Like 98 percent of current events these days, this column mostly shares bad news: federal funding once again for overseas abortions and domestic embryonic stem cell research; not enough money to help those in need; food bank shortages. It’s enough to send people over the edge.

I was thinking about that last week when a dear friend told me her usually up beat, octogenarian dad was down in the doldrums. She was picking up on his mood herself, worrying aloud that perhaps it wasn’t just depression – no simple matter in itself – but something more serious – dementia perhaps. Fresh off a morning news cycle replete with the compelling revelation of some of the names of Bernie Madoff’s victims, a blossoming, nation-wide salmonella epidemic and a whole raft of rotten news from around the world (think Taliban, Robert Mugabe, and Australian wildfires for a start) I asked her a simple question: “Does you Dad listen to the news?”

When she answered in the affirmative, I suggested the problem might be bad news syndrome fueled by bad news overload. For, if ever there was a time for mass anxiety – driven by a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week bad news cycle that started in September, this is it.

My friend stopped fretting behind her dad’s back and started sitting down and talking to him, asking him what was amiss. Sooner, rather than later, she got her answer: a growing fear that he is headed for an economic abyss. Her dad is far from alone in that fear. Most of the people I know are feeling it, self included, and it’s not pretty.

That being the case, Father Robert J. Schecker’s homily at Nativity Parish, Fair Haven, came as balm in Gilead to a lot of people Feb. 15. He talked about the Gospel message of Good News and asked everyone within earshot to share some with their friends and neighbors.

“Let’s tell some good news,” Father Schecker said. “Let’s tell some good stories.”

He asked parishioners to take quick stock of their own good news and get up and share some. Among those who quickly responded, a father whose son had just returned safely from Afghanistan; a young couple engaged just the day before; a woman whose father had a successful surgery.

After Mass, many folks said they planned to take a much more optimistic approach to the sunny Sabbath day.

Father Schecker took a few minutes out of his busy schedule to talk about the need to do just that: face these perilous times optimistically and with as good humor as we can summon up.

It’s important, he said, not to give in to negativity but to seize every opportunity to enjoy the good things God gives us. Take the time to recognize them, no matter how minor they seem to be, Father Schecker advised.

Treasure simple, joyful exchanges he said citing a baby who played a merry game of peek-a-boo with him in the supermarket line just the day before.

Incorporate moments, little moments like that into your litany of good news and share it, he said. “Don’t let the bad news get the upper hand.”

I’ve decided to take Father Schecker up on his suggestion. Instead of giving up something this Lent, I’m going to take the time to spot Good News every day and share it with people. For a news hound, I can’t think of a better Lenten goal. Stay tuned and we’ll see how it goes.

Lois Rogers can be reached at [email protected]