Translating the Message

July-August 2013

The apostles presented the Gospel truth in different languages through various channels. 

My nieces and nephews are great kids—intelligent and kind—and I’m proud to be their uncle. Still, I regret their lack of participation in the life of the Church. From what other parishioners tell me, this is happening all around, not just in my family. Why are we losing so many young people? Why doesn’t the Gospel message get through to them? 

This issue of the best way to communicate the Gospel can be traced back to the apostles. Think about our Church’s beginning—the time of Pentecost. Outside the Upper Room, I imagine great festivity as people from many regions and nations gathered in Jerusalem. Inside the Upper Room, the apostles were hiding, burdened with fear and uncertainty. Then suddenly everything changed. Inspired by the Holy Spirit, the apostles overcame their fear and burst into the street. The sight of the apostles, on fire with the Spirit as they spoke about God’s marvelous deeds, must have quieted the crowd. Miraculously, everyone was able to understand them despite ethnic differences and linguistic barriers.

From Jerusalem, the apostles spread throughout the world proclaiming the Good News to every nation known to humankind. They succeeded because they presented the Gospel truth in different languages through various channels.

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