Fostering a Childlike Faith

Lisa Simmons shares family stories that show simple ways parents can help their children grow in faith.

I'm a grandma now, but it doesn't seem that long ago that my own kids were little and uttering loads of wise comments in the backseat of the car. When my youngest daughter was only three I would take her to Mass during the week. We sat in the back and watched all the school kids including her older brother and sister come into church. One day during the singing of the Holy, Holy, I heard her singing her heart out, "holy lasagna …" Oh my goodness.

Now that youngest daughter has her own two daughters, ages four and two, and the signs of wisdom didn't stop with my daughter. These two beautiful girls have a habit of not passing by a statue of the Blessed Mother without giving her a kiss. Nothing doing, Frankie, the oldest, always has to climb up on a bench to give Mary a kiss when we pass by the four-foot statue in the window in our church narthex. And of course, Ellie, the 2-year-old, mimicking her older sister, needs help climbing up the bench to also kiss the feet of Mary. Neither their mom or grammy taught them to do that: they just decided it was the thing to do.

Last Christmas the parish had the Nativity scene set up with really beautiful almost life size figurines of Mary, Joseph, Baby Jesus and of course shepherds. Frankie knelt down next to Mary and gave her a hug and then leaned over to kiss Baby Jesus. Yup, Grammy had tears in her eyes. It is so beautiful to see them acting on their childlike faith.

child hugging Mary statue

My daughter told me the other night she was getting them ready for bath time. They've been watching a variety of movies for the last several months, old ones that their mother grew up watching, 101 Dalmatians, Mary Poppins and just recently, the Disney cartoon of Robin Hood. Frankie has gotten fixated on the Robin Hood tale and goes to bed at night talking to Robin Hood and planning adventures, and as they headed for the bathtub she suddenly shouted out, "let's get clean for Jesus, Robin Hood and Little John!" It made me want to hang a sign near the church confessional, "Let's get clean for Jesus, God, and the Holy Spirit!

As earthly families, we often don't realize how we evangelize to our own families. It was always natural for me to point out Jesus on the cross at Mass and during the consecration point to the host and chalice and say that was Jesus. I didn't make a big deal out of explaining why it looked like bread; I just said it was Jesus. We naturally said prayers at meal times, bedtimes and prayed for family members. Every picture or statue of the Holy Family was commented on when we passed it.

toddlers hugging

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Sometimes we think too hard about how to explain God to our kids. #catholicmom

My daughter does that now too, and I love to hear my granddaughter make comments like, "Mary was sad when Jesus died," or "I love Mary and she loves me too!" It sounds so natural coming from her. But her mom is doing what I did, just making comments on spiritual things like you would on beautiful flowers or the clouds in the sky. Sometimes we think too hard about how to explain God to our kids. God doesn't need explaining. It's when we point out the things God has made all around us that they learn about Him.

toddler holding hands with baby in a stroller

So be sure to listen to your children. And let them hear you talk about God's love for you and for them. They are listening and learning and helping each other and us get to Heaven!