Gospel-fresh

THAT’S how the secretary of the late Pope, now Blessed, John Paul II described the very rich spiritual and pastoral messages of the first Polish Pope in Church history.

John Paul’s messages had a life of their own, he said, because they were gospel-fresh, inspired by the gospel. As an Adele song would have it, they “set fire to the rain,” as they forcefully grappled with real issues, purifying and clarifying them, and putting things in their right places according to gospel truths and values.

In the papal biography that he wrote, Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz (pronounced ZHEE'-vish) said the Pope read the gospel daily and drew his inspiration for his work from there. He corroborated the truth of faith that the gospel can never be passé, because it is the word of life itself.

“A life with Karol” offers an intimate view of the life of the Pope who managed to assume—excuse the vulgarity—a rock star status among the young because of his powerful messages and deep insights. He made the whole world thinking seriously. He left them deeply impressed, challenged and motivated.

We need to understand and appreciate the true value and character of the gospel. If we have faith, then we know that the gospel is the living word of God. It has an eternal value, always fresh, new and relevant to the present, whatever the situation. In spite of its historical age, it accompanies us in real time. It’s time’s soul.

The gospel is the very foundation of reality. The world would not be understood properly if not viewed from the fundamental angle of the gospel. The gospel offers the ultimate dimensions, the most essential aspects of any given issue.

As St. Cyprian would put it: “the commands of the Gospel are nothing else than God’s lessons, the foundations on which to build up hope, the supports for strengthening the faith, the food that nourishes the heart.”

Because of the gospel, Blessed John Paul II helped in dismantling the Communist Bloc because of the inherent inhumanity of communism as viewed from the gospel. He exposed the true character of Liberation Theology that tried to hybrid Christianity with communism.

He also warned about the excesses of unrestrained capitalism, so prone to greed and individualism. He fired up the youth all over the world, even provoking a kind of spiritual and moral revolutionary transformation in very paganized Western sectors of the world.

He restored the true and original role of women and the laity in general in the world and in the Church. He gave a big boost to the proper role of the family in society, the dignity of labor, the authentic relationship between faith and reason, religion and the sciences. He clarified the true nature and purpose of philosophy and theology.

Because of the gospel, he learned how to forgive his would-be assassin and to deal with all sorts of leaders of different suasions, including those who professed to be atheists and anti-Catholic. He also learned how to bear suffering, physical and moral, all the way to this death.

He also knew how to be strong before big challenges and threats. When he had to correct an erring churchman, he did not hesitate to do so after giving enough time and space for warning and conversion.

The gospel was his primary material in delivering his messages to different people in different situations and in different countries—in all his trips to the different countries, in his addresses to bishops and priests, politicians, students, children, poor, etc.

Our usual problem is that we tend to consider the gospel as just another book, just another source of some information, or just one more literary material, etc. We fail to consider it as it truly is, the living word of God that has to be read and handled with faith.

Especially these days when there is literally a glut of information and a surfeit of data of all colors, the gospel tends to be treated just like one more of them, just like one more among many.

We fail to realize that the gospel has an inherent spiritual force. It can only be read, understood and used in the spirit. The devil, in tempting Christ, also used scriptural passages, but obviously not in the proper spirit. We can also cite the gospel in the same way if we are not careful.

It’s when our thoughts, words and actions are inspired by the gospel that we can expect a certain divine freshness, newness and forcefulness in them.