Gospel. English word comes from the Old English godspel (good news), a translation of the Greek word euaggelion. The latter, used by Jesus himself in the sense of "the good news" ( Mark 1.14 f.) is probably derived from the Old Testament, but it was used also in pagan contexts to denote simply good news. Each of the written accounts treating of the life and teaching of Jesus came to be called the Gospel "according to" the particular author to whom it was attributed. By the middle of the 2nd c., the four now set forth in the New Testament had come to be fully recognized and remained unrivalled by various apocryphal accounts that later appeared. Scholars distinguish between the Gospel according to John and the other three, the authors of which are known as the Synoptists because of a certain literary connectedness that is seen among them.

In the liturgy, the Gospel at Mass is read or sung by the deacon and much ancient and beautiful ceremony attends the reading of it. The deacon, accompanied by a thurifer and by acolytes bearing lighted candles, receives the celebrant's blessing and proceeds to the appointed place (usually but not necessarily on the north side of the church, symbolizing the movement of the Gospel from Jerusalem in the south to Asia Minor and elsewhere to the north) where, after signing the book and himself with the sign of the cross, he censes the book and, using a distinctive tone, sings the appointed passage. The people stand for the Gospel as a token of special reverence and joy. The use of lights for the ceremony is attested by Jerome as early as the 4th c.

Geddes MacGregor, Dictionary of Religion and Philosophy, New York: Paragon House, 1989

gospel : (nt.) sādhucarita. (f.) sāmayikappavatti.

A.P. Buddhadatta Mahathera, Concise Pali-English and English-Pali Dictionary [available as digital version from Metta Net, Sri Lanka]