The apostle Paul in our epistle for today notes that he was “appointed by God to be entrusted with the message of the gospel.” As Paul’s spiritual descendants, we too are entrusted with the good news of God’s love that Christ Jesus incarnated for us 2000 years ago. Our Christian forebears have not always provided very good examples for us when you consider the Crusades, the Inquisition, all the violence and oppression spread in Christ’s name from one generation to another.

In our gospel today Jesus emphasizes that loving our neighbor is how we love God. And certainly sharing the good news of God’s love is how we demonstrate our love for our neighbor. Proclaiming the gospel however doesn’t necessarily mean preaching. Francis of Assisi said, “Preach the gospel; use words if you must” so that, as the song puts it, “they will know we are Christians by our love.” Living the gospel of compassionate, self-giving love is our calling, our vocation. Teresa of Avila, in recognizing that “God has no hands but ours, no feet but ours, encourages us to incarnate God’s love to each and all that come our way in our daily lives as our response to Jesus’ parable in Matthew 25:31-45 where he says “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are my family, you did it to me.

The message of God’s good news has not been entrusted to us to store in our hearts like a precious love letter, but to share it with the world around us. Does God find us trustworthy here and now?