Let Children Aim High This Lent

There are two things wrong with this common parental reaction. First is the notion that children need child-like penances; second is the fear of the child’s failure. Before he was martyred, 12-year-old Cristero St. José Luis Sanchez del Rio refused to apostatize when tortured and threatened by government officials – even urging on another Cristero who was killed before his eyes. At age 17, Bl. Chiara Badano suffered from bone cancer, refusing pain medication because the pain, she said, brought her closer to Our Lord. So much did St. Tarcisius love the Eucharist at age 12 that he died rather than see it desecrated. How do we dare hold our children back from doing hard things?