Even, and especially, in the wake of the
child sexual abuse scandal in the Church,
again we must contemplate “the religious
potential of the child” (Sofia Cavalletti).
Bishop Robert Barron, in his Letter to
a Suffering Church, reminds us that “the
child—humble, simple, self-effacing—func-
tions as a sort of iconic
representation of the
divine Child of the di-
vine Father. The route
of access to Jesus is
therefore to move into
the spiritual space of a
child, to ‘accept’ him
in the fullest sense.”
(35–36) To become as
children, we must let
ourselves (fiat) be led by children: “And a
little child shall lead them.” (Is 11:6)
What does this return to the child
mean for the New Evangelization? Two
things primarily: (1) an apologetics of
love, and (2) a study of the contempla-
tive genius of the child. According to Dr.
John Cavadini, an apologetics of love
signifies a renewed pedagogy of the pro-
found basics of the Gospel. On this view,
“love alone is credible” (Hans Urs von
Balthasar) and we are invited to love the
love that gave everything for us unworthy
sinners. This is the way of beauty (via
pulchritudinis) that maintains a constant
connection between the basic kérygma—
message of the Gospel and the mystagogi-
cal didaché—teaching that unfolds as a sa-
vory banquet upon the table of the Lord.
Studying the contemplative genius of
the child involves a conversion on the part
of adults, turning away
from the immaturity
of “adult” sin and to-
ward the spiritual ma-
turity of the innocent
child. The child is she
who wonders and wan-
ders; she who dares
and dances; she who
senses and sings. For
the child, the world
is a playground and “nothing is lacking
where everything is given.” (Bernard of
Clairvaux)
Following the contemplative gaze of
the child, the transfiguration of the
world, becoming the kingdom of heaven,
lights up. Every human being appears as a
personal possibility of redemption. Every
situation bears the potential of exercis-
ing hospitality and thereby entertaining
angels (Heb 13:2) . Every failure is charged
with the power of serving as a merciful
sign of grace and witness to uncondi-
tional Love. And even every sickening
“The child is she who
wonders and wanders;
she who dares and
dances; she who
senses and sings.”
sin renders testimony to the healing word
and touch of the Master and Mender of
hearts who came “to seek and to save the
lost.” (Lk 19:10)
So, in the light of the contemplative
genius of the child, we return to home
plate with Casey, “hold(ing) this treasure
in earthen vessels, that the surpassing
power may be of God and not from us.”
(2 Cor 4:7) Yes, we have struck out, but we
are not abandoned. Because God the Son
has given himself up to the point of aban-
donment—all the way to the God-forsak-
enness of his bleeding Sacred Heart—we
are not abandoned. For “God proves his
love for us in that while we were still sin-
ners Christ died for us” (Rm 5:8). With
this confidence, let us add one final stan-
za to Thayer’s poem:
O Casey, Jesus loves you when you win or
lose or draw,
Unconditional he gives, and grace redeems
the flaw;
Humility comes crashing, fragility gives way,
For there is great joy in Mudville—Jesus
Christ enters the fray.
Dr. Donald Wallenfang is a professor of theol-
ogy and philosophy, and a lay formator for the
Institute of Lay Ministry at Sacred Heart.
shms.edu
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