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PRAYER FOR THE WEEK
Jesus, teach me to ask for reassurance when I need it! Amen.

Jesus came to John the Baptist to be baptized. John tried to stop Him, saying, "I should be baptized by you!" But Jesus said to do it anyway. As soon as John baptized Jesus, the Holy Spirit came down from heaven to Jesus in the shape of a dove, and God the Father's voice said, "This is my beloved Son, and I'm proud of Him."

Did you have an awesome Christmas? For a few kids, the answer might be, "No." Maybe you didn't get a present you really wanted; maybe your family is going through hard times. Whatever the reason, you're already sick of your friends telling you about how much cool stuff they got and how much fun they had!

Everyone goes through times when you have to be humble, whether it's admitting you didn't have an awesome Christmas or asking for extra help because you seemed to forget your math skills over Christmas break.

In this week's Gospel (Mt 3:13-17), Jesus is the one who's humble and needing some reassurance - and He gets it in an unusual way: through being baptized by His cousin, John the Baptist.

When you're gloomy over the Christmas gift you didn't get, it's easy to start telling yourself, "Nobody loves me. Everyone else had a fun Christmas but me." Don't you wonder if Jesus had similar thoughts before starting to teach people about God? He might have worried if He could do it - and about what would happen to Him.

Reassurance comes in many ways when you're humble and accept help. Friends will listen to your story and share their toys; adults will give you the extra help you need. Eventually, you'll feel better.

Jesus asked John to baptize Him. By doing that in front of everyone, Jesus got reassurance from the people watching; from John, who performed that special baptism; and from God the Father and the Holy Spirit. The Spirit came down like a dove, and God the Father told Jesus, "I'm proud of you."[[In-content Ad]]

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