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PRAYER FOR THE WEEK
Jesus, teach me to spend money a little at a time! Amen.

"A man had two sons," Jesus said. "One said, 'Give me half your money,' then ran away and spent it all! He got so poor he had to clean pigpens. Finally, he went back and said, ashamed, 'I don't deserve to be called your son.' But his father hugged him and had a party! The other son was angry that his brother got attention after being bad, but his father said, 'All I have is yours, but we had to celebrate. Your brother was lost, and now he's found!'"

There's a reason families use the word "allowance" for the little bit of money you might get each week: That amount is what you're "allowed" to have. A lot of kids wish they could get a whole year's worth of their allowance at once - but probably know that they'd spend it too fast.

That's what this week's Gospel (Luke 15:1-3,11-32) is about. A son begs his father for lots of money and then runs away and uses it up so quickly, he has to stumble home, ashamed of himself.

Some kids get allowances for doing chores. Adults get paychecks for their jobs. Companies don't pay a whole year's paychecks at once; they pay for a week or two of work at a time to make sure the people who work for them keep doing the work.

The son in Jesus' story learned that it can be tempting to waste money and not be responsible with it. But there's another part to the story, too: The father never stopped hoping the son would realize his mistake and come home.

If you get an allowance, it might seem like your parents are mean for not giving you enough. But like the father in the Gospel story, they want to give you love. Getting all the money you want can tempt you to waste it - but there's no such thing as too much love.

The father in Jesus' story is God, and the "prodigal son" is us. Even when you make mistakes, God is always there, waiting patiently for you to change your ways. Love is one kind of allowance you can never use up! [[In-content Ad]]

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