The Value of Children
In Mt 18.1-11, Jesus teaches his disciples that children are the most important ones in the Kingdom of Heaven. The disciples cannot enter the Kingdom unless they become like children. The worst thing a person can do is treat a child in a way that hurts their faith. Children must never be ignored or despised: they are so important that their guardian angels have direct access to God in heaven (18.10).
Marcellin Champagnat believed deeply in the value of children, and their value in the eyes of God. His life’s work was to found an educational institute that would educate children in rural France who woud not otherwise have access to schooling. His favorite psalm was Psalm 127, the third verse of which reads, “Truly, children are a gift from the Lord.” In its original context, this likely referred to a person’s own biological children, but Marcellin read it as referring to all children everywhere.
Marcellin believed young people’s simplicity and innocence made them especially beloved of God. When someone complained to him that students rattled off the rosary without understanding what it meant, he responded, “Did the children who cried out, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David!’ understand properly what they were saying? Yet their prayer was so pleasing to Jesus Christ that he publicly praised it and declared that it is from the mouth of children that God receives the most perfect praise.” 1
Because Jesus used them as a symbol for the importance of children, Marcellin had a special love for guardian angels. In his Spiritual Testament, he told the brothers, “You act as guardian angels to the children entrusted to your care, so to these pure spirits also pay a special homage of love, respect, and confidence.”
1 Life of Joseph Benedict Marcellin Champagnat. John-Baptist Furet. pg 302.
