The Fifth Gospel
Fr. Hugh Gillespie, SMM
The Fifth Gospel
The day before Pentecost Sunday has some special readings.
The first reading (not included in this audio) has St. Paul in prison. In the Acts of the Apostles, more than any other scripture writing, the scenes involve prison and prison breaks. In fact, this writing deals with imprisonment. Most Christians do not think of their faith in terms of imprisonment.
The Imprisonment and Faith
When you think about it further, the Ester Season begins, in a way, with imprisonment. The Lord’s body resides in the prison of the grave, and escapes this prison with his Resurrection. Hear more about the imprisonment of humanity, and its impact on our Spiritual Life.
One lesson from the scripture is, despite St. Paul being locked up, the message of the Gospel is not contained within the prison walls. St. John in the Gospel tells us that there were many more things that Jesus did during His time in the world. There would not be enough room in the world to contain the books if all were written down. The Homily dives into this a little further.
Why Four Gospels? Why Not One?
So, why are there four Gospels, vs. just one? Because no single evangelist’s perspective is comprehensive. So we are given these four glorious windows into the one saving mystery of Jesus. Taken as a set of writings, our picture and our understanding may be full.
What an amazing statement John makes at the end the Gospel. If everything about Jesus is written, there is not enough space in the world to contain the books.
The Fifth Gospel
However, when John says this, he is implying something. In our bible there are four Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
But in the life of the Church, THERE ARE FIVE GOSPELS. Listen to this Homily and hear about THE FIFTH GOSPEL.
Listen to this Meditation Media.
The Fifth Gospel
