What are some of the best online resources I can go to when it comes to answering questions about the faith for my children? I have a 5-year-old, a 10-year-old, and teenagers. When they ask a question, my response needs to vary because of what they can understand, but I don’t want to blow off their questions or not give them good, authentic answers. So, can you help by listing resources by age?
Katie in Springfield
Hi Katie,
Explaining difficult faith questions to various age groups can be very challenging. Possibly more challenging, however, is finding age-appropriate resources, online or not, to help you answer those questions for the different age levels and for your particular children.
If you have ever had the opportunity to be involved in a parish CCD or PSR faith formation program, you may have noticed that there are a wide variety of possible courses to choose from. Some parishes use a textbook, others have video series, others simply have teachers who prepare and teach a series of lessons.
I use that example to illustrate a point: there are many, many resources out there, but they need a teacher to wield them. Here is a very inexhaustive list of resources, split into two age groups:
Teens into adulthood
The Bible itself and a good Catholic commentary, better found in print than online. Catholic Answers (Catholic.com) is one of the best because you can type your question right there. There is also the tried-and-true Catechism of the Catholic Church. Ascension Presents has hundreds of videos that tackle questions about our faith. Anything on Formed.org (your parish may have an account). Newadvent.org has more academic answers and primary sources. Youcat.org is a youth Catechism based on the Catechism of the Catholic Church. They also have other books that introduce the teachings of the Catholic faith to this age group.
12 and under
EWTN has good children’s resources online including their TV Shows. Going back to Formed.org, they also have good resources and videos for children. The Baltimore Catechism is rarely used anymore but is very good if you are looking for concise and simple answers to questions from kids.
There you have some resources, but the question then becomes less about finding information than about teaching that information to the age group in question. An ordinary 5-year-old and even a 10-year-old is not going to read the Catechism very fruitfully, if at all. They may watch a video you show them, but even then, there is probably going to need to be some level of further explanation from you in order for the information to be received well.
In that vein, I conclude with this: no resource can possibly replace your own personal witness and teaching after your own personal intake and synthesis of the truths of the faith. Priests and theologians, for example, are often very good at explaining deep things to children because they have come to understand the teachings at a very deep level. As you read, listen, and reflect — especially through resources intended for adults — and as you build relationships with your children, I’m confident you’ll become a better teacher for them than almost any online video out there.
Ultimately you present and teach the faith by having an authentic relationship with Jesus Christ yourself and engaging in the liturgical and sacramental life of the Church. Draw them into that relationship. They will see your life and hear your words and, God willing, they will follow. I pray that you can say to your children (to at least some extent!) what St. Paul said to the Corinthians, “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.”
Father Daniel McGrath is parochial vicar at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Springfield and is chaplain of Sacred Heart-Griffin High School in Springfield.