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PRAYER FOR THE WEEK
Jesus, help me love all my friends and keep making more! Amen.

Jesus visited Simon's mother-in-law, who was sick. He took her hand and she was well again! Then everyone else who was sick came to be healed. Jesus went out alone to pray, but His followers told Him, "Everyone's looking for you." Jesus said, "Let's go to other towns." He traveled all over, teaching and healing.

Do you have a "BFF?" That means "best friend forever." Some kids get attached to one friend and call that person their BFF.

Best friends get picked first when you're choosing who to spend time with; they get more of your attention and hear all your hopes and worries.

That sounds great -- except that, when you focus all your time and attention on just one friend, you may be leaving out other people who would be great to have in your life!

In a way, this week's Gospel (Mark 1:29-39) is about that issue. Jesus has been teaching and healing people in one town. He starts with a friend, then answers the requests of everyone else who wants help. Then, when He wants time to rest, people follow Him and beg for more. He finally tells the Apostles, "Let's go to another town."

People were never meant to have only one friend and exclude everyone else. Having a BFF is great, but there can be hurt feelings when everyone sees that you like that person best. No friend wants to be second-best, the one you call only when your BFF isn't available.

Jesus wasn't meant to help only one town. Imagine all the hurt feelings there would have been if Jesus had said, "I'll heal all the sick people here, and that's it." Everyone would have wondered, "Doesn't He care about the rest of us?"

Wisely, Jesus helped a bunch of people and then moved on to the next town. He wanted to heal, teach and get close to as many people as possible in His time on Earth.

That's a good idea for you: Love your BFF, but make as many other friends as you can, too. There's no such thing as having too many friends![[In-content Ad]]

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