May 27, 2018 Trinity
Sunday 1st Reading: Deuteronomy 4:32-34, 39-40 2nd Reading: Romans 8:14-17 Gospel: Matthew 28:16-20
The Eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw Jesus, they bowed before him, although some doubted.Then Jesus approached them and said, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Go, therefore, and make disciples from all nations. Baptize them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teach them to fulfill all that I have commanded you. I am with you always until the end of this world.
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the
Assimilated Life Experience)
In his “Essays”, Michael de Montaigne wrote: “Man is certainly crazy. He could not make a mite, and he makes gods by the dozen”. A mite does not even amount to an iota in size, yet no human being can create one. This is a poetic way of illustrating human powerlessness. Michael de Montaigne exaggerates the picture by pointing out how humans ambitiously create for themselves so many gods. He is not without basis. Humans worship money, career, power, reputation, clout and influence. He even makes god out of his belly (Philippians 3:19).
Today’s Gospel makes a reference to the “eleven disciples”. Twelve is perfect number in Jewish numerology. Lacking one to make twelve, eleven is an imperfect number. The number calls to mind the tragic event of the betrayal of Judas who would have brought their number to twelve. Judas’ falling out from the group exposed their imperfection not just as individuals but even as a group. Now “The Twelve” could not even live up to their number. Yet to this imperfect group was given the mission of baptizing. Can an imperfect group carry out satisfactorily orders coming from a perfect being?
When we stand before The Holy Trinity, a contrast is established between human imperfection and divine perfection. Baptism succinctly captures this kind of encounter between the perfect and the imperfect. In that encounter with the Perfect, the imperfect bows low in humility. Since grace like water seeks its own level, God’s grace flows down to the level of the humble imperfect being. Thus, in humility, we get to the level of God by the power of God’s grace.
It is in standing before God’s presence that we are reminded of our insufficiencies. The farther we go away from God, the more we are left with no option but trust in the dozens of gods we have surrounded ourselves with. We are better off standing always before God’s presence and dedicating our lives to the mission. But we can only do so if we humbly make a mite of ourselves! –(Atty.) Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., D.M.
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