Sunday Reflections- Mother Teresa

Who couldn't love Mother Teresa? Last night I watched a biography of Mother Teresa and it made me weep. She had a mission in life, a single calling, to help the sick, the poor, the forgotten ones and what better place to start than Calcutta, India, during the first half of the of the 20^th century. What set her apart from so many others was her exactness in her desire to help those that no one else would help and nothing more. Mother Teresa would say, "All for Jesus, all for Jesus, all for Jesus, all for Jesus." When asked why. She called herself a pencil in God's hands. How wonderful to be an instrument for Jesus. In this biography she quoted a most memorable passage from the Bible," To the least of these my brethren, for what you do unto them you do unto me" [paraphrased] this most exemplified what Mother Teresa was doing here on earth, in Calcutta, in the United States with Aids patients, all across the globe. She said of the sick and the poor that she saw them as Jesus in the distress and in disguise. This applied to all who suffered, not just the Christian, or the Catholic, but to the Atheist, the Muslim, and the Hindu, on and on and in places like, Jordan, Tanzania, Greenwich Village, London, Mexico City and Washington, DC.

Mother Teresa pulled people nearing death from the gutters, not because she thought she might save their life, in many cases it was to ease their death, to bring them comfort in their last moments with a clean bed, and food if they could take it, to be watched over by her loving sister's in her order, talked to, prayed for, "living Christ's love for them" and in whatever measure she could bring, she sought to bring them peace in their dying day. Some survived and but many did not. Mother Teresa was self-less, a frail woman standing less than five feet tall and weighing less than a hundred pounds but her inner strength that she gathered from her deep faith kept her going on her single calling for her entire life; to do the work of Jesus.

I pray that we should all this day, think of her, of Jesus and consider one selfless thing we might do for someone in need. Imagine if all of us came together in this single act- what could be accomplished? If Mother Teresa was able to do all these things, what then could billions of people giving just a little more of themselves do? "Jesus in distress and in disguise", I pray that you take this single thought with you today and remember the love that Jesus has for all the people of the world. Love is a verb, an action. If all that you can do is smile at another human being than do it.

Great Souls: Mother Teresa available at Netflix on DVD and Streaming and most likely at your public library since this is a 2002 film.

Mother Teresa Quotes