Signs all around us

Stores get crazier every year. This year, they started putting Christmas decorations out before Halloween! When you see all those "signs of Christmas," you might wonder if they forgot all about Halloween and Thanksgiving!

Jesus might wonder, too. In this week's Gospel (Mark 13:24-32), He talks about signs -- signs that will someday tell us the end of the world is coming.

"At the end of the world, the sun and moon will grow dark, and the stars will fall from the sky," said Jesus. "Then I'll come back and gather all the good people in the world. When a tree grows leaves, you know summer is coming. When you see the signs I talked about, know that God is coming."

When you see Christmas stuff in the stores, it makes you think of Christmas -- even if you're still eating leftover Halloween candy and even if you're looking forward to a turkey dinner on Thanksgiving.

People in Jesus' time were confused by things like that. When they met people who said, "I'm God, and the end of the world is coming," they didn't know whether to believe it.

Stores aren't always smart when they decide what stuff to put out for people to buy. You can be smart by deciding not to look at the Christmas stuff until Christmas comes!

In a way, that's what Jesus said. He gave us signs to look for -- the sun and moon getting dark and stars disappearing -- that will tell us someday that the world is really ending and Jesus is coming back. Until then, we don't have to worry about it!

The end of the world might be coming, but so is Christmas -- and until we see the signs, we're not there yet!

PRAYER FOR THE WEEK: Jesus, help me look for signs of you! Amen.