The core of the Gospel is God’s love for us as shown through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The New Testament gives us the full story about Jesus, but John’s Gospel offers a familiar summary: “For God so loved the world that He gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him might not perish but might have eternal life.” (Jn 3:16) Here John captures the essence of the Good News: We are all wounded and sinful yet deeply loved by God; and through Jesus, God wants to forgive us, heal us, and share His life with us.

Everything else that we believe and do is rooted in this message. We receive God’s forgiveness, healing, and life through the Mass and the sacraments. We have access to these gifts through our bishops and priests. The pope and the Church’s teaching authority protect this message from being distorted and misinterpreted. Even our devotion to Mary and the rest of the saints is rooted in, and points back to, this fundamental belief.

We embody this Good News when we live as people who have been loved and redeemed by God. If we receive God’s love and allow it to transform us, we become “little Christs” through whom other people can encounter that same love. The witness of an authentically Christian life has inspired many people to pursue the faith, and whatever we do to share the Gospel in words is unlikely to be fruitful without it.

Nevertheless, as Pope St. Paul VI points out: “There is no true evangelization if the name, the teaching, the life, the promises, the kingdom and the mystery of Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God are not proclaimed.” Ultimately, no one can embrace the Gospel if they do not know what it is. We need courage to talk about it and wisdom to know when and how to do so. This month let’s pray for the courage and wisdom to be effective witnesses to this Good News both in our actions and in our words.