Good News
Good news. We all love to hear good news, to have good news. When we have a piece of good news, we are oftentimes immediately trying to share it with someone else. The first words in the musical (and movie) Wicked are loudly pronounced ‘Good news!’ This scene captures the emotion of what it is like to have good news, a great bombastic announcement for all to hear.
I was eleven years old when my parents decided to buy me a puppy. I remember the excitement and how I had to proclaim this news to my friends in the neighborhood. Following my pronouncement, these friends came to visit to experience this good news in person. This is the nature of having truly good news, it wells up within our hearts so much that we can’t help but share it with those in our lives.
I feel redundant to write that, as Christians, we have the ultimate good news, something that we profess at every Mass in the Nicene Creed, but also right after the priest says, ‘the Mystery of Faith’, when we respond: ‘We proclaim your death, O Lord, and profess your Resurrection.’ God has given us the Good News of our salvation, through Jesus. The Good News is that God’s Love for each one of us is powerful enough to overcome whatever darkness or tribulation we endure in our lives. It is God’s Love that set ablaze the hearts of St. Mother Teresa, St. Maximilian Kolbe, St. Francis of Assisi, St. Catherine of Siena. So many saints from all over the world endured countless hardships, but at the end of the day they all radiated with the Love of God. In Isaiah, we hear the line “I am coming to gather all nations and tongues; they shall come and see my glory” (Isaiah 66:18), which points us to this reality of God’s plan for us through Jesus.
Sometimes, though, I think we need a reminder of this good news for ourselves. I know that I have gone through days where I feel more deflated than buoyant with good news. Do we feel the excitement welling up within us that we are Loved by God? Or have we let that reality wear off a little? How can we “go out to all the world and tell the Good News” (Mark 16:15) if we don’t intimately experience that Good News in our own hearts?
We are charged with a twofold task as followers of Christ to both maintain in our hearts the reality of God’s Love and how that changes us and to invite others to experience this same life-changing reality. In this way, both our prayer and spiritual nourishment are pivotal when it comes to sharing the Good News with others.
What is one way that you can nourish your heart and rekindle the excitement of knowing that God Loves you?
Who in your life can you invite to experience this Good News?