Office of Marriage & Family Life

Take time to read and reflect on the Scriptures for this Sunday.

Don’t have access to a Bible?

Visit www.usccb.org/bible/readings or download an app such as Laudate or iBreviary to access the Mass readings.
 

Jonah 3:1-5, 10

The people of Nineveh believed God.

Psalm 25:4-5, 6-7, 8-9

Teach me your ways and your paths.

1 Corinthians 7:29-31

The world in its present form is passing away.

Mark 1:14-20

The kingdom of God is at hand. Come after me.

Prepare your child to be a little different: 

• Talk about a time you or a family member were different because of your faith. Share a time when following Jesus required you to act differently than those around you: maybe going to Ash Wednesday Mass and people saying ‘what’s on your forehead’ or not doing what your friends were doing because it was wrong. Describe how it felt to be the ‘different’ one. 

• Ask your child if he or she has had to be different for Jesus and how it felt. Give them an opportunity to remember what it was like. If they have a hard time remembering a time, you might suggest a time that you observed them do the right thing even though they were the only one.  

• Tell them how being different for Jesus can be hard, but can make a big difference. You might share a story from history, for example how Martin Luther King challenged society to teach everyone how God gives every human being dignity. He wasn’t popular at the time, but he still followed God. We need to be brave like this too.

• Tell them Jesus appreciates it when we follow him, especially when it’s hard. Let them know that being Catholic means that we offer an example of living differently for God. Even if other people never thank us for doing this. God always appreciates it when we remember him. 

Really following Jesus has always been hard because it requires us to be different.

St. Paul talks about this when he tells the Corinthians to act differently than everyone else - not getting caught up in the fashions, fads and misplaced priorities of their day. 

He still wants us to care for others as we “rejoice with those who rejoice [and] weep with those who weep.” (Romans 12:15) But we always need to see ourselves first as subjects of the kingdom of God, ready to be different.

This is why we do things like: 

• Go to Mass on Sunday when we want to sleep in;

• Give our time and money to care for those in need; 

• Put down our phones so that we have time to pray; and 

• Prepare for Jesus to call us to a vocation that will define our deepest identity.

All this makes us different. Sometimes, as Jesus promised, it will make others think we are a little weird. But, if we follow Jesus, it will not only help us to love him, it will also make us better friends, neighbors and family members.