|
More Big Truths For Kids
BY Mark Shea March 30-April 5, 2008 Issue |
Posted 3/25/08 at 12:46 PM
Last week, we began our discussion of how to speak the
truths of the faith to a new generation of kids, hungry to know the answers to
life’s deepest questions.
This week, we continue that discussion, with the focus on
the place of the Church in a very pluralist world.
If God is everywhere,
why do we have to go to church to see him?
Mom and I always love you no matter where you are, but it’s
better when we can give you a hug and a kiss and enjoy talking with you.
Church is where God talks to us through the Bible and
touches us through the sacraments.
Sacraments are the kisses of God. Jesus himself gave them to
us so that we would always have a sure way of receiving the life and love he
means to give us.
Mass is the way we learn how to exercise our bodies and
souls so that we can go out stronger to meet God in the world and serve him in
people.
Why can’t we phone
God?
You can. It’s called “prayer.” You can talk to God anytime
you like. He probably won’t answer in a voice you can hear (though it does
happen from time to time). Usually, he speaks to us through the teaching of the
Church, through the Bible and through wisdom from people he puts in our lives
such as saints, friends, teachers and parents.
Why do I believe in
one God while my Hindu friend believes in lots? And is my God the same as my
Jewish friends’?
You believe in one God because you are blessed to live in a
place where the Good News was accepted and took root.
The Good News was that the God everybody has been looking
for since the beginning had finally become the man Jesus Christ, who died for
our sins and rose from the dead so that we could defeat sin and death.
Everybody in the world is seeking him (which is why you are
asking these questions) and everybody has been seeking him since the world
started.
But because we are also limited and (especially because our
thinking gets gummed up by sin) there was a long period between when the world
began and when Jesus came. In that time, most of us lost track of him and
sometimes tried to satisfy our hunger for God by making up stories about “gods”
who were more like Big People with Magic Powers.
Storytelling is a great thing, and some of the stories
reflect some real truths about the real God. But if people start believing the
stories to be true, it can cause a lot of problems. That’s why God said not to
believe in any God but him.
He especially said that to the Jewish people. They were the
first people in the whole world that he picked out and chose to reveal himself.
He took a very long time to help them understand that he was real, that there
was just one of him, and that he loves us and wanted us to love him and each
other.
The point of all this was that he was getting them ready for
the biggest surprise of all: He was getting ready to become a human being
himself and, what is more, a fellow Jew!
Many Jews believed him. However, many others (especially
their leaders) didn’t. And that is still true today.
Some Jewish people believe he is the Son of God. But most Jews
don’t. However, even though they don’t believe in him (often because Christians
have been very mean to them), God is still faithful to the covenant (that means
“agreement”) he made with them and he promises that one day they will realize
that Jesus is who he says he is.
That’s why they are still his special people today, because
God keeps his promises. Till then, we are to love our Jewish friends because
they are sort of like our older brothers and sisters since they were the first
to hear the word of God.
Does God have a mom?
Yes. Her name is Mary, the mother of Jesus. Jesus is the
only person in the world who ever got to pick his Mother. That’s because Jesus
is God and, along with his Father and the Holy Spirit, is the Creator of
everything, including Mary.
When he became human, he chose her as the one who would give
birth to him and raise him. Jesus said we should call her our mother as well
and told her to love us as us she loves him.
If you aren’t sure what to do, Mother Teresa made it pretty
easy: “Love Jesus as Mary loves Jesus and love Mary as Jesus loves Mary.”
Mark Shea is senior content editor
for CatholicExchange.com.
Make a Donation now!
Insightful. Informative. Uncompromisingly faithful. The National Catholic Register is more than a newspaper. It’s a cause. Your support for the Register funds important journalism that helps to build a Culture of Life in our nation, and throughout the world. Help us promote the Church’s New Evangelization by donating to the National Catholic Register right now.
Click here to donate
| 
.
