Always and everywhere, Jesus message has been to proclaim the Kingdom of God. The purpose of his incarnation is that proclamation and his death and resurrection are the ultimate example and expression of the Creators love for us. He is the Good News he proclaims!

“The gospel is about the kingdom of God; it is about loving God; it is about loving God who reigns in our world. To the extent that he reigns within us, the life of society will be a setting for universal fraternity, justice, peace, and dignity. Both Christian preaching and life are meant to have an impact on society. …. Jesus’ mission is to inaugurate the kingdom of his Father; he commands his disciples to proclaim the good news that “the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Mt 10:7)” ( Pope Francis The Joy of the Gospel 180).

That Kingdom is in the future, but it is with us too in the here and now: in the loving Creator who is on the side of the poor, sick, beggars and outcasts, sinners and those who suffer injustice. “Jesus invites us to live his experience of a Father God more human and greater than all our theories: God as saviour and friend.” (Pagola, Jesus an Historical Approximation p24)

Now, the resurrected Jesus commissions the disciples (and us) to take up the baton, proclaiming what he has taught: “Go into all world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation.” (Mark 16:15) What a task we are set! We are but ordinary people in the antipodes, as those first disciples were in an obscure corner of Empire. How to go about it? Maybe one foot in front of the other, lovingly living life, confident of our Creator as saviour and friend.

Deacon Mark Kelly