A journalist is supposed to work with collecting, writing, and distributing news and other current information. For me, Jesus is the ultimate journalist because he came to us as the greatest proponent and distributor of the best news possible, the Good News, the true facts about who we are, Who God is, and what happens to us after death.
If Mitch Albom, a stellar journalist, and also the author of "Tuesdays with Morrie" and "For One More Day," had lived during Jesus' time, they would have enjoyed each other's company. Mitch, like Jesus, puts life in perspective. He reminds us of our mortality. Mitch says "Mortality means you don't have forever to work things out. You can live your life unexamined but then on the last day you're going to think 'I left things a little late.'"
Jesus' Good News is that yes, we're mortal, but we're mortals meant and built for eternity. We do have eternity - and Heaven - to look forward to, as long as we examine our lives and learn the lessons of who we are and Who God is. The first Good News is that we are children of God. We get to call God our Father, or Daddy.
"When you pray, go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you. In praying, do not babble like the pagans, who think that they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them. Your Father knows what you need before you ask Him." (Matt. 6:6-8.)
Our inner room is our heart, our soul, where God lives. The more often we turn to Him silently in prayer - not in front of everyone "for show" - the more our Father will repay us by being our Magnet - drawing us closer and closer in unity with Him, which is perfect peace and joy.
We may ask God for something we want, but God, our Father, already knows what we really need - and that is what we will receive. We, the children, have to trust that our Father knows best, loves us, and will always take care of us - no matter what. What Good News it is to know we are God's children!
Jesus tells us more Good News - Who God is. If a good child behaves just like his/her good Father, we can look at the Beatitudes, the behavior that Jesus says God approves of, to see what God must be like.
God our Father, is willing to be Poor. He gave us His greatest treasure, Jesus. Jesus Himself became poor by laying aside His power and glory as Son of God to come live with us sinful, limited beings. God Mourns continually for those who have turned away from His Face. God is Humble - He knocks at the inner door of our soul every time that we forget about Him, but He never forces Himself upon us.
God is perfect Justice. He protects the most vulnerable, the stranger, the widow, the orphan, the immigrant, the Samaritan. God is Pure - Purest Love. God works for Peace through Jesus, the great Reconciler, who holds out both arms on the cross to bring us back to God our Father and back to each other. Jesus is the One Persecuted for Righteousness' sake, and tells us that we too will be persecuted for standing up for the Truth - the destiny of the honest journalist, always.
But Jesus' greatest Good News is that no matter how many mistakes we make, no matter how often we sin, God is waiting to welcome the Prodigal Son or Daughter home, even traveling half-way to meet us.
The media today specialize in character assassinations. Media moguls shame people continuously, and invite the public to join in these new public verbal hangings and stonings that make our society more and more vicious.
If we listened to the media, it would be hard to believe that forgiveness is real. It would be hard to believe that anyone could forgive us, especially a perfect God. Would anyone believe that God, the Almighty Father, forgives us, if Jesus hadn't proclaimed that Good News? Yet forgiveness is what we crave: courage to forgive others, to forgive ourselves, to accept God forgiving us.
As Mitch says "Holding anger is a poison...it eats you from inside....We think that by hating someone we hurt them. But hatred is a curved blade....and the harm we do to others, we also do to ourselves."
Jesus' brand of journalism is the Truth: we are children of God; God is perfect, purest, most forgiving love; we are made and built for eternity. Jesus tells us the Truth - at any price. And He paid the price for us to make us whole.
The result of our reconciliation and unity with God? Mitch Albom says it beautifully:
"When you come to the end (of life) that's when God begins."
Good News indeed!!!