What Exactly IS the Good News?

In adult faith formation, all too often, we set out to provide a comprehensive curriculum of the Catholic faith before we have helped folks recognize what the core of our story is! Before we can delve deeply into the Six Tasks of Catechesis, the Four Pillars of the Catechism, the Seven Principles of Catholic Social Teaching, and so on, we need to be sure that we have presented the core of our story of Salvation. In essence, we need to provide people with an understanding of what exactly makes the Good News of Jesus so good! This means that we must evangelize (and even pre-evangelize) before we get too deep into catechesis.

Recently, I came across an outstanding article in Catechetical Leader Magazine (NCCL) by my friend Nick Wagner (Team RCIA), in which he identifies “Six Amazing Things Every RCIA Inquirer Has to Learn.” I would argue that these are six amazing things every Catholic needs to know. We tend to assume that people know what the Good News of Jesus is all about when many are unable to articulate it. Nick has done such a wonderful job of synthesizing the essence of the Good News:

1. God is not an absent Father. (God is here, now.)
2. There’s nothing to be afraid of. (God saves us from darkness and fear.)
3. God brings justice and righteousness. (God is always just, fair, and righteous.)
4. Jesus is a big deal. (Jesus completely reveals God to us.)
5. We are a big deal too. (Disciples reveal Jesus to the world.)
6. It only gets better from here. (We’re on a path to perfect joy.)

We need to do more to emphasize these core principles, which are at the heart of everything we teach. Thanks, Nick, for making the Good News so simple and yet profound.

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