{"id":2460,"date":"2011-08-12T10:58:27","date_gmt":"2011-08-12T16:58:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/marccardaronella.com\/?p=2460"},"modified":"2013-06-19T22:36:28","modified_gmt":"2013-06-20T04:36:28","slug":"this-is-the-message-we-proclaim","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/marccardaronella.com\/blog\/2011\/08\/12\/this-is-the-message-we-proclaim\/","title":{"rendered":"This is the Message We Proclaim"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Can you tell someone the core of what we believe as Catholics?<\/p>\n

Not necessarily the core doctrines, but the essence of what you’re about as a Catholic.<\/p>\n

What you have and what you hope for in\u00a0Christ. The\u00a0message of salvation.<\/p>\n

See, Protestants have this thing down! They can easily recite\u00a0the “Gospel<\/a>.”<\/p>\n

It seems trite to many Catholics that know a lot of theology–like it’s dumbing things down. However, there’s a shrewd teaching tool in that simple, easily repeated, core message.<\/p>\n

A core story<\/a> unites people\u00a0around a certain concept. That’s powerful in terms of creating and maintaining a group’s identity.<\/p>\n

So what is\u00a0the Catholic Gospel message?<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The Gospel is not just a Protestant thing<\/h2>\n

When I was a kid, I used to watch Protestant evangelists on TV. My mom liked Kenneth Copeland.<\/p>\n

They were always talking\u00a0about\u00a0the Gospel. But they never said what it was! I\u00a0think it’s\u00a0because they just took it for granted that everyone knew it. They didn’t have to say it\u00a0because it was understood.<\/p>\n

But I didn’t\u00a0understand it! And, I wanted to know!<\/p>\n

My search for the Gospel<\/h2>\n

After I re-converted, I read a lot of stuff on Catholicism. I figured I’d find the Gospel. But I never did.<\/p>\n

Then I went to study at Franciscan\u00a0and I figured, surely I’ll learn the Gospel! But again, I didn’t!<\/p>\n

Finally, Dr. Scott Hahn mentioned it in class one day. It was just passing during a tangent.\u00a0I quickly wrote it down! I was so excited…it was the gospel! No one else seemed to share my excitement though.<\/p>\n

This is the message we proclaim<\/h2>\n

It wasn’t until I got into the Catechetics program at Franciscan that someone actually taught about the Gospel message and why it was important.<\/p>\n

Here’s a simple Gospel formula that I learned there and use often<\/strong>. It helps me keep priorities when I’m wondering what to teach or how I\u00a0should position a certain teaching.<\/p>\n