Mother Teresa - Something Beautiful for God by Malcolm Muggeridge BOOK SUMMARY 'In your own way, try to make the world conscious that it is never too late to do something beautiful for God.' Mother Teresa, in a letter to Malcolm Muggeridge In 1969, Malcolm Muggeridge travelled to Calcutta to make a documentary about Mother Teresa with the BBC. Muggeridge was immediately impressed on his first meeting with her and his resulting documentary, Something Beautiful for God, brought Mother Teresa to the attention of the world's media and public. Following the documentary trip, Muggeridge wrote this book (originally published in 1971), which combines his reflections about Mother Teresa, her work and the time he spent with her, quotes from Mother Teresa on a wide range of topics and an in-depth interview between Mother Teresa and Muggeridge. This labour of love is as much the author's personal homage as it is an uplifting chronicle of his discovery of Mother Teresa and the religious order she instituted. No woman alive today has inspired so many with her simplicity of faith and compassion so all-encompassing. As she daily embraces the "least of the least" in her arms, Mother Theresa challenges the whole world to greater acts of service and understanding in the name of love. First published in 1971, this classic work introduced Mother Theresa to the Western World. As timely now as it was then, Something Beautiful for God interprets her life through the eyes of a modern-day skeptic who became literally transformed within her presence, describing her as "a light which could never be extinguished." Something Beautiful for God interprets her life through her conversations with Malcolm Muggeridge, the quintessential worldly skeptic who experienced a remarkable conversion to Christianity because of her exemplary influence. He hails her as a "light which could never be extinguished." "SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL FOR GOD" by Stan Griffin She was born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu (AG-nes GOHN-jah BOY-yah-jee-oo) in what today is part of Yugoslavia. It was said about her: "... In a dark time she (was) a burning and a shining light." "Even her bitterest critics cannot deny... she changed the world... and she did indeed accomplish something beautiful for God." "She was the woman who believed every person counts." "(She is)... an emancipated soul who has transcended all barriers of race, religion, creed, and nation..." We know her as Mother Teresa (tuh-ray-suh), a woman "... who made the world a better place... by providing homes for abandoned babies and for the dying..., (establishing)... clinics, training centers, schools, nurseries,... (orphanages) and mobile dispensaries,... (supplying) love, food, and shelter for the poor (and)... caring for lepers." (people with leprosy, a chronic infectious disease causing painful swellings of the skin, disfigurement and deformities).
Today her Missionaries of Charity houses are found in 120 countries, on every one of the world s populated continents, where 4,500 sisters (and brothers) are working. Through Mother Teresa s nearly 4½ decades of life, a grateful world bestowed upon her many awards. The most distinguished was 1979's Nobel Peace Prize. In 1985 President Reagan presented her with the U. S. Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation s highest civilian award. Our country also recognized her good works with honorary U. S. citizenship in 1996, only the fifth person to be singled out. She received honorary degrees from Harvard University and from Cambridge University in England. She addressed the United Nations in 1985, on its 40 th anniversary. At her funeral, nearly a half-million mourners came to say a final goodbye to the little nun who cast such a big shadow on the world. This amazing woman was born on August 27, 1910 in Skopje, Macedonia (later Yugoslavia) She was the youngest child of Albanian parents; she had a sister Age and a brother Lazar. Her father, Nikola was a successful businessman, a member of the town council, and a patriot. When Agnes was eight, he had a heart attack and died in the local hospital. Her mother, Drana, was an expert seamstress, a skill that enabled her to support the family. At her dressmaker shop, she embroidered cloth, sewed wedding dresses, and made festival costumes. Agnes was a sickly child, often stricken with coughs and fevers. She attended a government school, but the Roman Catholic religion was very important to all of her family. They lived next to the parish church of Sacred Heart of Jesus. Agnes sang in the church choir, picked flowers for festivals, and hung flags and banners for pageants. At the age of 12, she learned about the homeless in India and nuns there who often helped them. On a family trip to the mountains, they stopped to pray at statues along the road. During one of these pauses, Agnes heard a voice saying "follow God... (and) serve others." She was 15 and felt these words were a call for her to join the Loreto order of Catholic nuns in Bengal, India. Her words: "It was the will of God. It was His choice" By 1928, at age 18, her decision to be a nun was finalized. She traveled to Ireland and spent time at a Loreto convent near Dublin where she studied English. Later that year she made the voyage to Calcutta, India, arriving in 1929. She was sent to Darjeeling in northern India (near the foothills of the Himalayas) in May to begin her "novitiate" -- no-vish-ee-it-- (the period of study and prayer a nun undergoes before taking her vows, pledging her life to God). She studied Scripture, rules of the Loreto order, and languages: English, Hindi, and Bengali. Agnes spent 1928-1948 teaching: first at Darjeeling; and later in Calcutta in St. Mary s School. By 1937, at age 27, Agnes was prepared and took her final vows as a nun, pledging "poverty, chastity, obedience." She chose as her name "Sister Teresa" after the patron saint of missionaries: Therese of Lisieux, the "Little Flower of Jesus." At St. Mary s, she taught Latin and geography before becoming principal. The student body of approximately 300 was made up of Indian girls and Anglo-Indian girls, mostly from wealthy parents. Calcutta was then the fourth largest city in the world and one of the most crowded. Its slums were among the worst. Sister Teresa sometimes looked beyond the walls of St. Mary s and saw the widespread poverty and plight of the poor outside the convent. Hospitals were crowded and often turned away patients, leaving them to die. On occasion she carried such people off the street, washed them, and made them comfortable.
While traveling on a train from Calcutta to Darjeeling in 1946, Teresa heard another call. This one said to "give up all and follow Him into the slums to serve Him among the poorest of the poor." She called this "Inspiration Day," a "call within a call." Sister Teresa asked church officials if she could move out of the convent into the city and work among the poor. She also asked for permission to start a new order of nuns to help her. After a short course in nursing, she left the convent. (1948) Sister Teresa removed her usual nun s habit and replaced it with a white cotton sari (SAHRee), the traditional dress of poor women in India. Hers had a blue border as a reminder of the Virgin Mary. On her left shoulder was a crucifix. Her first act after reaching the streets of Calcutta s slums was to start teaching children under a locust tree, without any books or desks. Soon she was joined by other nuns who also wanted to help the poor. In 1950 the Pope gave his official permission to set up a new order. Its name became "Missionaries of Charity." While writing a constitution, she made an addition to the usual vows: "... and to give wholehearted, free service to the poorest of the poor..." As mother superior, Sister Teresa became "Mother Teresa." After living in quarters that were too small, they finally were able to find a three-story building which fit their needs (1953). It was named the "Motherhouse" and remains today as the headquarters of the Missionaries of Charity. By the end of the first five years, Mother Teresa had established a shelter for destitute and dying: "Kalighat Nirmal Hriday." The following year she opened a place for orphans: "Nirmala Shisha Bhavan, the Children s Home of the Immaculate Heart" for destitute and dying. In 1957 the Missionaries of Charity opened "Shanti Nagar," a village where leper families could live and learn new trades. Two years later the sisters took their good works outside of Calcutta for the first time. Mother Teresa sensed a need for men to take care of boys at schools and the men in the Home for the Dying so she organized the "Missionary Brothers of Charity" (1963). Later they worked in places too dangerous for the sisters, such as Vietnam and Cambodia. In 1965 the first Missionaries of Charity house outside India was founded in Venezuela (South America). From there they spread to other countries of the world. A film produced by the British Broadcasting Company (BBC) in 1969 made Mother Teresa world famous. After it was shown on television, donations poured in. Many viewers said it had a "profound effect" on their lives. Its title was "Something Beautiful for God." Journalist Malcolm Muggeridge, who interviewed her for his documentary, believed a miracle took place during its making. Scenes were being shot in the House for the Dying. Technical opinion was there wasn t enough light for usable footage. However, when the processed film was shown, the scenes were "bathed in a beautiful soft light." It was 1971 when the Missionaries of Charity began operation of a center for aborigines (native people) in Australia. Mother Teresa was given the "world s greatest honor" in 1979 when she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her work with the poor. The Nobel Committee said: "She contributed to international peace by bridging the gulf that exists between the rich nations and the poor nations... by her confirmation of the inviolability (can t be taken away) of human dignity..." A "Washington Post" editorial commented on her selection: "... Occasionally the... Nobel Committee uses the Prize to remind the world that there is more than one kind of peace and that politics is not the only way to pursue it..."
Mother arrived in Oslo, Norway where temperatures are notoriously frigid; but she got off the plane wearing her thin sari and carrying a shopping bag. The presentation was made by the King of Norway. Part of the Award is a check for $190,000 which Mother Teresa said would go to "feed the poor and help people with leprosy." Part of her acceptance speech follows: "Personally I am unworthy. I accept in the name of the poor because I believe that by giving me the prize they have recognized the presence of the poor of the world... People must love one another so no one feels unwanted, especially the children... Love had to be the basis for establishment of peace in the world..." A formal banquet is always part of the festivities in Oslo. For the first time in Nobel history, that banquet was canceled--by request of Mother Teresa. Its cost would have been $6,000, and she preferred to use that money to furnish 15,000 meals to the poor. Mother Teresa and the Missionaries of Charity set up hospices in California and New York for patients with AIDS. (1987) In 1990, after over 40 years of almost constant activity, Mother Teresa began to have trouble with her heart. After she had a heart attack in 1989, a pacemaker was inserted. She offered to resign as head of the Missionaries, but no replacement was available. She agreed to remain on the job. Regardless of the fact she was still recovering from a serious illness the previous year, she insisted on keeping up her frantic pace. Traveling through the countries of eastern Europe took two months. She also spent many days at Calcutta s Home for the Destitute and Dying. Doctors told her she should "slow down." Her reply: "I have all eternity to rest, and there is still much to do... Life is not worth living unless it is lived for others." By March of 1997, Mother Teresa s physical condition had deteriorated, and she was too frail to carry on; forcing her to retire. Six months later, September 5, while she was at the Motherhouse in Calcutta, she suffered a fatal heart attack. To show their respect, the Indian government gave her a state funeral. Thousands came to show their love and respect for her. She was buried near the Motherhouse chapel. Her epitaph is a quote from Jesus: "Love one another as I have loved you." The Missionaries of Charity s new leader was Sister Nirmala, a 63-year-old nun who was born a Hindu and later became a Catholic. She refused to take the title "Mother" because "... it is not due me... no one can ever really replace her..." but she and the others promised to continue serving the "poorest of the poor." Six years after her death, Mother Teresa was "beatified" by Pope John Paul II in a ceremony held in Rome on October 19, 2003. This is a "recognition accorded by the Church of a dead person s ascension to Heaven and (her) capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in (her) name." She can now be: (1) publicly venerated ; (2) called "Blessed Teresa of Calcutta"; (3)granted a feast day; and (4)honored by having her image displayed in places of worship with permission of the Vatican. Beatification is a first step toward possible canonization (sainthood). It is not unlikely one day Mother Teresa will take that final step. Background Mother Teresa was born in 1910 in Skopje, now in Macedonian, and had a particularly loving family life. For several years after the age of puberty she wanted to lead an ordinary married life but later she resolved to serve God and become a nun. In 1928 she joined the Order of
the Sisters of Loretto, in Ireland, and in 1929 was sent to teach at St. Mary's High School in Calcutta. She was much loved at the school but in 1946, while on a train to the hill station of Darjeeling (to recover from suspected tuberculosis and malaria), she received what she described as a call within a call - to serve the poor. In 1948 she was released from her duties at the convent, had some medical training in Paris, and, coming across a half-dead woman lying in front of a Calcutta hospital, comforted her and stayed with her until she died. From that point onward she dedicated her life to helping the poorest of the poor, and in 1950 founded a religious order called the Missionaries of Charity. In 1952 she started the Nirmal Hirday Home for the Dying (Nirmal Hirday meaning Pure Heart) in an abandoned Kali temple in Calcutta. Half a century later the Mission has 50 branches in Indian cities and has centres in 126 other countries, including, most recently, China. With Mother Teresa's death in 1997 (see further on), leadership of the Order - the fastest-growing Order within the Catholic Church - fell to Sister Nirmala, an almost 70-yearold Indian woman of whom one of the biographers of the Order (Navin Chawla) wrote: I saw this sister with a very gentle smile and twinkling eyes that seemed to take in everything... There is an enormous piety about this woman. She is deeply religious. So, contrary to the views of many detractors, it seems that the Missionaries of Charity is healthy and has survived the passing of its founder. What Mother Teresa was like Contrary to the usual view that saints undergo great hardship and live in misery, awaiting their reward in heaven, the situation seems to be quite the opposite; and in the case of Mother Teresa (and most of the other sisters) her life, though hard in the extreme, was filled with joy. On this matter she held the conviction that the more you have, the more you are occupied and the less you give.. But the less you have the more free you are. She said: Poverty for us is a freedom. It is not mortification, a penance. It is a joyful freedom. There is no television here, no this, no that; but we are perfectly happy. The broadcaster, Malcolm Muggeridge, said that he had never met such delightful, happy, women - nor experienced such an atmosphere of joy that they create. In the presence of Mother Teresa people may burst into tears, and in a fleeting moment she could create an ineffable impression of great deep and abiding love. Malcolm Muggeridge described the faces of people gathered for a talk. He wrote: I was watching the faces of people - ordinary people listening to her. Every face, young and old, simple and sophisticated, was rapt with attention, hanging on her words - not because of the words themselves which were quite ordinary, because of her. Some quality came across over and above the words. A luminosity seemed to fill the hall, penetrating every heart and mind. Nevertheless Mother Teresa, it is said, was a shrewd administrator and ran a 'tight ship'. In no other way could the organisation have expanded to its present size and international status. Mother Teresa's exalted state: Christian dogma does not talk much about altered states of consciousness, but that Mother Teresa had discovered the secret nature of God's love and
experienced its mind-altering properties should be clear to anyone who studies her life and hearkens to her sayings. Mother Teresa discovered that the strange alchemy of God's love, as it manifests in the world, requires the presence of suffering and that there is a need for those who, in worldly eyes, are less fortunate or less than perfect specimens of the human race. This need for suffering she personified in the suffering of Jesus - as the role model for suffering - and saw Christ (the universal Jesus) in all the dying, the diseased, the homeless and the chronically poor of the streets of India; and also in the spiritually impoverished and the mentally disturbed of the developed world. On the occasion of a visit of a Catholic Bishop to the Home of the Dying in Calcutta, she asked him if he would like to see Jesus. On receiving an answer in the affirmative she took him to a man lying on a pallet who had clearly visible things crawling over his body. As the Bishop stood there in a state of partial shock she knelt down and wrapped her arms around the man, holding him like a baby in her arms. Here he is, she said. The Bishop asked, Who? Jesus, she said, Didn't he say that you find him in the least person on earth? Isn't this Jesus challenging us to reach out and love? The Bishops reply is unrecorded - What Mother Teresa realized, and it was a spiritual revelation of deep profundity, is that suffering crystallises love as nothing else does. On this she said: The dying, the cripple, the mental, the unwanted, the unloved - they are Jesus in disguise... Speak tenderly to them. Let there be kindness in your face, in your eyes, in your smile, in the warmth of your greeting. Always have a cheerful smile. Don't only give your care, but give your heart as well... The poor give us much more than we give them. They're such strong people, living day to day with no food, and they never curse, never complain. Really we don't have to give them pity or sympathy. We have so much to learn from them... Only in heaven will we see how much we owe the poor for helping us to love God better because of them. By contrast, the sterile nature of the egoic world, and the belief that everything can be solved through technology, sociology, medical science, psychology and the like, along with the nightmare of life without other than a stereotyped, officially-approved God, stands starkly against the exalted state of those like Mother Teresa. In his is book about Mother Teresa, Something Beautiful for God Malcolm Muggeridge cogently expressed this. He wrote: Surely when we can go to the moon and ride through space; when our genes are known and our organs replaceable; when we can arrange to eat without growing fat, and copulate without procreating, to flash a gleaming smile without being happy - surely suffering should be banished from our lives... If the eugenicist's wish were ever to be realized - the sick and the old, and the mad all who were infirm and less than complete and smooth-working, would be painlessly eliminated, leaving only the beauty queens and the athletes, the Mensa IQ's, and the prize winners, to be our human family. That we should go on suffering would be, they would surmise, an outrage; and a deity that still allowed it to continue would be a monster... If this came to pass, along the ice-bound corridors of cash, God really would be dead.
When technology fails, we look around for someone to blame and, Malcolm wrote: In the eyes who see men as machines, 'God' is the manufacturer and the priests are his mechanics. But to Mother Teresa and her worthy successors, things are seen differently. To them suffering and death is not the malfunctioning of a machine but part of the everlasting drama of our relationship with the Creator: that enhances our human condition. Muggeridge pointed out that if ever it were possible, as some arrogant contemporary egoic minds believe, to eliminate suffering and even, through the use of cryogenic preservation, cloning, growing tissues, and so on - (or when medical science has sufficiently advanced in the implanting especially-grown organs and the injection of hormones and other chemicals), live for ever - our lives, as should be apparent even now, would not be enhanced but would be demeaned: to the point that they would become insignificant, too banal to be worth living at all. The licking of lepers: Among Christian saints of the middle ages it was popular to lick the sores of lepers to cure them. More recently too the tending of the sick by close physical contact and the human touch is undertaken by those, like the Missionaries of Charity, who have severed their ties to the world - as indicated by the above account of Mother Teresa and the Bishop. Father Damien was also one of the saints of modern times who took the extreme step in his ministrations of lepers. (Recently too, Amma - Chapter 19 - much to the horror of her devotees - cured a leper by licking his suppurating sores. To this day the same leper, now cured, visits her ashram from time to time.) To judge that this is simply absurd, even obscene, and carrying things far too far, would be to miss the point. It would be to not understand that enlightened souls or those in the exalted state of union with God, do not belong to the same system of logic and behavior as does the world. And to say that this is absurd is to say that God is absurd - an idea that only the most deluded or reckless would entertain. The fact is that the enlightened are so detached from the usual worldly dramas that haunt the 'personality' aspect of our psyches, that they are, for the most part, completely indifferent to what the world brings them and completely confident that God is in charge. They understand that if the world seems out of control, it is because it is out of control - that is, out of our control. To the world-bound, when things happen as we expect them to happen, we feel that it is because we have arranged it so, but when they don't, as more often seems to be the case, we became angry and frustrated - we fume and rage: It's not right we judge, this or that should be done. Society should look after the poor, they can do it better; they have the resources. - And this is, in fact, the view of many about Mother Teresa's organisation; but, as we can easily see, society never does. The suffering of the developed world: Mother Teresa could become angry when seeing the wealth and the squandering of wealth of the developed world: She said, When I see waste here (the USA) I feel angry on the inside. I don't approve of myself being angry but it's something you can't help after seeing Ethiopia. Still, she maintained, the world is not just hungry for bread but hungry for love as well: Hungry to be loved; hungry to be wanted... There is a terrible hunger for love. We all experience this in our lives - the pain, the loneliness. We must have the courage to recognize it. The poor you might have right in
your own family. Find them and love them... We have been created to love and be loved... We must make our homes centres of compassion and forgive endlessly. This is why there are now almost 600 centres of The Missionaries of Charity throughout the world, not just in the poor countries. Some controversies On birth control: Mother Teresa is often criticised over her stand on birth control. To the worldly bound birth control, including abortion, may seem to be a good thing for society. But what is this society? Is society a well-functioning and altruistic thing that should be hearkened to? World events now and throughout history would incline one to the view that it is not. To a saint the question of doing something to one person for the comfort and convenience of another, does not have any meaning - the ends do not justify the means. Malcolm Muggeridge wrote that Mother Teresa had difficulty in even grasping the notion that there could, in any circumstances, be too many children. To her the life of a child was a particularly beautiful thing. He describes her holding a tiny baby girl, and with an expression of exaltation most wonderfully moving, saying, See! There is life in her! - It was a divine flame that no man dare presume to put out. On the controversies surrounding the Catholic Church: Mother Teresa simply said, on many occasions: they are temporary - they will pass. Miracles In the Catholic Church you can only be a saint after you are dead. Moreover, the Church requires three authenticated, physical miracles to be attributed to any candidate as a pre requisite for canonisation. In Mother Teresa's case these were about miraculous cures that occurred as a result of her intervention: One of the beneficiaries was a Bengali woman who was cured of a malignant stomach tumor through the agency of a locket with Mother Teresa's photo. Another was a French woman in the United States who broke several ribs in a traffic accident, and who was miraculously made whole because she wore a medallion of Mother Teresa around her neck. A third was a Palestinian girl suffering from cancer who was cured after Mother Teresa appeared to her in a dream and said: Young girl, you are cured. A very striking miracle that is still in evidence is related to a documentary film that was made by the BBC in the sixties. The miracle concerns the filming of the interior of the Home of the Dying in Calcutta, and the events are fully described by Malcolm Muggeridge in his book Something Beautiful for God. The interior of the hall was very dark with only one small window and the film crew was not equipped with lights. The very experienced BBC cameraman was quite adamant that nothing would come out, but because of Mother Teresa's insistence went through the motions of filming. When processed it was found that: The film was suffused with a particularly
beautiful soft light. Muggeridge wrote that The House of the Dying is overflowing with love, and this love is luminous, like the haloes that artist paint on saints. The luminosity that is registered on the film, everyone agreed, is quite extraordinarily lovely. The same batch of film was subsequently tested under similar circumstances elsewhere and produced images that were dark and completely useless. Furthermore, back-up footage that was shot for the Mother Teresa documentary outside the Home of the Dying, turned out to be blurred and unusable. At the time the report of the film received short shrift from the top brass of the Roman Catholic Church in the USA. It seems they were not interested in hearing about the miracles of Mother Teresa at that time. Some teachings and sayings On love: Love does not measure; it just gives. In the world love cannot remain by itself but must be put into action through service. Whatever we are like, able or disabled, rich or poor, it is not how much we do but how much love we put into the doing... (so) Put your love in living action. The hunger for love is much more difficult than the hunger for bread. In loving others you are loving God Himself... We cannot do great things. We can only do little things with great love... Keep the joy of loving God in your heart and share this joy with all you meet, especially your family. Smiling : Smile at each other, smile at your husband, smile at your children, smile at everyone - it doesn't matter who it is - and that will help you to grow up in greater love for each other. On prayer: Love to pray. Prayer enlarges the heart until it is capable of containing God's gift of himself. Ask and seek and your heart will grow big enough to receive him as your own... Start and end each day with prayer. On dryness; what to do when prayer becomes a struggle: Pray some more. (Such was Mother Teresa's 'dark night of the soul' and her antidote for it). Be as a little child: Come to God as a child. On surrender and work: The spirit of our Society (the Missionaries of Charity) is total surrender, loving trust and cheerfulness.. To God there is nothing small. The moment we have given it to God, it becomes infinite... There is always the danger that we may do work for the sake of the work. This is where the respect and the love and the devotion come in - that we do it for God... and that's why we try to do it as beautifully as possible. I was expecting to be free, but God had his own plans... I will work all day. That is the best way. On presence: To keep a lamp burning we have to keep putting oil in it. (Keeping alert to the movements of the mind and trusting God continuously - waiting attentively for His grace.) On silence: God is found in silence. See how nature: trees, flowers, grass - grow in silence. See the stars, the moon, sun, how they move in silence... We need to be silent to be able to touch souls.
On being holy: You have to be holy in the position you are in, and I have to be holy in the position that God has placed me. So it is nothing extraordinary to be holy. Holiness is not a luxury of the few. Holiness is a simple duty for you and me. We have been created for that. On peace and war: Please choose the way of peace... In the short term there may be winners and losers in this war that we all dread. But that never can, never will, justify the suffering, pain and loss of life your weapons will cause... I have never been in a war before, but I have seen famine and death. I was asking myself, What do they feel when they do this? I don't understand it. They are all children of God. Why do they do it? I don't understand. Understanding the poor: Rich people, well-to-do people, very often don't really know who the poor are; and that is why they can't forgive, for knowledge can only lead to love, and love to service. And so, if they are not touched by them, it's because they do not know them... The other day I dreamed I was at the gates of heaven. And St. Peter said, Go back to earth. There are no slums up here... Nakedness is not only for a piece of cloth, but nakedness is a loss of dignity, human dignity: The loss of what is beautiful, what is pure, what is chaste, what is virgin. Loss, homelessness is not only for a house made of bricks - homelessness is being that people are completely forgotten, rejected, left alone, as if they are nobody to nobody. Modern life: Everybody seems to be in such a terrible rush, anxious for greater development, greater riches and so on. So children have very little time for their parents. Parents have very little time for each other, and in the home begins the disruption of peace in the world. Sharing: We have to share with people. Suffering today is because people are hoarding, not giving, not sharing. Jesus made it very clear: Whatever you do for the least of my brethren, you do it for me. Give a glass of water, you give it to me. Receive a little child, you receive me. Is that clear? Loving what is : No matter who says what, you should accept it with a smile and do your own work. On always wanting things: More tears are shed over answered prayers than unanswered ones. On time: Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin. Miracles: Every day some miracle happens. On seeing God in everyone: I believe in person to person. Every person is Christ for me, and since there is only One, that person is the one person in the world at that time... I see God in every human being. When I wash lepers' wounds, I feel I am nursing the Lord himself. Is it not a beautiful experience? On abortion: It is poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish.
Kindness: Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless. Let no one ever come away without leaving better and happier. Be the living expression of God's kindness: kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, and kindness in your smile. Her death and beatification Mother Teresa died in 1997 at the age of 87 after a long period of ill health. She died surrounded by her close associates after experiencing difficulty in breathing. She spoke of her love for Jesus several times before dying. She was beatified by the Roman Catholic Church in October 2003 and canonized a saint September 2016. The Church requires that at least five years must pass before anyone can be proclaimed a saint and Mother Teresa must have broken all records. Usually the process of investigation for sainthood takes much longer, sometimes centuries. During the time that her body lay in state, street sweepers clutching flowers came to pay their respects. Beggars, some with crippled legs, dragged themselves to the church to gaze at her body. On the occasion of her death the Dalai Lama said she was an example of the human capacity to generate infinite love, compassion and altruism. The Prime Minister of India compared her to Mahatma Gandhi, a great soul. Practicalities; The Missionaries of Charity The Missionaries of Charity have more than 600 centres for the poor worldwide.