Quotations of Mother Teresa
The success of love is in the loving--it is not in the result
of loving. Of course it is natural in love to want the best for
the other person, but whether it turns out that way or not does
not determine the value of what we have done. The more we can
remove this priority for results the more we can learn about the
contemplative element of love. There is the love expressed in
the service and the love in the contemplation. It is the balance
of both which we should be striving for. Love is the key to finding
this balance.
-- From A Simple Path, by: Mother teresa,
Balantine Books, 1995.
"There is always the danger of romanticizing a person like
Mother Teresa. What is unique about her is that in a world so
conscious of image, of appearance, she was precisely what one
saw. Her retreat from public gaze was always to one of the far-flung
houses of her religious community. She would take her place with
her sisters in their chapel, barefoot, to spend hours in prayer.
Wherever she was, in Calcutta, Rome, Albania, Haiti, Dorchester,
she could look at the crucifix and be reminded of the omnipresent
words of Jesus cut out and attached to the wall: "I thirst."
"
-- Cardinal Law - Archdiocese of Boston in "I thirst"
had a special meaning for Mother Teresa
"Mother Teresa has marked the history of our century: she
defended life bravely; she served all human beings, always promoting
their dignity and respect; she made the 'losers of life' feel
the tenderness of God, loving Father of all his creatures. She
bore witness to the Gospel of charity, which is nourished by the
free giving of the self until death. This is how we remember her,
invoking for her the prize that awaits all the faithful servants
of the Kingdom of God. May her shining example of charity serve
as a consolation and stimulus for her spiritual family, for the
Church and for all of humanity."
-- John Paul II the day after Mother Teresa's death - quoted
in this obituary.
"Until the moment of her death in Calcutta, India, on Friday,
Mother Teresa was engaged in a gentle but relentless crusade.
Hers was a powerful personality, bent on overcoming any obstacle
that impeded her work. One could only sympathize with the squirming
Lebanese bureaucrat who failed to dissuade her from visiting a
dangerous section of Beirut several years ago, or even with the
Indian doctors who persuaded her to undergo just one more surgical
procedure late last year. While children were always delighted
to be around Mother Teresa (and she was equally content to mug
and play with them), many world leaders- including heads of state
and not a few Catholic bishops- quailed at her approach. They
knew that she would not flatter them and that she might ask embarrassing
questions. Her requests for their help with her charitable projects
were invariably polite and respectful, but they were demanding.
Give until it hurts, she would cheerfully suggest. "
-- By Philip Lawler: Mother Teresa remembered for charity
"I choose the poverty of our poor people. But I am grateful
to receive (the Nobel) in the name of the hungry, the naked, the
homeless, of the crippled, of the blind, of the lepers, of all
those people who feel unwanted, unloved, uncared-for throughout
society, people that have become a burden to the society and are
shunned by everyone."
-- Excerpt from the Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech Mother
Teresa Winner of the 1979 Nobel Prize in Peace
"Do we really know our poor? Do we really know the poor
in our own house, in our own family? Maybe we are not hungry for
a piece of bread. Maybe our children, our husband, our wife, are
not hungry, are not naked, are not homeless, but are you sure
that there is no one there who feels, unwanted, unloved? Where
are your old father and mother? Where are they?...Let us look
straight into our own families, for love begins at home. Do we
really understand the poverty of Christ, the poverty of our poor
in our own home, in our own communities? Never turn your back
to the poor. For in turning your back to the poor you are turning
it to Jesus Christ"
-- from the 1979 Franciscan Communications video Everyone,
Everywhere - quoted in Mother Teresa The Poor in Our Own Homes
"I see God in every human being. When I wash the leper's
wounds, I feel I am nursing the Lord himself. Is it not a beautiful
experience?"
-- 1974 interview. - CNN - Mother Teresa Angel of Mercy
"Keep the joy of loving God in your heart and share this
joy with all you meet especially your family. Be holy – let us
pray."
"I once picked up a woman from a garbage dump and she was burning with fever; she was in her last days and her only lament was: ‘My son did this to me.’ I begged her: You must forgive your son. In a moment of madness, when he was not himself, he did a thing he regrets. Be a mother to him, forgive him. It took me a long time to make her say: ‘I forgive my son.’ Just before she died in my arms, she was able to say that with a real forgiveness. She was not concerned that she was dying. The breaking of the heart was that her son did not want her. This is something you and I can understand."
"When once a chairman of a multinational company came to see me, to offer me a property in Bombay, he first asked: ‘Mother, how do you manage your budget?" I asked him who had sent him here. He replied: ‘I felt an urge inside me.’ I said: other people like you come to see me and say the same. It was clear God sent you, Mr. A, as He sends Mr. X, Mrs. Y, Miss Z, and they provide the material means we need for our work. The grace of God is what moved you. You are my budget. God sees to our needs, as Jesus promised. I accepted the property he gave and named it Asha Dan (Gift of Hope).
"Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin."
"Like Jesus we belong to the world living not for ourselves but for others. The joy of the Lord is our strength."
"There is only one God and He is God to all; therefore it is important that everyone is seen as equal before God. I’ve always said we should help a Hindu become a better Hindu, a Muslim become a better Muslim, a Catholic become a better Catholic. We believe our work should be our example to people. We have among us 475 souls - 30 families are Catholics and the rest are all Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs—all different religions. But they all come to our prayers."
"There are so many religions and each one has its different
ways of following God. I follow Christ:
Jesus is my God,
Jesus is my Spouse,
Jesus is my Life,
Jesus is my only Love,
Jesus is my All in All;
Jesus is my Everything."
Make us worthy, Lord, to serve those people throughout the world
who live and die in poverty and hunger. Give them through our
hands, this day, their daily bread, and by our understanding love,
give them peace and joy.
I heard the call to give up all and follow Christ into the slums
to serve Him among the poorest of the poor. It was an order.
I was to leave the convent and help the poor while living among
them.
When a poor person dies of hunger, it has not happened because God did not take care of him or her. It has happened because neither you nor I wanted to give that person what he or she needed.
You and I, we are the Church, no? We have to share with our people.
Suffering today is because people are hoarding, not giving, not
sharing.
Jesus made it very clear. Whatever you do to the least of my brethren,
you do it to me.
Give a glass of water, you give it to me. Receive a little
child, you receive me.
Everybody today seems to be in such a terrible rush, anxious for greater developments and greater riches and so on, so that 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 of the world.
If we really want to love we must learn how to forgive.