Lent: Week One Intermountain Catholic As part of my Lenten prayer, I took time to reflect on the Gospel reading for the first Sunday of Lent, which was the four verses of Mk 1:12-15. What immediately struck me was the last line, “Repent, and believe in the gospel.” I’ve heard this admonition often enough over the years, but for the first time it occurred to me to wonder whether Jesus’ audience would have understood the word “gospel.” We Catholics understand “gospel” to mean the four books of the Bible written by the four evangelists. More broadly, we call the gospel the Good News that the Kingdom of God is at hand. In the verses quoted above, just before he called for repentance Jesus proclaimed the Good News: “This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”