The holiday season is often a time of joy, but it can also highlight grief in our lives. To help families who are facing loss, Father Dave welcomes back Anthony DeStefano to discuss his new children’s book, “Christmas in Heaven.”
Anthony explains his fulfillment in writing for children. “I’ve always been awed by the parables of our Lord. Young people and people with little education can understand them, but at the same time they have the depths that the greatest theologians and philosophers are still exploring today,” he says. “I want kids to be able to get the main message in a powerful and entertaining way, but I also want the adults who are reading these books to get some deeper understanding or truth of the faith.”
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The book details a boy asking his grandfather where his grandmother will be celebrating Christmas since she has passed away. The grandfather explains how she is in heaven and will be part of a festive celebration for Jesus. Anthony says, “He paints this consoling picture for him of heaven and the big birthday party that’s going on there with all the saints, angels, and Our Lady.”
“I wanted to write a book about the true meaning of Christmas, but it’s also an introduction to the angels and saints, and a book about grieving with hope in the resurrection,” he continues. “Children grieve just like adults and we can’t sweep [those feelings] under the rug. Luckily, in our faith we have this beautiful teaching on heaven, and that for Christians the final word is not death…Armed with that teaching, we can help children and adults grieve in a healthy way.”
Father Dave notes the joy in the book and says, “You have the saints doing things up in heaven at this big Christmas party that we know them for, like St. Lucy is putting up Christmas lights and St. Cecilia and St. Gregory are singing a duet.” Anthony adds, “I include the most famous saints and angels, but I also wanted to include lesser-known saints too. Like St. Honoré, the patron saint of baking, because there has to be a cake at a birthday party.” Other examples include St. Martha cleaning for the party, St. Nicholas putting presents under the tree, and St. Anthony helping to find a lost gift.
“We treated these saints in a humorous way because we’re dealing with such a serious subject,” Anthony continues. “I think that will help children to deal with the more serious aspects of the book in a healthy and more positive way. I also include a glossary at the end of the book with thumbnail sketches and paragraphs describing what each saint is famous for and why they’re doing what they’re doing in the book.”
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Father Dave asks about the positive feedback from the book, and Anthony responds, “It almost validates my whole life when you’re able to console a grieving family. It’s good to talk about heaven more than we usually do; I think it’s very easy to talk to children about heaven, since heaven is just God’s home.”
“When people die and those people love God, they go from their home on Earth to God’s home in heaven, and that’s something that all children can understand,” he continues. “The more we’re able to show children how wonderful a place heaven is, the more consolation they’ll experience when they’re grieving about a loved one who has moved there.”
