Birthday party blues

At a fancy dinner, Jesus watched people taking the best seats. "If you sit there," He told them, "the host of the dinner might see another friend and tell you, `Give your seat to him.' Then you'll have to take the worst seat. So take the worst one right away; then, when your friend sees you, he'll say, `Here, take a better seat.' Those who take the best will be humbled, but people who are humble will be given great things."

Birthday parties are a big event for kids. If you go to someone's party and they bring out pizza, what happens? Usually, everyone starts yelling: "I want cheese!" "I want pepperoni!" "I hate plain cheese!" "No pepperoni for me!"

Often, someone ends up disappointed. Maybe there isn't enough plain cheese pizza to go around; maybe you didn't get as many pieces of pepperoni on your slice as the kid next to you -- and right away, you start to complain about it!

This week's Gospel (Luke 14:1,7-14) is about another party -- a dinner Jesus went to. There, He saw people fighting over the best seats (probably the ones closest to the person giving the party). He warned them not to do that, because they might have to give up those seats if a closer friend or important person came along.

Jesus' idea would work at other parties, too. If you don't get the exact kind of pizza (or the seat) you wanted, try not to complain. It's hard to keep quiet when someone else gets what you want, but if you do, good things sometimes happen. A grownup might notice and give you a big piece of cake; people might be happy that you're being so good.

Even if no one at a party notices when you're being good, you'll know Jesus does. Remember, He was the one who gave us the idea!