Originally published at crisis magazine
The Lord said to Moses, “And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart; you shall teach them diligently to your children” (Deuteronomy 6:6-7).
And in every generation since, it has challenged adults to involve and inspire their children in the Faith. As kids eat Cheerios in church, skip catechism class, or daydream about soccer during Sunday Mass, parents search for ways to pass on to their children the authentic drama and passion and sheer magnificence of the Faith.
The 19th-century author Charles Dickens wanted that for his children, too. The animated feature film The King of Kings—opening April 11, on the eve of Holy Week—is loosely based on a virtually unknown Dickens work: The Life of Our Lord, written for my beloved children. Dickens wrote it exclusively for his children, and he read it to them every Christmas. It was never meant for publication; indeed, the family was forbidden to share it outside the household. When the last Dickens child died, in 1934, the family decided to release it to the public. Critics claimed that it had none of the great literary merit that marked Dickens’ masterpiece novels, which is strange, since it was a retelling of the
