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Remembering Mother Teresa: Go and Do Likewise - August 08, 2007
Everyone has heard of Mother Teresa. What surprised me was how little I really knew about this great woman when a small group from our church sat down to watch a DVD about her life, "Great Souls: Who Changed a Century." Mother Teresa was born in Albania August 27, 1910 and died ten years ago on September 5, 1997. I thought August might be a good time to take a closer look at what made Mother Teresa tick and receive new inspiration.
The DVD, (also available as a book) was written and produced by David Aikman, former correspondent to Time magazine. Aikman had the opportunity to actually interview Mother Teresa briefly and he recalled how as he approached Mother Teresa, she conveyed a "quiet, orderly calm" with a "deeply wrinkled face [that] reflected at the same time deep fatigue and great energy." He had the chance to ask her, "What motivates you to perform the extraordinary works of charity for which you've become famous?"
Her response was two-fold and very characteristic. Mother Teresa replied, "Ours is not a social work. We work 24-hours a day to express God's love. We evangelize by showing God's love. It is only through God's love that the poor can have their needs met." (book, p. 192).
Mother Teresa founded the worldwide order of the Missionaries of Charity, active in 126 different nations. It is only part of what made her, as Aikman says, "the very personification of compassion."
She was born into a devout and prosperous middle class Catholic family in Albania where the majority were Muslim. She had one brother and a sister, and her father was a partner in a construction company who also imported foods; thus he traveled widely and spoke many languages. Her father was generous, giving away much money and clothing and preached to his children, "Never accept a mouthful unless it is shared with others."
He died when Mother Teresa (Agnes at the time) was just nine. Agnes' mother took up embroidering bridal gowns and costumes to support the family. But she was also generous and compassionate towards the poor, but not in order to receive outward recognition. One of her mother's favorite lines was: "When you do good, do it as if you were casting a stone into the depth of the sea."
These were some of the teachings that shaped Agnes during a relatively happy childhood. Overall, Agnes was quiet, introverted, disciplined, and very religious. Her mother took them on annual pilgrimages to a nearby rural shrine, which was also like a vacation. The pilgrimages probably stirred young Agnes' mind toward the meditative life; she was greatly impressed with tales of Jesuit missionaries to India. She made inquiries as to how she could work as a missionary in India, and after much prayer, headed to Paris for an interview. She was sent to Dublin for language training, and finally put on a ship to India. When she left her mother, she didn't know it would be the last time she would see her. Even though Mother Teresa eventually traveled the world in her role as ambassador for her Missionaries of Charity order, while her mother was still living, the government of her native Albania was such that free travel was not permitted in and out of the country.
But even from afar, she felt her mother's influence. After becoming established as a teacher in a convent in one of the nicer sections of Calcutta, she exclaimed in letters home what a beautiful setting it was. Her mother wrote back: "My dearest daughter, do not forget that you went out there to help the poor." And indeed Mother Teresa had not forgotten; she was often confronted with the poverty and destitution outside the walls of the convent. And there is where she came to spend her life with the poor, the dying, the forgotten, the unloved. When she died, in a country where the vast majority is Hindu and Muslim, Mother Teresa was given a state funeral, an honor which is usually reserved for prime ministers and presidents.
Mother Teresa's legacy--ten years later, is still "love." Give to those less fortunate than you. I have no doubt she'll be remembered even 100 years from now. Yet she did not do these things to be remembered or honored. May we do even just a little more of the same.
Contributed by Melodie Davis: [email protected] Melodie is the author of eight books and writes a syndicated newspaper column, Another Way
Everyone has heard of Mother Teresa. What surprised me was how little I really knew about this great woman when a small group from our church sat down to watch a DVD about her life, "Great Souls: Who Changed a Century." Mother Teresa was born in Albania August 27, 1910 and died ten years ago on September 5, 1997. I thought August might be a good time to take a closer look at what made Mother Teresa tick and receive new inspiration.
The DVD, (also available as a book) was written and produced by David Aikman, former correspondent to Time magazine. Aikman had the opportunity to actually interview Mother Teresa briefly and he recalled how as he approached Mother Teresa, she conveyed a "quiet, orderly calm" with a "deeply wrinkled face [that] reflected at the same time deep fatigue and great energy." He had the chance to ask her, "What motivates you to perform the extraordinary works of charity for which you've become famous?"
Her response was two-fold and very characteristic. Mother Teresa replied, "Ours is not a social work. We work 24-hours a day to express God's love. We evangelize by showing God's love. It is only through God's love that the poor can have their needs met." (book, p. 192).
Mother Teresa founded the worldwide order of the Missionaries of Charity, active in 126 different nations. It is only part of what made her, as Aikman says, "the very personification of compassion."
She was born into a devout and prosperous middle class Catholic family in Albania where the majority were Muslim. She had one brother and a sister, and her father was a partner in a construction company who also imported foods; thus he traveled widely and spoke many languages. Her father was generous, giving away much money and clothing and preached to his children, "Never accept a mouthful unless it is shared with others."
He died when Mother Teresa (Agnes at the time) was just nine. Agnes' mother took up embroidering bridal gowns and costumes to support the family. But she was also generous and compassionate towards the poor, but not in order to receive outward recognition. One of her mother's favorite lines was: "When you do good, do it as if you were casting a stone into the depth of the sea."
These were some of the teachings that shaped Agnes during a relatively happy childhood. Overall, Agnes was quiet, introverted, disciplined, and very religious. Her mother took them on annual pilgrimages to a nearby rural shrine, which was also like a vacation. The pilgrimages probably stirred young Agnes' mind toward the meditative life; she was greatly impressed with tales of Jesuit missionaries to India. She made inquiries as to how she could work as a missionary in India, and after much prayer, headed to Paris for an interview. She was sent to Dublin for language training, and finally put on a ship to India. When she left her mother, she didn't know it would be the last time she would see her. Even though Mother Teresa eventually traveled the world in her role as ambassador for her Missionaries of Charity order, while her mother was still living, the government of her native Albania was such that free travel was not permitted in and out of the country.
But even from afar, she felt her mother's influence. After becoming established as a teacher in a convent in one of the nicer sections of Calcutta, she exclaimed in letters home what a beautiful setting it was. Her mother wrote back: "My dearest daughter, do not forget that you went out there to help the poor." And indeed Mother Teresa had not forgotten; she was often confronted with the poverty and destitution outside the walls of the convent. And there is where she came to spend her life with the poor, the dying, the forgotten, the unloved. When she died, in a country where the vast majority is Hindu and Muslim, Mother Teresa was given a state funeral, an honor which is usually reserved for prime ministers and presidents.
Mother Teresa's legacy--ten years later, is still "love." Give to those less fortunate than you. I have no doubt she'll be remembered even 100 years from now. Yet she did not do these things to be remembered or honored. May we do even just a little more of the same.
Contributed by Melodie Davis: [email protected] Melodie is the author of eight books and writes a syndicated newspaper column, Another Way
