Denver Catholic

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 behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." MATTHEW 18-20 (ESV-CE) W hy does the Catholic Church exist? The answer to this question is dependent upon another, more pressing one: why was Jesus Christ cruci- fied and then resurrected after three days? This question is really at the heart of the Christian faith. In our modern cul- ture, there are lots of different ways to "be a good person." And while these efforts are certainly not in opposition to the Catholic Church and all that she teaches, to equate the Catholic faith with simply "being a good person" drasti- cally reduces what Jesus Christ came to do. In the above passage from the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus gives what is commonly known as the Great Commission to his disciples before his ascension into Heaven. Those two sentences, in their essence, contain the mission of Jesus Christ, his Church and their reason for existence. As Catholics, we are called to "make disciples of all nations," meaning it is our duty, and indeed, our calling, to first and foremost introduce all we meet to the person of Jesus Christ. The Easter season is an opportunity to live this call more deeply, as this time commemorates the beginning of this mission by the original apostles here on earth — a mission that has been passed down, century after century, and falls to us Christians today. Admittedly, it's quite a tall order. After all, our modern culture has largely rejected the teachings of the Christian faith and in many ways, the Church no longer enjoys the notoriety or popularity that it once did. But no matter — the mission of the Church has been, is and always will be the same: to make disciples. There is far more to the mission of the Church than can be expounded upon here, but examining Jesus' words in the Great Commission more closely, there are two dimensions that remain constant and non-negotiable in the work of the Church: Sanctification and Evangelization. These two concepts have animated the Church since her creation, and they are as essential today as they were then. ⊲ 17 DENVER CATHOLIC | APR-MAY 2024

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