I am “stealing” the following article from an Irish magazine. Having read it, you may say, “Well, we can’t all be like Mother Teresa.” That’s true. But we can all learn something from her, which could affect our lives and the lives of others. So here it goes. Apparently, she had been asked the secret of her success with the poor and this was her answer.
Mother Teresa’s success
My secret is quite simple. I pray and through my prayer, I become one in love with Christ, and see that praying to him is to love him, and that means to fulfill his words. Remember the words of Saint Matthew’s Gospel: “I was hungry and you gave me no food. I was thirsty and you gave me no drink. I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.” My poor ones in the world’s slums are like the suffering Christ. In them, God’s Son lives and dies and through them, God shows me his true face.
“Prayer, for me, means becoming 24 hours a day as one with the will of Jesus, to live for him, through him and with him. If we pray, we will believe. If we believe, we will love. If we love, we will serve.
The worst suffering
The greatest suffering is being lonely, feeling unloved, just having no one. I have come to realize more and more that being unwanted is the worst disease that any human being can ever experience. Nowdays, we have found medicine for leprosy and lepers can be cured. There’s medicine for TB and consumption can be cured. For all kinds of diseases, there are medication and cures, but for being unwanted, unless there are willing hands to serve and loving hearts to love, I don’t think this terrible disease can ever be cured.
Would Mary choose your home?
If Mary and Joseph were looking for a place to make room for Jesus, would they choose our house and all that it holds and is filled with? Prayer begins at home and a family that prays together stays together. We must give Jesus a home in our homes, for only than can we give him to others.
Does your spouse feel unwanted
Make your house, your family, another Nazareth where love, peace, joy and unity reign, for love begins at home. You must be the hope of eternal happiness to your wife, your husband, your child, your grandfather and grandmother, to whoever is connected with you. Maybe in your home there is somebody who is very unwanted, very handicapped. Maybe your husband, your wife, your child is lonely. Do you know that?
The article continues with other examples of Mother Teresa’s charity, which gave me occasion to look into my own relationship with other people and examine my conscience. It concludes with the following words: “Smile at one another. It is not always easy. Sometimes I find it hard to smile at my sisters, but then we must pray. It is Christmas every time you smile at your brother or sister and offer them your hand. It is Christmas every time you let God love others through you.”
