Good News for June 24

Luke 1:57-66, 80

When the time arrived for Elizabeth to have her child she gave birth to a son. Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown his great mercy toward her, and they rejoiced with her.

When they came on the eighth day to circumcise the child, they were going to call him Zechariah after his father,
but his mother said in reply, “No. He will be called John.” But they answered her, “There is no one among your relatives who has this name.”

So they made signs, asking his father what he wished him to be called. He asked for a tablet and wrote, “John is his name,” and all were amazed. Immediately his mouth was opened, his tongue freed, and he spoke blessing God.

Then fear came upon all their neighbors, and all these matters were discussed throughout the hill country of Judea. All who heard these things took them to heart, saying, “What, then, will this child be?” For surely the hand of the Lord was with him.

The child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the desert until the day of his manifestation to Israel.

The Daily Path: Thanks to God and everyone who petitioned Our Lord on behalf of my mother. The preliminary biopsy results are good and it appears the tumor is benign. Truly… with God, all things are possible.

Come Out! – Good News for March 29

The dead man came out…

John 11:1-45

The sisters of Lazarus sent word to Jesus, saying, “Master, the one you love is ill.” When Jesus heard this he said, “This illness is not to end in death, but is for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”

Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when he heard that he was ill, he remained for two days in the place where he was. Then after this he said to his disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.”

When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him; but Mary sat at home. Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise.” Martha said, “I know he will rise, in the resurrection on the last day.”

Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world.”

He became perturbed and deeply troubled, and said, “Where have you laid him” They said to him, “Sir, come and see.” And Jesus wept. So the Jews said, “See how he loved him.” But some of them said, “Could not the one who opened the eyes of the blind man have done something so that this man would not have died?”

So Jesus, perturbed again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay across it. Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the dead man’s sister, said to him, “Lord, by now there will be a stench; he has been dead for four days.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believe you will see the glory of God?”

So they took away the stone. And Jesus raised his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you for hearing me. I know that you always hear me; but because of the crowd here I have said this, that they may believe that you sent me.”

And when he had said this, He cried out in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, tied hand and foot with burial bands, and his face was wrapped in a cloth. So Jesus said to them, “Untie him and let him go.”

Now many of the Jews who had come to Mary and seen what he had done began to believe in him.

The Daily Path: If you have read some of the past 174 blogs I’ve posted here you may have a sense that Jesus called out to me, just as he once did to another dead man. I was not physically dead, although God gave me quite a scare a few years back. However, I was spiritually dead. I was in my tomb for a lot longer than four days. It was more like 30 years, and I’m sure that the stench of my decay was troubling to many. Fortunately, my tombstone was eventually rolled back and a loud voice that couldn’t be missed called: “Kin, come out!” 

Room to Chat: I would like to ask the readers of Good News To-Go! to keep a young man by the name of Michael in your thoughts and conversations with God, between now and Easter. Michael leads a troubled life that finds him in and out of group homes and court ordered incarceration. His adopted parents, some of the kindest people you could ever meet, are filled with anxiety each night, never knowing what the night will bring for their son. Please join me over the next 13 days in asking Jesus to call to Michael as he once did to Lazarus.

Know Him – Good News for March 27

John 7:1-2, 10, 25-30

Jesus moved about within Galilee; he did not wish to travel in Judea, because the Jews were trying to kill him. But the Jewish feast of Tabernacles was near. But when his brothers had gone up to the feast, he himself also went up, not openly but as it were in secret.

Some of the inhabitants of Jerusalem said, “Is he not the one they are trying to kill? And look, he is speaking openly and they say nothing to him. Could the authorities have realized that he is the Christ? But we know where he is from. When the Christ comes, no one will know where he is from.”

So Jesus cried out in the temple area as he was teaching and said, “You know me and also know where I am from. Yet I did not come on my own, but the one who sent me, whom you do not know, is true. I know him, because I am from him, and he sent me.”

So they tried to arrest him, but no one laid a hand upon him, because his hour had not yet come.

The Daily Path: Today’s Responsorial Psalm (37:17-23) provides a nice reflection for anyone feeling a little down. It’s also a reminder to put your trust in God because he’s right there for anyone who wants to know him.

The Lord confronts the evildoers, to destroy remembrance of them from the earth. When the just cry out, the Lord hears them, and from all their distress he rescues them. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; and those who are crushed in spirit he saves. Many are the troubles of the just man, but out of them all the Lord delivers him. The Lord redeems the lives of his servants; no one incurs guilt who takes refuge in him.

Room to Chat: The Lord is close to the brokenhearted.

Have Faith And Live – Good News for March 23

You may go; your son will live…

John 4:43-54

At that time Jesus left Samaria for Galilee. For Jesus himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his native place. When he came into Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, since they had seen all he had done in Jerusalem at the feast; for they themselves had gone to the feast.

Then he returned to Cana in Galilee, where he had made the water wine. Now there was a royal official whose son was ill in Capernaum. When he heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, who was near death.

Jesus said to him, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will not believe.” The royal official said to him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” Jesus said to him, “You may go; your son will live.” The man believed what Jesus said to him and left.

While the man was on his way back, his slaves met him and told him that his boy would live. He asked them when he began to recover. They told him, “The fever left him yesterday, about one in the afternoon.” The father realized that just at that time Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live,” and he and his whole household came to believe. Now this was the second sign Jesus did when he came to Galilee from Judea.

The Daily Path: Time and again, Jesus teaches us the lesson of faith. Reading the Gospel on a daily basis has become a vital part of my journey. It’s the constant I can depend on to nourish my own faith. On some days I need several meals. It’s as though I were the father of the dying son who approached Jesus. I’m on my way home and the Gospel is the good news being delivered that my son has been healed. Through the Gospel, Christ is talking directly to me. Today and everyday the message is the same: “Have faith in me and you will live.”

Room to Chat: This has been a difficult Lent for me as it’s not played out the way I had hoped. I failed to reach my goal of faithfully spending more quality time with God each day. I don’t believe I’ve given enough of myself in the service of Our Lord.  

The good news is that I still have time to reach out and hold Him close. Is this not the time when Jesus needed His followers most? Have you made your own plans for Holy Week? Will you join me in quietly sitting with Him in the Garden of Gethsemane?

I will stay with you, Lord, for you have rescued me.

Step Aside – Good News for January 10

John 3:22-30

Jesus and his disciples went into the region of Judea, where he spent some time with them baptizing.  John was also baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was an abundance of water there, and people came to be baptized, for John had not yet been imprisoned. 

Now a dispute arose between the disciples of John and a Jew about ceremonial washings. So they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, the one who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you testified, here he is baptizing and everyone is coming to him.” John answered and said,

“No one can receive anything except what has been given from heaven. You yourselves can testify that I said that I am not the Christ, but that I was sent before him.  The one who has the bride is the bridegroom; the best man, who stands and listens for him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. So this joy of mine has been made complete. He must increase; I must decrease.”

The Daily Path: I think of how difficult it is to step back from the limelight and allow someone else to be a focal point. We are all wired to seek recognition and praise. Once you’ve experienced some form of acclaim, you want more. Glory is addictive and we are weak. I can understand what a performer or athlete experiences when their time has past. Old Satan must have been buzzing in John the Baptist’s ear, “Don’t step aside! Look at all these people. They want you, not Jesus.”

Will we step aside for the Christ?

Room to Chat: Confess sinner! You’ve eaten fast food. And you’ve used the drive-up window to order because you were in a hurry. Go straight to dietician hell… okay… I’ll confess. I love In-N-Out Burgers. And I always have to wait in the drive-thru line because everyone else loves them, too. As I watch the digital clock in the window tick away telling me how long it’s taking between orders, I could have a chat with God. 

Camels At Your Door – Good News for January 4

Matthew 2:1-12

When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of King Herod, behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage.”

When King Herod heard this, he was greatly troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. Assembling all the chief priests and the scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it has been written through the prophet: And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; since from you shall come a ruler, who is to shepherd my people Israel.”

Then Herod called the magi secretly and ascertained from them the time of the star’s appearance. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search diligently for the child. When you have found him, bring me word, that I too may go and do him homage.” 

After their audience with the king they set out. And behold, the star that they had seen at its rising preceded them, until it came and stopped over the place where the child was. They were overjoyed at seeing the star, and on entering the house they saw the child with Mary his mother. They prostrated themselves and did him homage. Then they opened their treasures and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed for their country by another way. 

The Daily Path: The magi visited me yesterday. No, I’m not crazy, nor did three kings on camels pull up on my front lawn. However, I did receive a timely gift for which I am most grateful. I’m sure it was the answer to so many prayers. One of my first responses was to say “thank you” to God. 

I think the magi are very active in our lives. God sends many blessings our way in the course of a day. Some are so small they barely register. Others are big. Often they are overlooked. We don’t have to prostrate ourselves immediately as the magi did. But when we are aware of the gifts given us, a simple “thanks” is always possible.

My friends, look for the star overhead in your own life and give thanks when you find God’s gifts to you. 

Room to Chat: Saying the Our Father when you first wake up is a great way to start the day.