In the first chapter of his letter to the Ephesians, Saint Paul affirms that the mystery of God, announced by Christ, is carried out in the Church. God the Father has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. The mystery of God is to set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

It is an inscrutable mystery, of pure gratuitous love. For he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. God's love is limitless. Saint Paul also tells us that our Saviour desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

This, and no other, is the aim of the Church: the salvation of souls, one by one. For this reason the Father sent his Son, and now I am sending you out in my turn. This is the origin of the command to teach his doctrine and to baptise, so that the most Blessed Trinity may live in men's souls in grace. 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 close of the age.

In those simple and sublime words that conclude Saint Matthew's gospel we find the obligation to preach the truths of faith, the need for sacramental life, the promise of Christ's continual assistance to his Church. You cannot be faithful to Our Lord if you neglect these supernatural demands: to instruct in Christian faith and morality and to frequent the sacraments. It is with this mandate that Christ founded his Church. Everything else is secondary.