"Mother Teresa"
Family Lesson #29
It's time to meet one of my favorite saints! I've been waiting all year to share her with you, because she is such a great model for living out all seven of the Corporal Works of Mercy! Meet Mother Teresa! Don't you just love her smile? She's also known as St. Teresa of Calcutta, because the city of Calcutta, India, is where she did much of her ministry to the poor.
Mother Teresa, as she was known during her life, was born in 1910 in Albania, what is today North Macedonia, the country just to the north of Greece. When she became a nun, she wanted to take the name of St. Therese of Lisieux, the patron saint of missionaries. (Do you remember learning about St. Therese earlier this year? She lived out her short life in a convent with other nuns, but became the patron saint of missionaries because of her devoted prayers for them!) Mother Teresa was a teacher at a school near Calcutta, India, for 20 years.
In 1950, Mother Teresa founded the Missionaries of Charity with 12 other nuns. Their habit, or uniform, is a white sari (the traditional clothing of India) with blue stripes along the border. One of the vows, or promises, made by the Missionaries of Charity is to "give wholehearted free service to the poorest of the poor." And that is exactly what she spent her life doing.
One of the first things she did after founding the Missionaries of Charity was to open a hospice center in Calcutta, a place where poor people who were dying could die with dignity instead of alone in the streets. (Sounds like the Corporal Work of Mercy "Bury the Dead," doesn't it?) She opened another hospice for people with leprosy ("Care for the Sick!"). (Remember St. Damien and the lepers of Molokai?) She opened an orphanage and a homeless shelter for children who have nowhere to go ("Shelter the Homeless!").
Although most of her work was done in the poorest parts of India, Mother Teresa traveled outside of India to help others too, and the Missionaries of Charity have groups all over the world. One time, Mother Teresa visited Ethiopia in Africa to care for victims of a famine there. People were starving because they were unable to grow food because of a drought ("Feed the Hungry!...Give Drink to the Thirsty!"). Guess who was in Ethiopia at the same time, helping to care for the hungry? Mr. Cathcart's grandparents! They actually met Mother Teresa in Ethiopia! How awesome is that?
Mother Teresa received the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1979, one of the most famous awards in the world. She died in 1997, just 24 years ago! The cause for her sainthood was quickly begun, and she was canonized as a saint in 2015.
There are so many reasons I love Mother Teresa. She is an inspiration and an example for all of us in her care for the "poorest of the poor" in Calcutta, India. And yet, she also famously said, "Stay where you are. Find your own Calcutta. Find the sick, the suffering, and the lonely, right where you are — in your own homes and in your own families, in homes and in your workplaces and in your schools." Do you know anyone who is lonely or suffering? Mother Teresa says we don't need to travel all the way to India or Ethiopia to care for people. We can find people who need our help right here in our own town, our own school, our own family!
She also said, "If you want to change the world, go home and love your family!" She reminds us that showing love for the people in our families is how we create the loving people who can go out and care for others!
And my most favorite bit of wisdom from Mother Teresa is this: "We can do no great things, but only small things with great love."
How many "small things" did Mother Teresa do in her lifetime? How many people did she feed? How many children did she rescue from the streets? How many sick people did she comfort? How many dying people did she help to die with dignity? To how many people did she give a cup of water? To how many did she give a warm blanket? And how much "great love" did she share with the world?
My challenge for you today (and every day!) is this: "Do small things with great love!" What small thing can you do that will show someone they are loved and valued by God? What great love can you share with someone who is feeling lonely? If you do one small thing with great love every day for the rest of your life, that's thousands of times when you have the opportunity to change the world!