Lies can hurt everyone

The easiest way to tell when someone's lying is to see if their words are hurtful. If a kid at school says something bad about another kid, he might be lying. If you say you didn't hit someone so you don't get punished, that lie hurts the person again.

In this week's Gospel (Matthew 2:1-12), we hear about a big lie: King Herod's lie to the three wise men. Herod tells them he wants to find Jesus to worship Him, but he really wants to kill Him!

After Jesus was born, three wise men came to King Herod, asking, "Where is the newborn King of the Jews? We followed His star here and came to worship Him." Herod worried this "new king" might take over, so he sent the wise men to find Jesus and come back. The men found Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus, and brought gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. But an angel warned them that Herod would kill Jesus, so instead of returning to the King, they went home another way.

All lies hurt someone: the person you're lying about, because people might believe bad things about them...you, because you're doing something bad...the world, because if people get used to lying, the world isn't as nice as it could be.

Herod's lie could have hurt a lot of people. Imagine if Herod had found Jesus and killed Him! There would have been no Jesus to teach the world about God, no miracles that helped people believe in God.

When you hear a lie, the best thing to do is not to pay attention to it. That's what the wise men did: When an angel told them Herod was lying, they decided not to listen to him; they just went home. You can do the same thing!

PRAYER FOR THE WEEK: Jesus, help me tell the truth and listen to the truth. Amen!