“Don’t be afraid” [the angel assured the shepherds] “I bring you the most joyful news ever announced, and it is for everyone! The Savior – yes, the Messiah, the Lord – has been born tonight in Bethlehem!” — Luke 2:10-11, LB
“An Angel appears to the Shepherds,” from Goffine’s Devout Instructions on the Epistles and Gospels, ca. 1896. (Public domain.)
I read a book review article in World Magazine which I found interesting. For a change, the teachings of Jesus and the Bible on marriage were presented in a secular book in a positive rather than a negative light (see the sources below). Since the masthead on this Paraclete newsletter reads, “Advocating for the Truth of the Christian Faith,” I believe this topic to be appropriate for comment.
An Oklahoma toddler, Bennett, found and used an abandoned cell phone which had only the 911 service still functioning. The dispatcher who answered the “emergency” call could barely understand the toddler’s request. Finally, he recognized that Bennett wanted doughnuts!
Instead of ignoring, scolding – or something worse – the next day the dispatcher had a police officer drop off a fresh batch of doughnuts at Bennett’s house. Oklahoma good will!
Source: “Pastry Emergency,” World Magazine, April 2025, p. 31.
“Healing of a man born blind” (ca. 1572-1646), print by Johannes Wierix, after a drawing by Gerard van Groeningen of the account in John 9, for the Dutch Grooten Figuer-Bibel. (Public domain.)
The disciple Mark, in his Gospel, recorded an incident when Jesus healed a blind man (8:23-25). It is apropos to the theme of this article:
And taking the blind man by the hand, He brought him out of the village; and after spitting on his eyes, and laying His hands upon him, He asked him, “Do you see anything?” And he looked up and said, “I see men, for I am seeing them like trees, walking about.” Then again, He laid His hands upon his eyes; and he looked intently and was restored, and began to see everything clearly(emphasis added).
