---

PRAYER FOR THE WEEK
Jesus, help me not to make things more complicated than they need to be. Amen!

"If you love me, listen to my teachings," Jesus told the Apostles. "Then God will come and live in your heart. I'm leaving you soon to go back to heaven, but if you love me, don't be afraid. Remember, I'm going to be with my Father - and the Holy Spirit will still be with you, even after I'm in heaven."

Life can get complicated for a kid. You just want to have a sleepover at a friend's house, but your parents say you need to do all your homework before you can go, instead of leaving it until Sunday. Then they say they have to talk to your friend's parents first. Then you remember you have a Scout meeting, so you can't go until later. That fun sleepover is starting to feel like a pain!

Life can be complicated, but people can also make life more complicated than it needs to be. In this week's Gospel (John 14:23-29), Jesus reminds His friends - and us - to keep things simple.

If a simple sleepover can get complicated, big stuff can be overwhelming! That's how it felt for the Apostles when Jesus was trying to prepare them for Him going back to heaven soon. They couldn't imagine how they were going to stay close to God without Jesus being there to guide them - let alone continuing Jesus' work after He was gone.

When a situation gets complicated, it's easy to feel like you need to do 12 things at once. But you just need to do one thing at a time: finish your homework, call your friend, go to your Scout meeting. If the sleepover works out, great; if it doesn't, let it go. You'll do it another time.

To the Apostles, Jesus gave the same directions: They needed to remember He loved them; then they needed to remember what He taught them and live by that. Everything else would work itself out - and the Holy Spirit would be right there, helping them the whole time.

Life can get complicated, but God is always here. You don't need to do everything - and whatever you do, you won't be doing it alone.[[In-content Ad]]

---