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PRAYER FOR THE WEEK
Jesus, help me remember that even "regular times" have value - and there's always more excitement ahead! Amen.

People kept asking John the Baptist if he was God. "No," said John. "But there's someone coming who's so great, I'm not good enough to untie His shoes. I'm baptizing you with water, but He'll baptize you with the Holy Spirit." Then Jesus was baptized, and God's voice came from heaven, saying, "This is my Son, and I'm proud of Him."

The holidays are over, and you're back to your regular schedule: school, homework, rehearsals and team practice, plus your "regular schedule" of chores, babysitting and more. After the excitement of the holidays, a regular week can seem either a relief or boring!

This week's Gospel (Lk. 3:15-16,21-22) is about those "regular times" that often come before or after times of excitement. In this case, John the Baptist is teaching people about God. That was exciting at first, but now people have gotten used to John and are asking, "Is this it? Are you God? Is this the way things are going to be from now on?"

One of the hardest things after an exciting time can be to find value in your everyday life. If you've gotten used to sleeping late and spending the day however you like, it's tough to see the point of school and chores.

Some people might have been developing that attitude toward John. He reminded them that, even when his teaching started to seem routine, there was a point to it. John was not God; he was preparing people to understand what Jesus was going to teach them - and soon.

When you're back to the routine and feeling bored, it's good to keep an open mind. There may be more reasons than you know for what you're doing -and more excitement may be just around the corner. For John's listeners, Jesus was on the way![[In-content Ad]]

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