Devotions for Kids: The Little Way

Devotions for Kids is a series meant for sharing so that everyone - family and community - can spend time in God's Word together with the children in their lives and grow in faith.

but he could not see him because of the crowd, for he was short in stature.

Luke 19:3

In today's Gospel, we hear about a man named Zacchaeus, who wanted to see Jesus more than anything, but had a difficult time because of his size.  Zacchaeus was too short to see over the crowd, so he climbed up a tall tree in order to have a clear view of Jesus.  Do you ever feel like you're too small to do something?

Maybe you're too short to reach the cookie jar in the kitchen, or you're the last one to be picked in a game because you don't run fast.  Maybe your older siblings or friends don't listen to your ideas because they think you're too little.  Guess what?  One of the great saints of the Catholic faith knew just what it was like for both Zacchaeus and for you because she also felt like she was too small to make a big difference.

Thérèse Martin was a young French girl who, more than anything, wanted to become a nun and dedicate her life to Jesus.  She was so confident that God was calling her to religious life that when she was only 15 years old, she tried to join the convent of Carmel.  She was told the Church rules said she was too young to enter.  This must have felt like she was in her own version of a big crowd, and she was too "short" (too young) to be seen.

But just like Zacchaeus, Thérèse was determined to see Jesus.  She took a trip to Rome to see the Pope and broke the rules by speaking to him directly, letting him know just how much she wanted to become a nun and begging him to let her join the convent.  Her brave work paid off when soon after, she was allowed to enter!

Thérèse wasn't able to do big things in her work as a nun, and after a while she began to feel discouraged, like her efforts in doing small, ordinary chores wasn't making a difference to God.  But then, she had a bright idea, that she called the "Little Way."  When we live by Thérèse's "Little Way" we realize that Jesus doesn't look at how big our action is, but instead He looks at how much love we put into it.

St. Thérèse became one of the greatest saints of the Church, and she is known as The Little Flower of Jesus.  Her life shows us that even if we feel too small, we can still make an effort every day to love God in the little things.

Let's pray:  God, sometimes I feel small, like my words and actions don't matter.  Thank You for reminding me that no matter what I do, if I do things with love You will see me!  Amen.