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PRAYER FOR THE WEEK
Jesus, help me remember that bad words are not ok! Amen.

Jesus told the Apostles that He would soon die to save the world. They were sad and angry at losing Him, and Peter yelled, "That should never happen to you!" "Get away from me, Satan!" Jesus answered. "You're thinking like a person, not like God."

Swearing is not OK with most kids' families. Even if your parents or grandparents curse, they probably warn you that it's not a good thing and kids are definitely not supposed to do it.

"Bad words" don't have to be curse words, either. You know there are really serious swear words and also words like "stupid" that your parents don't want to hear coming out of your mouth.

In this week's Gospel (Matthew 16:21-27), Jesus uses a kind of bad word. Like most people who curse, He's upset - in this case, because Peter is really frustrating Him.

Jesus has been trying to get the Apostles to understand that He is going to have to die to get people to really believe in Him, but even His closest friends and followers just don't get it. Peter is so upset at the idea of Jesus' sacrificing Himself, he tells Jesus it just can't happen.

Jesus calls Peter "Satan," a name for the devil. That's a pretty bad word!

Cursing is not OK, but Jesus is really upset: Peter has paid no attention to what Jesus has been teaching. Jesus is the Son of God and came from heaven to save the world, but Peter is questioning Him as if Jesus doesn't know what He's talking about!

Often, after an adult swears, he or she will apologize and point out that it was a frustrating moment. We don't know if Jesus apologized to Peter, but Peter definitely understood that Jesus was not kidding around when He said He had to die to save the world.

If Peter's attitude could make even Jesus curse, Peter must have been really wrong![[In-content Ad]]

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