Good News
The Feast of Saint Mark is on 25 April
by Brian Radcliffe
Suitable for Whole School (Sec)
Aims
To encourage us to consider the importance of spreading positive news.
Preparation and materials
- None required.
Assembly
- Ask the students, ‘Who’s had some good news recently?’
Listen to a range of responses. - Follow up by asking the students how it makes them feel when they hear someone else’s good news. Does it give them a buzz? Does it make them feel a bit jealous? Does it encourage them to feel optimistic?
If possible, allow time for the students to discuss these questions in small groups. - The Bible contains four good-news stories. They are the four Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The word ‘gospel’ comes from the Anglo-Saxon language, one of the root languages of modern English. Gospel is literally ‘god-spell’ or ‘good story’.
There is a special day for remembering St Mark, the writer of Mark’s Gospel, which occurs every year on 25 April. We’re not entirely sure who Mark was, but he was interested in spreading good news. His symbol is the winged lion, which is also the symbol of the city of Venice. - For Mark, the best news that he’d ever heard was the story of Jesus. The story was world-shattering in its implications, and described a man who was also God; who lived a dramatic and influential life, turning upside-down the values of his community; who eventually died an unjust death, crucified on a Roman cross, but was brought back to life.
It is thought that Mark was the first one to write down the story of Jesus. His version is short and punchy, without many of the details contained in the other three Gospels. He just wanted to get the good news out. There was a problem, though: Mark wasn’t there for all of the events that happened in Jesus’ life. So, he turned to the next best thing: he interviewed the best eyewitnesses. - Simon Peter was regarded as Jesus’ right-hand man, chosen by Jesus himself. He was there from the beginning to the end of the significant final three years of Jesus’ life. So, Mark took the stories that Peter told and turned them into his good-news story. He even included all those times when Peter let Jesus down, misunderstood what he was doing or simply embarrassed himself. It’s a good-news story that rings true. And it doesn’t take long to read it.
Time for reflection
Many people have taken great encouragement from reading Mark’s good-news story. Written originally for Christian believers in Rome, it has travelled through time and across the world. The good news about Jesus has transformed lives and intrigued people.
So, what about our good-news stories? Can they have an effect on others?
First, I think that we should answer that question by considering the general news that we take in. So much of what we hear or see on TV, radio, websites and social media is not good news. In fact, it’s generally bad news.
Give examples from today’s news streams.
Bad news needs the antidote of good news. To save us from sinking into depression, and feeling that the world is deteriorating, we need the opposite, to create a balance. We need to believe that there is hope, there is possibility, there is a reason to get up tomorrow. So, our good-news story may be the one that encourages someone else. Maybe we’ll be glad of their good-news story at some point in the future when it’s us who are feeling down.
So, let’s share and celebrate good news!
Song/music
‘Celebration’ by Kool and the Gang, available at: https://youtu.be/3GwjfUFyY6M (4.17 minutes long)
Extension activity
Ask the students to review some news channels, social media and other outlets to research three good-news stories. Share these with the group and celebrate the fact that there is a lot of good in the world, if only we look for it.
