A group of Catholic seminarians has recently launched Good News, a weekly eNewsletter sent out every Monday to thousands of subscribers spread throughout the world, including residents of Australia, Ireland, England, India, Peru, Mexico and the United States. The new service aims to present the bright side of life with positive news of real events, values, heroes, ideas, and reflections contributed by the seminarians, young people, and readers from different countries. 

“We are convinced that the news media shouldn’t be dedicated solely to negative events and scandals,” says Mark Thelen, a seminarian in the Legion of Christ and director of the news service. “We all see good things happen every day, and we want to share these with others.”

Started in March of this year, the network of Good News subscribers has exploded from a handful of readers into an international audience that numbers in the thousands.

“Good News is uplifting for everyone! This is something we never hear. We will all be looking forward to hearing more Good News and sharing it with others,” writes Bernadette Brennan, a subscriber from Northern Ireland.

Susan Zick writes, “Thank you for publishing such encouraging stories. At last I can read a little bit of Good News from around the world!” And as Peter Brown says, writing from Prince Edward Island, Canada, “God bless the Good News!”

“This is exactly what our goal is,” says Thelen.  “We simply want to present the bright side of every day occurrences. As St. Paul says in his letter to the Romans, ‘Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.’ This is our objective.  We respond to the needs of the Church and Christians throughout the world with the examples of thousands of modern day men and women, who live true Gospel charity and virtue.”

If you would like to subscribe to this free service, check out the recent stories, or send a subscription to a friend, please visit the webpage, Good News, or send an email to goodnews@arcol.org.