What My Ten-Year-Old Taught Me About the Sacraments

Einstein is quoted as saying that “If you cannot explain it simply, you don’t understand it enough.” I completely agree with Einstein, and that is why I am not ashamed to say that my ten-year-old son understands the Sacraments much better than I ever will. The reason I say this is because of a conversation I had with him lately. The other day in Mass, as I was waiting for Mass to start. I watched my ten year old son come out of confession. He sat down next to me, and I asked him how it went. He told me, “Dad, I really like confessing with that priest. He is really good.” I smiled at him, seeing in his eyes the joy of having a good confession. There was a brief moment of silence, and then he said, “You know what dad? I have a great analogy for the Sacrament of Confession.” Excited, I said, “Please tell me, son.” Here is the first lesson from my son on the Sacraments.   

Sacrament of Reconciliation   

“Dad, confessing is like drawing a picture with a pencil. We start with an image, but as we are drawing, we make mistakes. That is okay. You know why? We can erase it, and start over. Not only can we start over, and start a new image, but by learning from our mistakes, we can make the next image even better. And that is the way it goes dad. We draw and make mistakes, but little by little, the image gets better and better. We make less and less mistakes until one day, we have a perfect image. This image on the piece of paper that we are drawing dad, is just like our soul. Confession is our spiritual eraser that we can use to erase our sins so we can start over. The more we come back to confession, the more we can improve and eventually perfect our soul.”

When I heard this, my jaw dropped. I congratulated him, and told him this was the best analogy I have ever heard regarding the Sacrament of Reconciliation. What I paraphrased from his lesson from Mass for the reader I believe could be understood by anyone and I hope that it can help anyone who is trying to explain this to a non-Catholic or to their kids in Catechism. Allow me to add to what my son said for those interested in learning about this Sacrament. I am not going to make my son’s analogy any better, but I will give some biblical references only to collaborate with my son’s beautiful insight on this Sacrament. We are an image of God (Genesis 1:17), but because of sin, we perverted this image. This image is restored in us through Christ who instituted and gifted us the Sacraments of the Church which sanctify us. Once again we can be holy like our Father who is holy (Leviticus 11:44), but we make mistakes. We sin! Even after Christ’s Cross, we continue to pervert this image. Christ knew this was going to happen, and that is why he gave us the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Through the love and mercy of God, we are able to go to His priests at the confessional, and with His Grace, we are able to erase our sins (Ephesians 1:7) and restore His image within us over and over again (just like the picture analogy that my son teaches). The daily goal for Catholics is to maintain this holiness, that is, to be living saints so we can be worthy to be in the presence of the living God. I will write more on the Sacrament of Reconciliation in other articles, but for now let us conclude this first lesson by listening to my son who connects his analogy to another Sacrament, the Sacrament of the Eucharist. 

Sacrament of the Eucharist

Shortly after my son explained to me his drawing analogy, I could see he was very happy to see how excited I was to have learned from him. I am not sure if in this moment he thought about it or he had already created his idea before, but he now had the confidence to tell me more about his ideas about the Church’s Sacraments. He leaned back toward me, pulled me down so only I could listen, and he told me, “You know what dad? You know what the Eucharist is like? If confessing is drawing the picture perfectly, the Eucharist is putting the color.” Jaw drop again!

After hearing what my son had said, I wanted my son to know how profound his analogy really was, but I realized that his understanding was so pure that there was no need to say anything. I sat back up, now almost in tears, and thought about what my son had said for the rest of the day. The Eucharist is truly the color of our Faith, and again, I ask the reader to allow me to add a few additional words to what my son said. The Eucharist is the energy, life, and highest value that can be given to a follower of Christ. Why? Christ is truly present in the Eucharist. For those who have confessed (erased the sins) are able to participate in the Holy Communion at Mass. At the altar, in the hands of the priest, receiving the host in our mouth is to receive Christ, and to be filled spiritually by Him. By participating in Holy Communion, we are able to truly unite ourselves to Jesus. This is exciting! The color, that is, the vibrance, strength, and zeal that activates and animates us is truly our Lord Himself coloring our life. Our God is not dead (1 Corinthians 15:12-20) nor is our God some words in a book (1 Corinthians 4:20). Our God is alive, present, illuminating our life, and casting it with power and Grace. 

How beautiful it is for a ten year old to know and live their faith in this way. This is why Christ teaches us, “Truly I tell you, unless you turn and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 18:3). Let us become like children and continue to work on this drawing, that is, let us continue to perfect ourselves so that we become a perfect image of our Creator. Let all of us continue to fill our life with the color that God offers us which are his Sacraments, especially the Eucharist. I would love to add more here, but I believe I would only start making things more complicated and prove Einstein’s quote. God bless, and if you like to read more or reflect more with me, please give a follow on my Instagram account:

@catholically_conscious