Msgr. Pope on the Gospel Message as a Life-changing Message

"Luke gives a summation of the preaching of St. John the Baptist with a rather surprising and funny conclusion.

"Then John said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, 'You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Therefore, produce fruit worthy of repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. The ax lies ready at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.' . . . As the people were in expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Christ, John answered them all, saying, 'I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.' So with many other exhortations he preached good news to the people (Luke 3:7-9; 15-18).

"It is Luke's calling this 'good news' that many people today would find surprising. Summoning people to repentance, calling them a brood of vipers, warning them of blazing fires of judgment, and speaking of axes ready at the roots of trees does not strike many of us as good news."

In a recent commentary, Monsignor Charles Pope (pastor of Holy Comforter-Saint Cyprian Parish, Washington, DC) reflected on the Gospel message as a life-changing message.

To access Msgr. Pope's complete post, please visit:

Community in Mission: Recovering the Gospel from the Notion of Merely "Happy" or "Good" News (4 OCT 18)