Death is always a profound rupture in a child's life. Yet it is precisely there—mysteriously—that life can spring forth. But how do we help a child understand what lies at the heart of our faith, as Saint Thérèse of Lisieux put it: "I am not dying. I am entering into Life"?
Telling a grieving child "Don't cry—Grandpa is happy now" is not enough. Faith and hope do not erase suffering. Even Jesus wept at the tomb of his friend Lazarus. Let us first listen to the child's questions, their pain, their anger—and help them transform these into true prayer, the kind God awaits.
Encourage the child to see the body of the deceased (gently, without insisting). This sight is often deeply settling. It allows the child to pray with family and speak a word of farewell. Attending the funeral, going to the cemetery—these concretize the reality of separation and open a door into God's mystery. These are the moments to answer every question.
Even when we hesitate to speak with a child who is disabled, we must not be afraid to speak of this approach to God that death is, of this path of Resurrection. As we do with all children, let us dare to present death as a door opening onto the Father's house, as the key to a lasting joy where disability will be transcended. Then we may be surprised by their spiritual openness—often far deeper than our own.
by Père Christian Mahéas, translation (2018) by Elisabetta Thornton, from Ombres et Lumière no. 177/2010
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