well said Henri...

"For the last few days, the course has dealt primarily with the new agricultural law. A lawyer from Lima came to explain the law, and triggered a lively debate about the way the poor campesinos would be affected by it. Most pastoral workers felt that this law was simply one more way in which the poor would be made poorer. The law opened the way for rich people who had lost their land during the agrarian reform to reclaim it. One of the French pastoral workers presented an alternative law that would serve the poor farmers. This law had been formulated by the campesinos themselves, with the help of leftist lawyers and economists.

When I reflect on these legal debates and discussions, I become strongly aware of the new style of this liberation-oriented Church. It would have taken an outsider a long time to find out that this was a group of priests, nuns, and Catholic laymen and laywomen dedicated to the preaching of the Gospel. The style of the dialogue, the fervor of the discussions, and the ideological language suggested a meeting of a political party rather than a church group. I feel that this was true not only for the formal sessions, but also for the informal relationships between the participants - during meals, and coffee breaks. Yet these men and women from France, Spain, Italy, and the United States have left their countries to serve the poor of Peru in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Their religious dedication has led them into the lives of the poor. Therefore the sophisticated and highly critical analysis of the new agrarian law was for them not purely political but a necessary step in the struggle for freedom for the people of God.

Yet the two churches are gradually developing in Peru, and they are at the point where they are no longer able to talk to each other. On the one side is the Church that speaks primarily about God, with little reference to the daily reality in which the people live; on the other side is the Church that speaks primarily about the struggle of the people for freedom, with little reference to the divine mysteries to which this struggle points. The distance between these Churches is growing. This morning I went to the Cathedral of Cuzco, and when I walked from altar to altar and statue to statue and listened to the monotone voice of a priest saying Mass, I suddenly felt a deep pain. I would never feel at home any more in this traditional church, but will I ever in the Church of la lucha?"

-- Henri Nouwen

What is "the gospel"?

Recently, a friend asked me, "so... what is "the gospel"?"

i stumbled my way through a generic answer interspersed with nervous laughter, because even as i uttered the words, i myself couldn't imagine anyone wanting a part of "the gospel" i described. (i said that "the gospel", when used in church settings, like the one we were discussing, most commonly means the Jesus story... that Jesus came to earth, lived as fully man, and fully God, died on a cross for our sins, and rose from the dead for our redemption.").

And while that answer maybe factually correct, something didn't sit right with me... i heard myself saying it, and it sounded like a distant fairy tale, something that happened thousands of years ago that has no impact on us today, except to accept this story intellectually.

But i dont believe that the gospel is limited to that... the gospel is alive, it's powerful, it changes people, it gives us hope to live for something much larger than ourselves.

The gospel is "the good news" of Jesus Christ, but not just the salvation story (coming, dying, and raising to life), but the good news of Jesus' life, and the things Jesus brought to earth (symbolically and physically).

Just before Jesus was born, Mary went to visit her cousin Elizabeth and said:

"My soul exalts the Lord,
⁴⁷And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.
⁴⁸"For He has had regard for the humble state of His bondslave;
For behold, from this time on all generations will count me blessed.
⁴⁹"For the Mighty One has done great things for me;
And holy is His name.
⁵⁰"and His mercy is upon generation after generation
toward those who fear him.
⁵¹"He has done mighty deeds with His arm;
He has scattered those who were proud in the thoughts of their heart.
⁵²"He has brought down rulers from their thrones,
And has exalted those who were humble.
⁵³"He has filled the hungry with good things;
And sent away the rich empty-handed.
⁵⁴"He has given help to Israel His servant,
In remembrance of His mercy,
⁵⁵As He spoke to our fathers,
To Abraham and his descendants forever." (Luke 1:46-55)

Mary spoke of the God who comes to establish the Kingdom of Heaven through the child in her womb.

As Jesus began his ministry, he proclaimed these words about himself in the temple that corroborates Mary's song:

¹⁶He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read. ¹⁷The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:
¹⁸"The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
¹⁹to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."

²⁰Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, ²¹and he began by saying to them, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."(Luke 4:16-20).

Jesus confirms Mary's song, and says with his own lips, that Jesus has come to fulfill this scripture. That Jesus will
"preach good news to the poor"
"proclaim freedom for the prisoners"
"recovery of sight for the blind"
"release the oppressed", and
"proclaim the year of the Lord's favor".

This is why Jesus came. He came to embody freedom, reconciliation, healing, wholeness, and to teach us how to be good to one another. This is the Good News of Jesus Christ, the ushering in of the Kingdom of God. This is the gospel.

God and Freedom...

"The search for God is the search for freedom, and that the search for freedom is the search for God. Many people who are deeply involved in the struggle for water, for light, for schools, and for health care do not perceive this as a search for God. And many who attend churches, walk in processions, and bless their houses with holy water do not experience this as a struggle for freedom. This is not uncommon. Even the Hebrews who left Egypt did not fully understand the meaning of the events in which they were participating. It is precisely in the reflection on the events of the people that the search for God and the struggle for liberty are connected and can deepen each other."

-- Henri Nouwen on Gustavo Gutierrez