Welcome to the Online Edition of GoodNewsBulletin

I received a beautiful card once which says, “All that you HAVE and all that you ARE is all that you NEED to TOUCH another’s life.” I immediately recognized the power these words could bring when we evangelize.

As a parent, my primary concern is how to evangelize my children and my immediate family members. To evangelize, we really do not have to go and reach out too far, do we? The basic things are easy. Daily read the Scripture to the children, and if possible with the whole family. Daily prayer for guidance and inspiration on what is being read is helpful. Once the family knows the Word of God, any devotion would be easy to teach the children.

Easier said than done? I suppose there were times when due to so many so-called diversions and temptations, our children would prefer to do something else rather than join us in prayer or listen to our Scripture readings. Or how many times do we ourselves postpone our time to read the Bible with our children because there is a sports game or a favorite TV program we have to watch first? Can we really compete with these worldly temptations? Before we know it, the day has gone by and we again postpone this otherwise beautiful time learning about the Lord together as a family… to the next day, next week, or next month, until it’s completely out of our system. The problem is, our children keeps on growing and time flies each day.

In the recent visit of Fr. Vic Robles, I remember fully well how he said cheap VCD’s at 10 pesos (equivalent to about Rp1,500) in the Philippines containing immoral films could ruin people’s lives. That is why his objective is to use the VCD’s too in spreading the Word of God through his religious productions every holy week. Indeed, it would be great if our children could watch religious productions instead of shows without any moral or religious impact at all. I agree that it is hard to find movies with a religious theme primarily because not many patronize and support them. While religious productions are struggling at high cost and scarce support, other films without any moral values are flourishing.

So tonight, before we tune in to our favorite TV show (I’m not referring to the religious TV show you might already be watching, if any), let’s ask ourselves: Is this how I evangelize my children? Am I showing them a good example? Do I rob my family members of the time, which I otherwise could spend with them learning the Word of God? We will find the answers in our hearts.

As St. Augustine prayed, “Thou hast formed us for Thyself, and our hearts are restless till they find rest in Thee.” So too, we should pray. As the Psalmist says: “My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from Him.”