Word of the Week

Twenty Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Gospel: Evangelion (Gk.): meaning “good news”

Gospel is the ‘good news’ of God’s benevolent mercy revealed in the Incarnation and the Paschal Mystery (CCC 571). This saving message preached by Jesus Christ (and John the Baptist) was handed to the twelve apostles with plenary authority and is “the source of all saving Truth and moral discipline” (CCC 75). The word Gospel also constitutes a category of books found in the New Testament that records the life of Jesus. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John authored the four Gospels under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. They have as their core subject Jesus Christ, God’s incarnate Son: his birth, teaching on the law, Passion, glorification, and the establishment of the sacramental Church (CCC  124).

The word Gospel is found 101 times in Sacred Scriptures--all in the NT. The Church teaches that Gn.3.15 was the “protoevangelion”, or the “first Gospel”, because of the promise of the time when God will send his son born of a woman to achieve victory over sin (cf. Is.7.14). Pope Benedict XVI, in Jesus of Nazareth, remarks how the term used by the early evangelists, evangelion, was rich in historical meaning and extremely relevant to the first century reader. It is a term that was widely used by the Roman emperor to pronounce a saving message to the people, synonymous with an apparent change for the better. However, the authors of the NT augmented the meaning of Gospel by espousing it to the saving movement of God. The Gospel according to Jesus Christ was more than just the imparting of news, but rather the dynamism of grace that enters into the world to save and transform (Benedict XVI, 47). The term Gospelis often linked in the NT with “preaching”, a message of “repentance”, and the establishment of the “Kingdom of God” (cf. Mt.4.23; Mk.1.14; Lk.9.6; Acts 8.25; Rom.1.15). This three-fold link addresses the mission of Christ to bring about a deeper conversion through the Church for those who are willing to be open and hear his saving message.

Christ’s saving message of repentance demands our willingness to be open to constant conversion, that perpetual movement towards the inexhaustible reality of the divine life of God. No matter what stage of life we experience conversion, God calls laborers, you and I, into the vineyard of His work (Mt. Mt.20:1-16). This vocation of labor is rooted in love and fellowship with Jesus Christ. Subsequently, we must know Christ if we are going to work in his field. The Catholic Church has always had the primary task of  witnessing to Christ and his truth, and by doing so, drawing us into a deeper sense of purpose in our life, a deeper sense of being. Ultimately, this leads to a life of charity, the driving force of the Gospel.

“Preach the Gospel, and if necessary use words.”
 
--St. Francis of Assisi

Primary Texts Consulted

• Catholic Bible. Suggested trans. Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition.
• Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd Edition, 1997.
• Pope Benedict XVI. Jesus of Nazareth . New York : Doubleday, 2007.

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