Maxims

From catechist Dan Teller:
In the 3-6 atrium, a foundation for living the moral life is prepared as the child enters into a personal and loving relationship with Jesus, our Guide and our Shepherd.  In the 6-9 atrium, this indirect preparation for moral formation leads to a more explicit emphasis on behavior in light of our call to follow Jesus. 
One way that we offer this to the children is through meditation on the “Maxims.”  The maxims are brief Scripture passages, mostly from the Gospels and particularly the Sermon on the Mount, that exhort us to live the life that Jesus calls us to live.

Recently, we were discussing two of the more difficult maxims:  “Love your enemies,” and “Pray for your persecutors.”  Two children's revealed their interior response with their comments:

Blake (age 7) remarked on praying for our persecutors:  “We need to pray for our persecutors, because if they are persecuting us, then they won't be ready to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.”

Neil (age 7) remarked on loving our enemies:  “If we love our enemies, then they won't be our enemies anymore.”