Joy in Suffering/"A Little Child Shall Lead Them"

2147703Joy in Suffering — "A Little Child Shall Lead Them"1933Adolph Alexander Noser

JOY IN SUFFERING


"A Little Child Shall Lead Them"

Suffering is the common lot of man. Many people spend their lives in an unbroken effort to plan ways of escaping it. All through the ages philosophers have racked their brains in an attempt to find a solution of the mystery of pain. Nineteen hundred years ago the Son of God came down from heaven and chose to be a "Man of Sorrows," that He might be the Way and Model for suffering mankind. But men either rejected or neglected His wholesome doctrine, and today God, who is ever rich in mercy and compassion, to recall these priceless lessons, has placed before the eyes of the world a tender maiden to teach them in a most attractive manner, both by word and example—one solicitous not about avoiding suffering, but about embracing it joyously with all her heart. The words of the prophet, "a little child shall lead them," are fully verified in St. Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face.