(March 3, 2021) Recently, we watched the movie ‘The Letters’ about the life of Mother Teresa of Calcutta. (It’s available to rent through Amazon.) Mother Teresa was one of the most spiritually influential people of our generation. She won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 and was canonized in 2016.
Mother Teresa has been a source of inspiration for me for as far back as I can remember. Watching the movie prompted me to do something a little differently for this reflection. This week, I’m letting her do the talking; I’m sharing with you some of her spiritual wisdom. Her quotes below assure us that, among other things, giving doesn’t have to be complicated, and that even our ordinary and everyday work can become holy if it’s blanketed in love.
I invite you to let her words sink into your mind and heart. Notice what grabs your attention and maybe moves you to act. May her words and example inspire all of us to find our way closer to God and each other through our prayers, love, and service.
“Sanctity is not a luxury for the few. It is a simple duty for you and me. I have to be a saint in my way and you in yours. Thoughtfulness is the beginning of great sanctity. If you learn this art of being thoughtful you will become more and more like Christ, for His heart was meek and He always thought of others.”
“Start by making your own home a place where peace, happiness, and love abound, through your love for each member of your family and for your neighbor.”
“Even if we do a small thing for somebody, God, being almighty, sees everything as great. Even if you write a letter for a blind man, or you just sit and listen to someone, or you take the mail for him, or you visit somebody or bring a flower to somebody, or wash clothes for somebody or clean the house… small things, but God sees everything as great. There are many people who can do big things. But there are very few people who will do the small things.”
“Pray at home for only five minutes. Prayer is simply talking to God. He speaks to us, we listen. We speak to Him, He listens. A two-way process: speaking and listening.”
“You can pray while you work. Work doesn’t stop prayer and prayer doesn’t stop work. It requires only that small raising of the mind to Him: ‘I love you, God. I trust you. I believe in you. I need you now.’ Small things like that. They are wonderful prayers.”
“It is so beautiful that we complete each other! What we are doing in the slums, maybe you cannot do. What you are doing at the level where you are called – in your family life, in your college life, in your work – we cannot do. But together you and we are doing something beautiful for God.”
“To the cast of a musical performance in Calcutta I said, ‘Your work and our work complete each other. What we are doing is needed in the world as never before. You are giving them joy by your action and we are doing the same by service. And it is the same action whether you are singing and dancing and we are rubbing and scrubbing. You are filling the world with the love God has given you.’”
“What made me start my work, what inspired me and kept me going during so many years? Jesus. We do it for Jesus. I take Jesus at His word and He never lets me down. He said, ‘Ask and you will receive.’ So I ask. If it is for His glory He will grant it; if not, let us forget about it. God knows what is good for us.”
“I do not think I have any special qualities. I don’t claim anything for the work. It is His work. I am like a little pencil in God's hand; that is all. He does the thinking. He does the writing. The pencil has nothing to do with it. The pencil has only to be allowed to be used.”
“A rich man came to me and said he wanted to give up something in his life – his house, his car. I suggested, ‘When you go to the store to buy a new suit or some clothes, instead of buying the best, buy one that is a little less expensive and use that extra money to buy something for someone else, or better still for the poor.’
When I finished saying this he looked really amazed and exclaimed, ‘Oh! Is that the way, Mother? I never thought of it.’ When he left, he looked so happy and full of joy at the thought of helping others.”
And, finally: “We can never know how much good a simple smile can do.”
I found nothing mentioned about it, but I suspect Mother Teresa loved this happy and hopeful verse:
“Give and gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap. For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you." -- Luke 6:38
PRAYER: “Lord, may everything I say and do be for You, with You, and because of You.”
This article is a personal reflection by Gina Bedell © 2021. It and other reflections written by her invite the reader to reflect on a given topic and then seek deeper answers through prayer, additional spiritual reading, and/or consultation with clergy or other persons who may guide the reader to a deeper faith and understanding of God’s love and will for their life.
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