Good evening, my friends and neighbors at Brothers and Sisters...
Welcome to Brothers and Sisters, the weekly meetup for prayer* and community at Daily Kos. We put an asterisk on pray* to acknowledge that not everyone uses conventional religious language, but may want to share joys and concerns, or simply take solace in a meditative atmosphere. Anyone who comes in the spirit of mutual respect, warmth and healing is welcome.
Today I want to talk about good news...
The word gospel derives from the Old English gÃ
Âd-spell (rarely godspel), meaning "good news" or "glad tidings". It is a calque (word-for-word translation) of the Greek word, euangelion (eu- "good", -angelion "message").
From Wikipedia
I love it when a minister finishes reading from one of the Gospels with "Brothers and Sisters: the good news of the Lord!" I also think that part of my role in this world is to share that good news-- to help those most in need.
Vice President Biden used Catholic social doctrine as part of his answer about how his faith informs his service to the country, reminding folks that his religion is more than the one issue the right is focusing on. It's about sharing responsibility as we care for one another and our world. It's about treating all people with respect--doing as much as we can to ensure that everyone has a place to sleep, food to eat, employment and basic health care.
My faith teaches me that I am called to share and to reach out; I further believe that we can best measure our life together- how we are working as a society by how the poor and the vulnerable are treated. We need more people being good news-- there is obviously a "whole lot of selfish" going on.
This has been a week of contemplating next steps in the life of my family... of deciding my place- my role- in the little "c" church I attend as well as the big "C" Church I belong to... there are people who view "Good News" differently than I do, and I am struggling with bureaucracy and the short-sidedness of decision makers who know nothing about the communities they affect.