NOT WHAT YOU WANT

School is starting, and you're faced with something you wish you weren't: You didn't get everything you wanted for school. Whether it was the binder with Pop Stars on it or awesome baggy jeans, your mom drew the line -- and you didn't get them. You're not happy.

You probably won't feel better hearing this, but no one gets everything they want. Even the Apostles could relate to you: In this week's Gospel (Matthew 16:21-27), they wanted to keep Jesus around forever and found out they couldn't.

There are probably a lot of reasons you didn't get all the school supplies you wanted: You didn't need them; your mom didn't approve of them; they cost too much money. Maybe you don't even know all the reasons. You just have to accept it.

That was a hard thing for the Apostles to learn. They found out Jesus -- a young and healthy guy, in addition to being their friend and teacher -- was going to die, and they couldn't believe it.

All they knew was that they weren't getting what they wanted; they weren't going to have Jesus around to teach them. They didn't know all of God's reasons for Jesus' dying; they didn't understand that by dying, Jesus was going to save the world.

You might not get the jeans you were dying for, but you probably won't be going naked to school. And the Apostles, while they wouldn't have Jesus around, would have each other to lean on. That's really what the Gospel story is about: learning to trust God. You can probably trust your parents, too -- even on the issue of school supplies.