“Spread the good news!” As a thirteen year old girl, when I hear that phrase I associate it with literally standing on the side of a road or street and reading the sacred word of Jesus. I am sure many of my peers think of the same stereotype and maybe this is why most people think of us teens as kids who don’t care about anything but themselves. Well I can assure you, neither stereotype is true. Spreading the good news comes in so many shapes, forms and sizes; and teenagers take advantage of each and every form and spread the good news in so many ways, without even realizing it.

As I sit at my laptop, staring at my flashing cursor, I am pondering my religion teacher’s latest assignment. “How am I to spread the Good News?” I think to myself. I am Julia Pelletier, a teenager who doesn’t have the slightest idea of how to spread the Good News. I have called three friends, text messaged five, and posted on my Facebook wall for ideas. Not one person knows the answer to my dilemma! As I check if anyone responded to my post on Facebook, the popular communication sight, I see that once again, there are no ideas on how to spread the Good \News. Now I am frustrated, so I decide to take a little break from schoolwork and talk to some on of my friends on Facebook. While typing messages back and forth with my best friend, Katie, I notice an ad at the side of the web browser that catches my attention. The words, “Stop Bullying” dominates the small ad space and under the message, there is a small button that says “Like.” For all of those non-Facebook users out there, to “Like” something means to support it. From the moment I saw that little ad, I knew exactly how I could spread the good news, through Facebook!

By now, most people might be thinking that I am crazy and Facebook is nothing but a dangerous website. Although Facebook can be dangerous, if you use it responsibly it is safe, fun, and a way to spread the Good News. On my own account, I “Like” Stop bullying, Autism Speaks, the National Down Syndrome Society, and curing cancer. To me, “spreading the Good News” varies for every individual. All Catholics believe God is powerful, forgiving, and almighty, but everyone sees God in a different way. I see God and Jesus within helping people. To me, to spread the Good News is to help all people, everywhere. So, through Facebook, I am able to support various systems of helping people and help my friends to do so as well. My friends and I all support Stop Bullying on Facebook. Therefore, we don’t bully people and we try to help those who do get bullied. I have helped spread the Good News by asking my friends to support causes that help people and then act upon them. To me, a way of spreading the Good News as a teenager is through Facebook.

As I turn around to look at my clock, I realize I have been typing for half an hour. I feel a lot lighter now that a got all of my ideas out on paper. Suddenly, the term “Spreading the Good News” doesn’t seem so scary anymore. Spreading the Good News is so much more than reading the Bible, it is to act upon what you believe in and to read in between every line in our Sacred Book and to really try and understand what Jesus is calling you to do.