When it comes to good news, we would usually think about something that has been done, achieved or delivered.
So when a difficult task is done and completed, when the objective of a presentation is achieved and when the parcel or letter has been delivered and received, it is good news.
But in the Bible, good news is understood as a message that gives the people hope.
The Good News is about the message of hope in God's saving love and that God will fulfil His promises.
And the Good News is proclaimed in a time of distress and tribulation so that people will have hope and not give in to despair and darkness.
In the 1st reading, Ezra proclaimed this Good News of hope to the people when he said that God had cheered their eyes and given them a little respite in their slavery, and that God has shown them kindness.
The people were not liberated yet, but they now looked forward to going back from exile to their homeland.
In the gospel, Jesus sent His disciples to go forth and proclaim the Good News of salvation, and He gave them power and authority over devils and cure diseases.
That Good News is still being proclaimed and must be proclaimed in a world that is seeing and hearing so much of bad news.
Let us believe in the Good News of salvation. Let us put our hope in God's saving love for us and for the world.
When we believe and when we have hope, then we will also be messengers of the Good News.