Step up your efforts (2P1, 10)

The school year is already almost over, and soon the children will have to sit their end-of-year exams, which serve as a review of the school year. Some children have worked hard over the previous terms; others have not worked hard enough, yet all are asked to redouble their efforts. To redouble their efforts even if they have worked hard, in order to do even better; to redouble their efforts even if they did not work hard in the previous terms, so that they can do better this term and move up to the next year group. 1 Thessalonians 4:1 ‘Make further progress.’ A Christian is someone who bears witness to Jesus in everything they do; they set a good example in all walks of life. In the same way, a Christian child must be able to set an example in their duty of state, which at present is to study hard and work well at school. It has been noted that the children of the Word of God always do well at school and are regularly amongst the top of their class; yet we must admit that there are some who, as yet, do not always make much effort to bear witness to Jesus in their calling. To love Jesus is to do what pleases him, and what pleases him for children is also that they should be good pupils.

A short story:

Once upon a time, there was a young boy called Luc. He listened to the advice he was given about school; he began to study hard, always sought to understand his lessons properly, and did well at school; and that is how he became a very great doctor of medicine. He also loved painting very much and used to paint pictures.

One day, he heard about Jesus Christ. He knew that Jesus was a great scholar who knew everything. So he realised that Jesus must therefore be the God who created heaven and earth; who made the world. He decided to follow Jesus and become his disciple. Luke was very close to Saint Paul and followed him everywhere on his journeys to spread the Gospel. Luke was also a good writer and began to write down everything the apostles were doing or had done. And the book he wrote is called the Acts of the Apostles. Luke went to see the Virgin Mary; he asked her questions about the Child Jesus, what Jesus was like as a child, and everything He did. And he wrote down what she told him in the Gospel according to Saint Luke. He also asked the other apostles questions about what they knew of Jesus and wrote all this down in the Gospel. He travelled extensively throughout the world with Saint Paul. He told people that although he could heal their bodies, only Jesus could heal their souls. He painted a beautiful portrait of the Virgin Mary, and to this day we still have copies of that portrait. In the end, the pagans of Greece killed him because they hated Jesus. This is the story of Saint Luke, who teaches us to love God with all our hearts and to redouble our efforts in everything we do to please God.