Matthew 18:2-5
Children and Faith
2 He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. 3 And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.
Matthew 7:7-12
Ask, Seek, Knock
7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
9 “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! 12 So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.
Jesus links our faith with children...But He does not go into detail and give us much information on this link to children and faith...
Remembering my childhood, I ask many questions...I wanted to learn about different things...And asking questions like “Why” seems to be a good starting point to learning...Asking any and many questions I think helps one learn...
Children in their nature want to ask questions and be curious...I would say that questions and dreaming to not interfere with our faith at all...We are told to ask, to seek, and to knock...We are to be persistent...Our asking and our seeking with questions, and continued questions are not necessarily doubt or bad for our faith...
Jesus told us that we need to be more like children when it comes to our faith...But He did not tell us what qualities in our childhood are the ones and best ones that help in our faith...
I, personally think, He wants us to be open and naïve and have a desire to dream...I believe He wants us to have hope and keep up our hopes alive for different things that we do not understand...Children are constantly seeking, and seeking answers to things...I think He wants us to continue to seek and ask questions and to maintain our curiosity to learn...I believe He wants us to hold on to the mystery of the world and to the Great Mystery of life around us...