If you had a million

PRAYER FOR THE WEEK

Jesus, during Lent, help me to ask for forgiveness from you and any people I’ve hurt! Amen.


IF YOU HAD A MILLION

“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 not a kid alive who hasn’t fantasized about being rich. You believe that if you won a million dollars, you’d know exactly what to do with it — and that you’d do a much better job than the rich people you see on TV!

“I’d give half to charity,” one student said when asked about that. “Then I’d buy a car. I’d keep the rest to support my family.”

Of course, that’s not what the younger son in this week’s Gospel (Luke 15:1-3,11-32) did. When he got half his father’s money, he totally wasted it. He was so embarrassed about his decisions, he was afraid to go home and tell his father what he’d done.

Just like every kid thinks, “I’d make great decisions,” every kid has made bad decisions, too. You might be great with money, but you’ve struggled with picking friends who treat you well. (In fact, that’s what the “prodigal son” in the Gospel story did, which led to losing his money.)

Luckily, every bad decision can be followed by a good one. It was hard for the younger son to go back and tell his father that all the money was gone, but it was good to admit his mistake and ask for forgiveness. Sometimes it takes a while for people to calm down when they’re hurt, like the older son, but they usually forgive.

Lent is a good time to think about the prodigal son. You might not have wasted a million dollars, but you can always take this time to apologize for the poor decisions you have made!