Roman Catholic Religion

My younger son, Jason, is only 4+ and is an ardent fan of Star Wars. He has been enamored by the series since our satellite channel provider began screening reruns end of 2006. He has watched all 6 episodes of Star Wars and he frequently will ask one of these questions after watching yet another rerun that continues to this day but less frequently than last year:

• why did Anakin Skywalker become bad?
• why did Darth Vader save his son from the Emperor?
• why was the Emperor bad?

Although I've watched the intial (4 to 6) three episodes several times, these questions never cropped up in my mind. So when Jason asked me these, I took it as an opportunity to teach him Catholic catechism.

So my answers to his three questions above are:

• Anakin wanted so badly to change the world that he listened to the wrong people and saw the good people as bad and the bad people as good. This is what happens when we listen to the devil. If we don't follow what Jesus tells us to do, we can become like Darth Vader.
• Darth Vader became good at the end because there was still some good in him. There is always some good in all people even the very bad people. It's the Holy Spirit that asked Darth Vader to save his son and therefore became good again. Everybody, even bad people can become good is they listen to the Holy Spirit. God gives us many chances to become good and He doesn't give up on us.
• The emperor was a bad person because he didn't want to listen to the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit speaks to all people to do good. But people must decide if they want to be good.

Of course Jason doesn't understand the concept of the devil and Holy Spirit but I believe that it's never too early to teach a child about religion.