12.05.2020 Homily

Of the four evangelists, Mark is the only one who mentions the word “gospel” at the very beginning of his writing. The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Gospel is a word that means good news. This is the beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the son of God. But there's really another meaning to that. And it really revolves around the word “of”—“o-f”--the gospel of Jesus Christ.

There is a construction in the Greek language which would allow the second word after “of” to define the word before. So maybe it should really be the beginning of the gospel, which is Jesus Christ, the son of God. You see the gospel isn't a thing. The gospel isn't an idea. The gospel is a person. The revelation, the good news is in the life of a person, a flesh and blood person. That Jesus in his very self is the proclamation of the mercy and the goodness and the justice of God.

It's not what he says, it's who he is. Gospel is not a thing, gospel is a person. And you and I through the waters of baptism have been united with that person, with Jesus Christ. We've been baptized into the death and resurrection of Jesus. We are marked by Him. We are identified by Him. We call ourselves Christian by His name. And we're called to live out in our own day, in our own place, among the people who make up our lives, we're called to be gospel, good news…the presence of God's love and God's mercy.

And how do we do that? We do that in very simple ways. At the end of Matthew's gospel, Jesus talks about the image of the final judgment. And he talks about those who would be on his right. And he will say, "Come, inherit now what has been prepared for you. For I was hungry, and you fed me." That's gospel. " I was thirsty, and you gave me to drink." That's the living tangible expression of God's goodness. "I was a stranger and you welcomed me." That's gospel. That's the embracing of God or this individual. "I was sick and you comforted me." It's the healing presence of God.

"I was in prison and you stood by me." It's an expression of the presence of God in Jesus Christ, never turning His back on any one of us. Very simple ways in which Jesus says, we live out who we are. We live out the truth, that we are the body of Christ. That by what we say and what we do, the gospel is proclaimed.

You and I are proclaimers of the gospel by our lives, by our actions. Now how do we do that? Well, I'm convinced that one of the greatest commentators on what the meaning of the Scriptures is, is found in the lives of the saints. After all they're people of faith, who've lived an extraordinary life in union with Christ. And they are as different as you can imagine. They are all unique in themselves. And in their life story, what has played out for us is the drama of being the living, tangible presence of God on this earth.

So if you have a favorite saint, maybe your patron saint? Do some thinking about that person. Read something about the life of that person. Allow that person to be your companion on the journey of Advent. Allow that person to help you see how you can be gospel in a very simple way to those with whom you live.