Gospel: Mark 16: 15-20
"Proclaim the Good News to every creature." What does it mean to proclaim 'good news'? In ancient times this meant that a conquering general would enter a city to proclaim its 'liberation.' People would line the streets of the army's procession and shout "Have mercy" and the general would throw the spoils of war out into the crowd for them to struggle for. As we know, this 'liberation' became in fact a bondage, and the money tossed to the crowd was a short lived boon that would soon be replaced by the poverty of occupation.
The Good News Jesus brings is that our liberation from the bondage of sin is a permanent one, and that God's mercy is for everyone; it is not something people have to fight for, and it is not a temporary condition. God's love for each person is permanent and irrevocable. This is the message we are to carry into every town, through every highway and byway.
We proclaim this message of Good News by showing mercy to others in the same way that God has shown mercy to us, in the ways that Jesus did while on earth: in feeding and eating with others, in healing people in every way, in forgiving others. For God has shown mercy to us and we must now extend that mercy to all people in concrete ways. This is Good News indeed.
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