Good news spreads! According to Google trends, searches for “good news” reached an all-time high in the last couple of years. In the midst of the pandemic, a barrage of troubling headlines, and other challenges in various areas of our lives, we have a hunger for news that inspires and uplifts.
How fortunate we are to experience Christmas: the ultimate good news that – no matter what is happening – God is among us! The Twelve Days of the Christmas season, this extended celebration of the Incarnation, calls us to be, like the shepherds in the Gospels, the bearers of good news. But let’s not try contain such good news within these 12 days!
Let us pray. “God of ‘good news,’ give us eyes to see and ears to hear the good news around us and within us. Give our hearts a generous share in your good news and give us the grace to share it far and wide. Amen.”
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For a whole lot more on the Twelve Days of Christmas: https://familyatthefootofthecross.blogspot.com/p/catholic-12-days-of-christmas.html
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Today is the feastday of St. Stephen. He died as Jesus did: falsely accused, brought to unjust condemnation because he spoke the truth fearlessly. He died with his eyes trustfully fixed on God, and with a prayer of forgiveness on his lips (see Acts of the Apostles 6, 8-10 and 7, 54-59).
Also: https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/saint-stephen/
