Being a Man of Goodwill

We are about to put the Gloria away for Lent. I was thinking about the line from it, peace to men of goodwill (St. Luke 2:14). What is a man of goodwill? Am I a man of goodwill?

I thought of two definitions of a man of goodwill:

A negative/small definition. A man of goodwill is one who forgives, who lets go of grudges and aversions.

A positive/broad definition. A man of goodwill is one who sympathizes with the good and aims to bring it to fruition.

Just as it's easier to tear something apart than to put something together, so also any man can condemn what is bad, but it takes a man of higher virtue to sympathize with the good. That is why we love to be around optimists so much, even if they sometimes overlook aspects of reality. They show in themselves a rising above our natural inclination, which is to see the bad first. And this is why the law needs a presumption of innocence, and gossip is so pernicious, because our native tendency is to more readily believe the evil story than the good. But this doesn't have to be so.

God sympathizes with the good in us more than He condemns the bad; this imbalance manifests itself in Grace. God tips the balance in favor of the good, because He wants to help us please Him. So, I think a man of goodwill is like God; he treats his fellow-man graciously, sympathizing with the good in him and helping to bring it about.

In this case, I know that I'm not always a man of goodwill. But I aspire to be one, and I must begin by treating others as God has treated me.  I must sympathize with the good, and aim that it should flourish.