---

PRAYER FOR THE WEEK
Jesus, help me stop myself from trying to impress my friends, and just hang out with them!  Amen

Jesus stopped to visit His friends Martha and Mary. Martha ran around cooking food for Him, but her sister Mary didn't help. She sat listening to Jesus. Martha complained, "Jesus, can't you make her help me?" Jesus answered, "You worry too much. Mary knows what's really important, and I won't yell at her for choosing it."

Impressing people is important to a lot of kids and adults. When friends come to visit, you want to have great snacks and fun games to offer. You never want to have to say, "The pool isn't open and the computer is broken;" you're afraid your friends won't want to stay.

Martha was so much like that! In this week's Gospel (Luke 10:38-42), Jesus comes to visit, and she's so focused on impressing Him - making sure the house is nice and cooking food - that she doesn't actually sit down and hang out with Him. Meanwhile, her sister Mary does nothing but hang out with Jesus, and Martha gets annoyed.

It's nice to have a computer, video games or a pool - but hopefully, that's not why friends are spending time with you. They hang out because they like you, not your stuff. In a way, trying to impress them with games and snacks is saying you don't trust that your friendship is real.

Jesus tried to explain that to Martha: He was an important guy, but she didn't need to impress Him. He could have stopped at anyone's house, but He chose to hang out with His friends Martha and Mary - not to get a special meal, but just to talk with them.

When you're busy trying to impress people, you can also miss the conversation, which is the important part of their visit. Martha missed what Jesus had to say because she was distracted. It's a good thing Jesus reminded her that just hanging out with friends is all you need![[In-content Ad]]

---