Dear friends,

One of the greatest joys of standing at the gate of our school each morning for me, apart from welcoming their cheerful faces, is hearing the wonderful questions children often ask me or just letting me know it is their birthday. Recently two of our little first graders, Caleb and Annet, at different times stopped me with questions that have challenged human minds for centuries. "Who made God?" Caleb asked. Then a few minutes later Annet asked, "What is the difference between God and Jesus?"

Quite frankly, for a moment I was speechless. These are not small questions. Even the great saints and theologians such as St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Augustine spent years trying to understand the mystery of God and the Holy Trinity.

Their questions also reminded me of my own childhood. I remember that as an eight-year-old I was sitting one day, hungry, under a mango tree on a hot afternoon, trying so hard to understand how God could always exist. If so, who made him? I thought and thought until I eventually fell asleep without any answer! Some mysteries are so big that even adults cannot fully understand them, and this is one of them.

Yet, as we celebrate the great feast of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples, we remember that God gives us His Spirit to guide, teach, and enlighten us little by little.

So how might we answer Caleb and Annet in a way children can understand, considering that everything we know in this world has a beginning? Here are some examples: A tree grows from a seed. A baby is born to parents. A house is built by someone. So, children who know this reality naturally ask: "Who made God?" It is a legitimate question. The simple answer is: Nobody made God. God has always existed. Before the world began, before the stars, before time itself, God already was. God is not like created things. He is the Creator of everything.

That is still hard to imagine because our minds are used to things having a beginning. It is like trying to imagine numbers going on forever! We cannot fully picture it, but we can still know it is true.

One way to explain it to children is this: if everything needed someone else to make it, there would never be a first beginning. We Christians believe God is that "first beginning", the One who was always there and who gave life to everything else.

Then came little Annet's question: What is the difference between God and Jesus? This question leads us directly into the beautiful mystery of the Trinity. Jesus is God, but He is also the Son of God. We Christians believe there is one God in three Persons: the Father, the Son (Jesus), and the Holy Spirit.

That sounds confusing at first, even for adults! But perhaps children can think of it this way: God is like a family of perfect love. The Father loves the Son. The Son loves the Father. And the Holy Spirit is the love shared between them. They are not three gods, but one God.

Jesus came to earth so that we could see what God is like. Before Jesus people could know God only in limited ways. But when Jesus healed the sick, forgave sinners, welcomed children, and died on the cross for us He showed us God's heart.

So, when children ask, "What is the difference between God and Jesus?" we can gently say: "Jesus is God's Son who came to earth to show us Gods love. He is fully God and fully human."

At Pentecost, the feast we are celebrating this weekend, the Holy Spirit came upon the apostles and helped them understand Jesus more deeply in this mystery. The Holy Spirit still helps us today. We may never fully understand all the mysteries of God. (Even saints and scholars could not explain everything.) Faith is not only about having all the answers but also about trusting the God who loves us.

Perhaps the beautiful thing about children's questions is that they remind us never to stop wondering about God. Sometimes the deepest faith begins with the simplest questions asked at a school gate early in the morning.

Have a blessed and Happy Pentecost Feast. Please keep me in your prayers, as in a short while, I will be boarding my flight for my sabbatical.

I love you!

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