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PRAYER FOR THE WEEK
Jesus, teach me to be grateful for some rules! Amen.

At a fancy dinner, Jesus watched people taking the best seats. He warned them: "The host of the dinner might see another friend and tell you, 'Give him your seat.' Then you'll have to take the worst seat. So take the worst one right away; when your friend sees you, he'll say, 'Here, take a better seat.' Those who take the best will be humbled, but people who are humble will be given great things."

Grownups think kids have such easy lives. But even going back to school after a long summer can be complicated and confusing!

In some ways, it's good that school has rules. At least you know what time to show up, which classroom to go to and what's coming next. A lot of schools even tell you what supplies like notebooks and folders that you'll need for the new year.

If school had no rules, everyone might end up running around in the halls, not knowing what to do. A lot of kids would probably decide not to learn anything, just hang out.

This week's Gospel (Luke 14:1,7-14) is also about rules. Jesus talks about going out to dinner, where there are no rules about assigned seats, and trying to figure out where to sit.

Naturally, Jesus said, people want to sit near their closest friends or the person throwing the party. That way, their friends will be sure to know they showed up, and they'll have the most fun.

But, like school, rules help - and Jesus pointed out that the rule for a dinner should be to take the worst seat, not the best. Then you're not showing off, and you might get invited to a better place instead of tossed out of the good seat for a worse one.

Of course, Jesus wasn't really talking about the best seat at dinner, but about being selfish. He meant that being selfish pushes you further away from God - just like not following rules at school would push you away from learning very much.

Rules can be a pain. But sometimes, they make life easier![[In-content Ad]]

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