Becoming like a child again before Jesus and Mary

Dom Ludovic Lécuru (1) reminds us that holiness is the vocation of all the baptized, since at our baptism we receive the Holy Spirit who makes us holy.

This is why children are called to holiness just as much as adults. They have a more instinctive sense of the supernatural than grown-ups. It's not for nothing that Jesus says: “Unless you change and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven” (Mt 18:3). Christ's words are clear! Having a sense of the invisible is a hallmark of holiness. I remember a little boy of 3 who was calling his grandmother on the phone, and kissed the actual cell phone to say goodbye! This proves that children live in the present moment.

How can we, as educators, guide children towards holiness?
With the conviction that the more holy we are, the more human we are. Children mysteriously know what's important inside a church. If you point to a statue of the Virgin Mary and say, “That's the Virgin Mary”, they understand and believe it. Do we realize how fundamental it is for a child to recognize at the age of 2 who Jesus is, who the Blessed Virgin is, and who St. Joseph is? Spiritual awakening has no limits, but it does have a beginning: let's not wait for the child to attend catechism classes, nor set conditions...

When a mother holds her child in her arms in a church, shows him the tabernacle and the light that indicates that Jesus is there, it has a great impact on everyone's soul! Here again, it's the evidence of the supernatural in children that predisposes them to understand holy things. 

Another example is the sign of the cross. A child has no problem making it, whereas a very “sensible” adult won't really dare, especially if there are people around! 

Children need to learn. And parents are the ones who love and protect them, the ones on whom they depend entirely. They are like God. “In responsible fatherhood and motherhood, God is present”, as John Paul II put it. Education for holiness begins at home, with Mom and Dad.

Dom Ludovic Lécuru

Excerpt from an interview given to France Catholique 

Dom Lécuru is a Benedictine monk at Saint-Wandrille Abbey in northern France.

www.france-catholique.fr