“How can God fit in the host?”
“Why can’t I see Jesus in the white thing?”
“If I bite the host, do I also bite Jesus?”
“How can Jesus fit inside me?”
“Why do we eat Jesus, can I keep Him in my pocket?”
“Will Jesus be mad with my bad breath?”
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Kids always have a way of asking the most wonderful and amazing questions. Sometimes they catch us off guard and we start groping for answers. The most difficult answers to find are for those things that we may have taken for granted as being so obvious. And even if some things seem ‘quite’ evident to us, we are nonetheless at a quandary at how to make them ‘visualize’ their faith which concerns supernatural realities.
This experience is very true when it comes to helping children appreciate the Holy Mass. Since it is such an infinitely rich reality, it is difficult to exhaust all of its spiritual perks for the soul. Moreover, because of our natural desire to leave our children something ‘lasting,’ that is, ‘eternal,’ there is no other gift to hand on to them than Jesus Himself through the offering of His Body and Blood.
However, this genuine desire of ours comes up against an apparent obstacle: how to explain an invisible mystery of love to a child whose senses are dynamically interacting with the beauty of the created world? Adults often to try to approach this by ‘de-complicating’ a particular reality, but frequently end up either confusing the child or opening other doors for them to ask more questions.
There is also another reason: fear! Fear that if we don’t answer them ‘thoroughly,’ then we might just be ‘lying’ and making them believe in another Santa Claus. Instead of fear, let us say a heartfelt prayer, ask the help of the Holy Spirit and our child’s guardian angel, and put our most sincere effort to answer using their own words. It is good to recall that a child’s trust for his parents is one of the most beautiful doors that allows them to be receptive in learning new things and in receiving so much grace from God and asking Him for many things in their prayer.
For example, a child may ask, ‘How can God fit in the host?’
One may respond: ‘God is so powerful but He’s not a magician who simply does tricks. He wants to do something so wonderful by living inside your heart. Even though He’s powerful, He doesn’t use His power just to ‘fool you,’ but really ‘hides inside a host’ so that you can eat Him. Only by opening your mouth will Jesus be able to enter your heart. In short, He also wants your help.’
I believe this explanation has nothing complicated in it. The challenge now is how to address other similar, more engaging and numerous queries. I guess, we will just have to be patient, and help a child’s trust to grow every time he comes up against something difficult. Thus, we aren’t lying when we answer, ‘Dear, it’s something like this…, but not really as it seems. But God does it because He loves you and wants to give you something wonderful. Maybe we can’t see all of it, but at least we know one thing: God is behind all of this.’
If we constantly embrace their questions in this manner, children will not only grow in their trust for us, but also in their faith in God and gradually the teachings of the Church. All this likewise depends on how they see our positive, understanding and cheerful attitude to their endless curiosities. But this is not all….
We must help their knowledge about the faith, and especially the Holy Mass, to reach a critical point, or as I would put it, a critical mass. A critical mass is defined as a point or situation where change initiates, or in nuclear terms, the smallest amount of fissionable material required to keep a nuclear reaction going. We can achieve something like this, so that our children’s faith starts to churn on its own and bear fruits.
Thus, when going to Mass, let’s not simply settle for ‘going’ or ‘attending.’ Let’s set off a small goal that will be a seed to keep the child’s faith burning. For example, go to Mass telling them that it’s something important for you that they pray for an intention. When they ask, “So what do you want me to do?”
“Well, you can try to concentrate on one particular thing during the Mass.”
“Like what,” they may ask.
“You can focus on the crucifix, or during the offertory, put daddy’s intention on the altar with the rest of the gifts.”
“Only that?”
“Yes…,” and this is followed by a thank-you-kiss on the forehead.
Little by little, such small ‘eucharistic seeds’ will help them to value the Mass on their own. They will find it more meaningful, because they find something concrete during the Mass. And let’s not get irritated if after that point they continue to become restless or noisy.
Keep seeding such ideas, until one day they reach a critical point that on their own, they will have the habit of centering everything on something so critical for the spiritual life: the Holy Mass, which is the center and summit of the Christian’s life.
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“Because you have been In pauca fidelis, faithful in small things, come and join in your master’s happiness. The words are Christ’s. In pauca fidelis!… Now will you neglect little things, if heaven itself is promised to those who mind them?” (The Way, 819)