18 September | Youth
«The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor.» Luke 4:18
The word gospel literally means “good news”. Jesus said He came “to preach good news to the poor.” John the Baptist asked Jesus if He really was the Messiah or should he wait for someone else, and the Master responded through good works. Then He sent the following message to John: “the gospel is preached to the poor.” The kingdom of God is for the poor because membership in the kingdom of God cannot be bought.
Anthony Campolo, an American pastor, decided to live the gospel in practice. He founded an organization to help needy children in Haiti, the poorest country in the West. He built an orphanage for fifty abandoned children. When the building was ready, he went to pick up the children from the slum where they lived. When he got there, there were four times as many children as his orphanage could hold. He had to go through the painful process of selecting those most in need, but they were all very needy. Fifty children were put on the bus. Those who were not chosen crowded together in a corner. The Catholic priest who looked after them invited them to sing in farewell to their friends who were leaving and in gratitude to their benefactors. Campolo could not bear to hear the song they sang: “God is so good, God is so good, God is so good, He’s so good to me.”
“How can these children sing: ‘God is so good…’ if they are here starving?” While protesting with himself and with God, Campolo began to realize that, in fact, God is incredibly good and loved each one of those children. However, the only hands that God has to bring love and help those children are the hands of people like Pastor Campolo himself. People like you and me.
God wants to do extraordinary things in the world through you. When the gospel reaches a person, Jesus gives them a mission. He wants to change the world using each one of us.”