Gosh, if I was worried about the 'birds and bees' talk down the road, M has already managed to zoom forward to some of those mind-boggling, faith challenging, life-long pondering questions that I thought I'd have plenty of time to 'prepare' an answer for (ha! Does that ever really happen in life with children?!?) Here's the latest one from my little philosophizing theologian:
M: Mama, why do some people do bad things? Do they have evil hearts? Does Satan make them do evil? Are they still good people, though, if they do things that are evil? So... they have a 'hard heart' that makes them do bad things? Can they still do good, too? Because they need to have a change of heart, right?.....
This led to a discussion about sin, about being made in the image of God, about making choices and making mistakes..... but like usual, at the end of this conversation with M, I was left wondering some things, too.... Like, when a person 'promotes' something that is intrinsically evil, does this make them evil, or is it simply their actions that are evil? To what extent does their knowledge of what they're actually doing affect the answer to those questions? (I realize their own culpability with their sins affects the severity of their sin and their own personal responsibility...but does that in itself determine if they are actually evil?) When we read about people having 'hardened hearts', what exactly does this mean? Are there really "evil people", or just "people that do evil"? I think it's more than a matter of mere semantics, but I'm not sure... this is where I wish I had more theological knowledge! But alas! Thank goodness for the Catechism - I'll study up this weekend and see if I can quench these burning questions!! In the meantime, here's another one to ponder (with a little less intensity than the first slough of questions!):
Upon seeing a cross in a Baptist Church recently, M immediately asked:
"Mama, why isn't Jesus on the cross? What did they do with him?"
Some of our nonCatholic friends have asked us why we portray the suffering Christ on the crucifix in our Church, when he has in fact risen. Papa likes to ask in return, "Why do you have a cross at all then, if he's risen?"
Amazing how children notice even the smallest little things, isn't it? Keeps us on our toes! 'Lest you think this ponderous child is exceptionally pious, I share with you another recent M moment from this week: On Monday, we joined some friends at the nearby Catholic elementary school for a newly formed weekly "Rosary Club" for children. I thought I'd take my little ones and see how they'd do. Now, we don't pray a full rosary together as a family quite yet, usually tackling just one decade at a time, but I thought we'd give it a shot. After two decades, M turned to me with a sharp glance and whispered, "Is this all we're going to do? Just pray the rosary??? That's IT?" I smiled and nodded, hoping my angelic daughter would joyfully gush with excitement, bow her head and continue her holy prayers. Instead, she stared me down with a look I daresay resembled disgust, crossed her arms and retorted, "I've had it with this rosary stuff!" Hmmm. Looks like we have some work to do! So much for an 'easy path' to piety!!
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