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PRAYER FOR THE WEEK
Jesus, help me notice when someone wants to hang out, and welcome them into my "inner circle" of friends. Amen!

The Apostles came back from teaching people about Jesus. It had been a long trip, and they were tired. "Let's go rest by ourselves," Jesus said. But lots of people followed them. Jesus felt sorry for those who wanted to learn from Him: They seemed like sheep without a shepherd to lead them. So He sat down and started teaching them about God.

If you drew what your different friendships look like, you might draw a bunch of circles like a target. The smallest circle on the inside would be your closest friends; then there are the people you don't hang around with as often, and finally the ones who just pop up once in a while.

This week's Gospel (Mark 6:30-34) could be about that last group of friends - the ones in the outer circle, who sort of hang around the edges of the group.

After devoting time to teaching about God, Jesus was hanging out with His friends, the Apostles. They probably wanted to be alone - but there were those hangers-on, the people who weren't close to Jesus, but followed Him around. They sat nearby, wanting to listen to what the in-crowd was talking about, wanting to be near Jesus.

Have you met kids like that? Maybe you've been one of them: wishing you were part of a certain group of friends, trying to fit in.

Some kids aren't kind to people in their "outer circle" of friends. Jesus was kind, though. He and the Apostles were tired, but He saw that people needed Him and welcomed them into His inner circle.

Jesus was showing the Apostles how to treat others. It's a good lesson for us, too - especially when we see those kids in our "outer circle," trying to hang out and hoping we'll accept them.[[In-content Ad]]

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