Originally published at The Catholic Thing
One of the primary goals of the ongoing Synod on Synodality is to discern the ways in which the Church’s proclamation of the Gospel – the Good News – might be made more efficacious. The Instrumentum laboris (Working Document) for the current meeting of the Synod acknowledges this in its concluding exhortation: “[A]s pilgrims of hope let us continue to advance along the synodal path towards those who still await the proclamation of the Good News of salvation!”
The Synod intends to advance the work of proclaiming the Gospel which has been the Church’s mission since the very beginning.
In the Gospel of Mark, for example, the first public words spoken by Jesus are these: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” (Mark 1:15) At the end of the same Gospel, just before Christ’s Ascension, the parting words of Jesus to His disciples begins like this: “Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature.” (16:15)
Now, to Christian ears, this should be nothing new. When we talk about the Good News, the meaning is obvious. At least one hopes so, but these days it’s hard
