Friends, welcome to Word on Fire, Catholic Ministries. Word on Fire is an apostolate dedicated

to the mission of evangelization, using media both old and new to share the faith on every

continent and to facilitate and encounter with Christ and His Church. The efforts of

Word on Fire engage the culture and bring the transformative power of God's Word where

it is most needed. Today we invite you to join Bishop Robert Baron as he preaches

the gospel and shares the warmth and light of Christ with each of us.

Peace be with you. Friends, something I've found over the years is that people use the

Word gospel to mean all sorts of different things. So people say, you know, I'm committed

to the gospel or I want to preach the gospel. I want to live according to the gospel.

So what do they mean precisely when they say this? Well, the word is we know literally

means good news, right? U1, Geliond, gospel. But what good news? I found for a lot of

people, gospel seems like a shorthand or a code for living a good life, you know, or

doing the right thing or being committed to social justice. I'm for the gospel. Well,

we have a wonderful text for our first reading today that's taken from Paul's second letter

to his young disciple and friend Timothy. And one of the things that makes it wonderful

is that it contains a very pithy summation of what Saint Paul meant by the word gospel.

Now, here's one of the first evangelists, one of the first preachers of the good news.

What did he mean when he used the word gospel? Now listen, beloved, he says to Timothy,

remember Jesus Christ raised from the dead a descendant of David such is my gospel for

which I'm suffering. Well, there it is. Gospel does not primarily mean something at the

ethical level. It'll have ethical implications. Don't get me wrong. It is not a proclamation

of a vague spirituality or religiosity, though, I think a legitimate spirituality will come

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