Take a closer look

Spring means rain, and rain means bored kids. When it's raining, you have to stay inside, and all you can do is wish for summer to come soon. You were tired of snow, and now you want sunshine!

Jesus' friends, the Apostles, would know how you feel. When Jesus died, their tears fell like rain. Without Jesus, they thought the world would always be as sad as a rainy day. But in this week's Gospel (John 21:1-14), they see the sun behind the clouds!

Seven Apostles went fishing but caught nothing. Then they saw a man standing on the beach, who said, "Children, have you caught anything to eat?" He told them, "Throw your nets there, and you will." The Apostles caught 153 fish! Then they knew the man was Jesus, who had come back to life. Peter got so excited that he jumped off the boat and swam to Jesus. Jesus cooked breakfast for the Apostles, and they all shared the food together.

Rainy days can be boring. It's too wet to play outside, and it's even cold and damp inside. You wish the sun would come out!

After Jesus died, the Apostles were bored, too. They had traveled all over with Jesus, learning from Him and healing sick people, but now they had to go back to being fishermen. After spending time with Jesus, that wasn't very exciting for them!

If you look outside on a rainy spring day, you might just see gray clouds and wet ground. But if you look harder, you'll start to see little leaves on the trees, too -- and birds making nests, green grass and even worms on the sidewalk!

When the sad Apostles looked at the guy they saw on the beach, it was like looking at a rainy day. They just saw a stranger. But then the stranger helped them, and they started to look closer. They saw a friend, a teacher -- Jesus, who was alive again!

BY coming back, Jesus showed the Apostles what you see outside your window: that even a rainy day has some surprises, if you look close enough!

PRAYER FOR THE WEEK: Jesus, help me to find the good parts in everything -- even rainy days. Amen!

(04-23-98) [[In-content Ad]]