ArcaMax

Q: When my daughter was nearly four years old I took her to Mass. When the altar boys approached the altar, she whispered to me, "Mommy, why are those boys wearing dresses?"

A: Sounds like when my daughter at the same age shouted out in the synagogue service, “Mommy, why is daddy speaking Spanish?” The serious part of these charming stories is that children begin at an early age to see and sense that houses of worship are not like their homes but they do feel like a home. Later in their lives they hopefully will grow into feeling that whenever they enter a house of worship of their faith they have entered a spiritual home that, along with their home and their work or school, grounds them and offers them community and hope.

Q: My daughter was having her preschool Thanksgiving presentation at church. All the children were up front in their little pilgrim outfits. When the pastor (who had a head of stark-white hair) walked up to the podium she stood up and began waving frantically. She said, “Hello, God. I’m Shelby.” He looked at all us parents and raised his hands and said, “Wow I’ve never been called that, I think I’ve just been elevated!” – (From B)

A: Another charming story with a deeper meaning. One of the greatest challenges for religious teachers and clergy is figuring out a way to teach kids how to love God without falling for the old notion that God is an old man with a beard (either on or off a cloud). Christians may seem to have an easier time of this because Jesus appeared as a man. However, God is not a man. God is an invisible being who created everything. That is an extremely difficult concept to grasp and an even harder concept to teach to children. My view is to let children live with their naïve visions for as long as possible but also try to insert the notion that being male is not more holy than being female. I would love to hear from teachers of faith to children how they have managed not to gender-ize God. We all should want children to embrace God but also embrace the belief that this God spreads love and salvation to every person and every being in our good green earth.

Q: When I was a kid I would have sleepovers at my girlfriend’s house. It was a big deal when I was allowed to spend another night. My mother would say, “but you have to go to church in the morning.” Of course I said I would. So, in the morning, me and my friend would jump on our bikes and ride as fast as we could to the nearest church, throw down our bikes, and run up the steps. I would walk in, make the sign of the cross and turn around and run back down, jump on our bikes and away we would go. I was eight, I had a lot to do that day besides sit in church for an hour. – (From B again)

A: I love the way smart and honest kids can figure out loopholes in their promises to parents. I think this trait will make them good parishioners and very good lawyers. Sometimes changes in the culture take care of some of these problems. When I retired from my synagogue, my assistant rabbi, my cantor, and my rabbi/educator were all women and two of the three were rabbis. In my last class with some young students in my religious school, a little girl asked me a question, “Rabbi Gellman, can a man still become a rabbi?” Time heals all theological wounds.

Q: I enjoy your column and share it with my Byzantine Catholic priest.

Your Sunday school kids' column reminded me of the time when my priest asked his young pupils the name of the town where Christ was born. As they remained mute, he said, "It begins with an N." My son blurted out: "Norristown." Norristown is near where I grew up in Ambler, Pennsylvania, outside Philadelphia, and also where Tommy Lasorda was born, went to high school and began his baseball career. God Bless. – (Anonymous)

A: Last time I checked, Norristown was just over the hill from Nazareth, but I am just not aware of any other theologians who link the Dodgers with the coming of the Messiah. God bless you too.

(Send ALL QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS to The God Squad via email at godsquadquestion@aol.com. Rabbi Gellman is the author of several books, including “Religion for Dummies,” co-written with Fr. Tom Hartman. Also, the new God Squad podcast is now available.)

©2026 The God Squad. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

(c) 2026 THE GOD SQUAD DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.