The Joy of the Gospel
-
Missionary Disciples
“The best incentive for sharing the Gospel comes from contemplating it with love, lingering over its
pages and reading it with the heart.”
‘The Joy of the Gospel’: Para. 264.
We should be amazed at the Gospel message:
Matthew 22: v.22: “When they heard this, they were amazed.”
Matthew 22: v.33: “When the crowds heard this, they were astonished at his teaching.”
Mark 12: v.37:
“The large crowd listened to him with delight.”
Mark 12: v.17:
“And they were amazed at him.”
Luke 20: v.26:
“They marvelled at his answer.”
The key words are: ‘marvelled’, ‘astonished’, and ‘amazed’.
In Matthew’s Gospel the passages come from the ‘Temple Narrative’; conversations between Jesus
and the Scribes and Pharisees the people who were meant to know the scriptures.
Being a missionary seems very hard; this is because we are only beginning.
Saint Gregory the Great in his Homily on Ecclesiastes writes about the Gifts of the Holy Spirit:
Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Knowledge, Fortitude, Piety, and Fear of the Lord.
Gregory notes that they are in reverse hierarchical order: we need ‘Fear of the Lord’ long before we
reach ‘Wisdom’
(Fear of the Lord has now been renamed ‘Awe and Wonder’ which actually gives us eight gifts of the
Holy Spirit!)
We need to use these gifts of the Holy Spirit given to us at Confirmation.
“The missionary is convinced that, through the working of the Spirit, there already exists in
individuals and peoples an expectation, even if an unconscious one, of knowing the truth about
God.”
‘The Joy of the Gospel’: Para. 265.
The Good News is already in and with, other people; we just need to harvest it:
Matthew 9: v.37:
“The harvest is great, but the labourers are few.”
John 4: v.35:
“Open your eyes, and look at the fields. They are ready for harvesting.”
In the Gospel last Sunday we heard the parable of the workers in the vineyard. The ‘Master of the
House’ goes out even at the eleventh hour, the very last minute, and asks “Why are you standing
here”. Those who have been overlooked are those who are called.
“Whenever we encounter another person in love, we learn something new about God. Whenever our
eyes are opened to acknowledge the other, we grow in the light of faith and knowledge of
God……Only the person who feels happiness in seeking the good of others, in desiring their
happiness, can be a missionary.”
‘The Joy of the Gospel’: Para. 272.
In the parable of the workers in the vineyard the character often overlooked, ‘the bailiff’ is told to give
the worker their payment. The message is that we have the responsibility to give God’s love to others.
All are invited to reflect upon:
What personal action can I take to ensure that I am ‘amazed and astonished’ at the Gospel?
What can I do to ‘seek the happiness and good of others?’