A LITTLE PATH ON THE GREATEST MISSION

CHILDREN HELPING CHILDREN, THE CHILDREN’S CHARITY FOR OVERSEAS MISSION, SEEKS TO AWAKEN OUR YOUNGEST CHURCH MEMBERS TO THE NEEDS OF OTHERS AROUND THE WORLD

BY JULIEANN MORAN

St Thérèse of Lisieux Celine Martin via Wikimedia Commons

In a homily at the Basilica of St Thérèse of Lisieux in 1980, St Pope John Paul II said, “to have trust in God like Thérèse of Lisieux means to follow the ‘little path’ along which the Spirit of God guides us.” It seems very apt to be writing about paths and pathways at a time when the National Synthesis from the Catholic Church in Ireland is being submitted to Rome; when themes of walking with God and each other, journeying, and being on mission together were shared and discerned in many parishes, religious congregations, associations, and movements. It was also uplifting to see that some children and young people participated in the spiritual conversations during the diocesan phase of the Synod too, and that creative means were found to involve them (Vademecum for the Synod on Synodality, 2.1). But could we have engaged with them more, and are we missing an opportunity to recognise a synodal pathway that the Spirit of God might be guiding us towards?

GOD CALLS CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE TOO

So often, I hear the phrase that “our children are the church of the future” and I must disagree. Our children are not simply the church of the future. They are the church today. Our goal, as Christians, should be the movement of everyone, young and old, from being passive recipients of the church’s missionary activity to actively engaged agents in the work God has for them. Involving children and young people in God’s mission is not new. God has called many young people as his prophets, servants and leaders. Some examples include David, Daniel, Samuel, Jeremiah, Ruth, and Mary of Nazareth. Indeed, Jesus himself, as an adolescent child, revealed his filial mystery to his mother when she found her son among the doctors of the Law in the Temple. He replied, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house? (Luke 2:49)

CHILDREN HELPING CHILDREN

Awakening children to the needs of other children is one of many pathways to encourage them to hear God’s call today. This can be done through the pope’s official children’s charity for overseas mission, Children helping Children. The charity is one of the four Pontifical Mission Societies under the patronage of the Holy Father. It is known by several names throughout the world (Association of Holy Childhood, Society of Missionary Children, Mission Together) and is probably the most widespread of the pope’s charitable instruments, operating in more than 150 countries. It would take an in-depth study of the society to better understand its spirituality, educational content and its role in God’s mission, but this missionary society for children is as relevant today as it was when it was instituted by Charles de Forbin-Janson almost 180 years ago.

Celebrating 100 years of Pope Pius XI’s motu proprio Romanorum Pontificum, which designated the society as pontifical, Children Helping Children is a society “for children, with children, and of children”. Essentially the first worldwide initiative in favour of children, the society was founded in 1843, more than 80 years before the first declaration of children’s rights (Declaration of Geneva,

So often, I hear the phrase that “our children are the church of the future” and I must disagree. Our children are not simply the church of the future. They are the church today.

1924) and more than a century before the creation of UNICEF (1946). Uniquely, children are not simply supporters or recipients in this society. They are agents of mission. This is done through the solidarity and hope they offer by their prayers and donations for other children. Encouraging children to say a short prayer and to offer a small sacrifice from their own spending money is participation in the church’s missionary activity. It is missional, and results in thousands of children’s projects, led by missionaries, being supported. While children here in Ireland pray and fundraise for children overseas, the children they support also share in the mission by keeping Irish children in their prayers too. So, Children Helping Children is also a beautiful exchange of friendship, as well as discipleship and faith.

FROM HOLY CHILDHOOD TO SAINTHOOD

On October 1, we will celebrate the feast of St Thérèse of Lisieux, popularly known as the Little Flower and patroness of the missions. On January 12, 1882 Thérèse Martin joined the Association of the Holy Childhood when she was just nine years old. As a member of the society, she grew in both her faith and admiration of the work of missionaries and dreamed of becoming a missionary herself. She later understood that very few are called to make big or radical gestures, but through small loving actions – little paths and little ways – we can all deliver God’s love to the world. We know from her writings that Thérèse developed a passion for overseas mission and treasured the work of Holy Childhood in her heart. She wrote:

Ah, in spite of my littleness, I would like to enlighten souls as did the Prophets and the Doctors. I have the vocation of the Apostle. I would like to travel over the whole earth to preach Your Name and to plant Your Glorious Cross on infidel soil. But O my beloved, one mission alone would not be sufficient for me. I would want to preach the Gospel on all the five continents simultaneously and even to the most remote isles. I would be a missionary, not for a few years only, but from the beginning of creation until the consummation of the ages. - St Thérèse of Lisieux, Story of a Soul

Unfortunately, due to ill health, this would not be possible for St Thérèse. However, her little way of spiritual childhood became so central to Christian living, her holiness was recognised by the church very soon after her death in 1897. In 1914 her cause for beatification was introduced. She was proclaimed blessed in 1923 and was canonised on May 17, 1925.

WALKING THE PATHS OF SPIRITUAL CHILDHOOD

In proclaiming St Thérèse a Doctor of the Church in 1997, St Pope John Paul II acknowledged that “shining brightly among the little ones to whom the secrets of the kingdom were revealed in a most special way is Thérèse of the Child Jesus.” The Holy Father tell us that in the writings of St Thérèse we may not find a scholarly presentation of the things of God, but they offer “the world a precise message, indicating an evangelical way, the ‘little way,’ which everyone can take, because everyone is called to holiness.” St Thérèse knew very well that to enter into the very heart of the greatest mission of all, the little way of spiritual childhood was required. She wasn’t writing about adults becoming childish or regressing to child-like behaviours, though. She was writing about experiencing the divine love of God as the Father’s adoptive children in Jesus Christ; the experience of “divine filiation, under the movement of the Holy Spirit.” For St Thérèse, grounding ourselves firstly in who the Father is, and then responding with love and trust as a child would their parent, is how we walk the paths of spiritual childhood; how we walk with God. This littleness that she loved so much, the littleness of a child, is what opened St Thérèse to the greatest mission we are all called to by Christ – the divine mission of salvation.

WALKING THE PATH AND BRINGING MISSION TO LIFE

Irish children support several missionary projects worldwide each year. Last year, in Benin, financial support from children in Ireland provided food, healthcare and Thérèse understood that very few are called to make big or radical gestures, but through small loving actions – little paths and little ways – we can all deliver God’s love to the world.

Sr Stan Therese Mumuni with Precious in the Nazareth Home for God’s Children, Ghana

education for children in the care of the Little Servants of the Poor who were abandoned, rejected or had run away from difficult situations. Funds also provided food and health supports to a school in the parish of Les Saints Martyrs de L’Ouganda that welcomes, accommodates and educates blind and visually impaired children. Children Helping Children also received prayers and financial support for the pope’s COVID-19 Emergency Fund. This supported thousands of children in Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Chad, the Republic of Congo and Mali. It provided protective equipment, hand washing materials, sanitising tools, medicine boxes, food, and healthcare programmes for the prevention of COVID-19. It even included the broadcasting of radio programmes for children without TVs so they could learn about the virus and how to protect themselves.

CONTINUING THE SYNODAL JOURNEY

As the Catholic Church in Ireland continues its synodal journey over the next four years, creative means of engaging with our youngest Christians should continue, but also increase. If not, we may be missing an opportunity to recognise a pathway that the Spirit of God is guiding us towards. A synodal church is a church that goes forth on mission along many pathways after all, so may we remember as we journey together that the little paths taken by children also lead to the greatest mission.