That is why we say that the deepest and most profound communication with God happens in silence and the stillness of the heart. Let us give our spirit a space to breathe in silence, reflection, and prayer to build good communication with God and ourselves.

At the Ascension, Jesus Christ left His disciples with a promise that He would come back and prepare a place for us in His glorious kingdom. He also promised to send an Advocate, the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete. But in the meantime, we must not forget the mandate He gave us: To go out and tell the whole world of His LOVE. The Ascension of the Lord left us a powerful and clear mission to go forth and proclaim the greatest love of all. Be assured that we are not alone in our mission. Let us move with confidence and hope and hold on to His words; I am with you always until the end of the world.

Lord, thank you for telling us about your love and use us to tell others about this LOVE.