At St Joseph’s Church in Singapore, built by the Portuguese in 1854 under the Bishop of Macau, the statues of St Francis Xavier and St Thérèse of the Child Jesus sit high above on both sides of the sanctuary. Xavier travelled far and wide, and did stop in Malaysia and Singapore while enroute to the missions in the Far East. St Thérèse, however, never left the cloistered Carmelite Monastery in Lisieux. But still she is designated as Patron of the Missions, besides Xavier. It’s because her life was a witness to Christian living through her “Little Way.” She was totally committed to the mission and prayed for the mission. She was drawn to save the souls of sinners and willingly made sacrifices for them. She did not walk in any mission land. Yet her missionary zeal was so great that she promised she would continue after her death to pray for souls.

Her sense of the “Little Way” – the ordinariness of day to day life through prayer and sacrifice – reflects the child-like attitude Jesus is asking us to follow. Jesus is encouraging us to change and become like little children; otherwise we will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

The image of the child is further strengthened in Isaiah. When we become like little children, God takes care of us as a mother who feeds the child at her consoling breasts. We are carried and comforted by a motherly God!