The word “evangelium,” the Latin word we translate as “Gospel” in English has a very interesting history. Before it was used by the Christian community, it was used by emperors and kings. When a general won a battle, the emperor or king would send evangelists ahead to announce the glad tidings of victory. So the early Christian community was really saying that the definitive battle had indeed been won, but that it had nothing to do with kings and their armies. It had to do with the victory that God had won in Christ over sin and death.
St. Matthew tells us today that Jesus went around to all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the Gospel or the glad tidings of the Kingdom, and curing every disease and illness. At the same time, the Pharisees did not regard Jesus’ activity as glad tidings. Rather, they said Jesus was in league with the devil and received his miraculous powers from the prince of demons. Each group sees the same thing, but they each have a different word for it.
Though no one has ever told me that I am in league with the devil, I have been told in one instance that I had misled people through one of my homilies. This person heard my message differently than I heard it. I am grateful for the fact that this has happened on only one or two occasions in my forty-five years as a priest, but it helps me to understand how hard it sometimes can be to hear the glad tidings of the Gospel. This is especially true when the message is calling for change or repentance.
The prophet Hosea brings us word of idols and idolatry in today’s first reading. While I doubt that anyone is actually making idols today, there is obviously a kind of idolatry still present in our culture and society. So many have created an idol of their own ideas, their own opinions, or their own way of looking at things. This idol makes it very difficult to hear the glad tidings of the Gospel.
Fr. Lawrence Jagdfeld, O.F.M., Administrator