Wear a Halloween smile

Happy Halloween! What will you dress as this year? Some kids get store-bought costumes, with masks and plastic pumpkins to carry candy in. Others wear old clothes, and carry plastic bags for their candy. But both kinds of dressing up can be fun!

The scribes and Pharisees in this week's Gospel (Matthew 23:1-12) wouldn't agree with that, though. They had important jobs, and like a kid in a great costume, they loved to show themselves off. Jesus had some advice for them:

"They like to wear fancy clothes and take the best seats at parties," Jesus said. "They want everyone to call them `Master.' But you have only one master -- God. Those who praise themselves will be humbled, but those who are humble will be praised."

Are you looking at your Halloween costume and wishing for something else? Some kids want costumes from a store, not old clothes; other kids buy a costume, but wish Mom would make one at home.

The scribes and Pharisees wanted to be something else, too. They wanted to be close to God, but didn't know how to be. So they dressed in robes and talked about how much they prayed, so everyone would think they were close to God.

If you have a costume you don't like, you have lots of choices: You can stay home and cry about it, you can use your imagination (and crayons and clothes) to make it better, or you can decide to have fun, whatever you're wearing.

Jesus' advice to the scribes and Pharisees was just that. If they wanted to be close to God, He said, they could pray and be humble, and God would be proud of them. If they just wanted people to think they cared about God, they could wear whatever fancy costume they wanted to -- but God would know they weren't so good after all.

Like a sad kid on Halloween, the Pharisees knew how to dress up -- they just didn't know how to have fun. Now, what are you going to be this year: a grumpy kid in old clothes, or a happy monster in scary rags? Jesus just told you which one would be more fun.

PRAYER FOR THE WEEK: Jesus, help me to have Halloween fun, whatever I'm wearing! Amen.

(10-31-96) [[In-content Ad]]