Mother Teresa, the Little Nun Who Became a Household Name Worldwide
Most people today have probably heard about Mother Teresa of Calcutta, India, who died in 1997 after a lifetime of service to the poor and needy. Who was this diminutive woman who probably didn't weigh 110 pounds ever in her life, and why did she have such an impact on the world? What is it about her which created such love and respect that she appears likely for eventual sainthood in the Roman Catholic Church?
If you put Mother Teresa's talents and skills into the profile of the typical success pattern that modern society seems to look for, she doesn't qualify for the kind of universal acclaim and notoriety that she had. She was born in humble circumstances in Skopje, Macedonia, part of the former Yugoslavia. She wasn't highly educated. She did not have the charisma that often comes with being large in stature. She had very few "marketable skills" of the kind that the world seems to think are essential for influence and success today. What was it about her, then, that promoted her into the white ligths of acclaim on a world stage?
The answer is simple and yet very powerful. It is all wrapped up in a word and concept called service. At the age of eighteen she entered a convent in Ireland, and from that time on she dedicated her life to serving her fellow human beings. In 1929 she arrived in Calcutta and began to teach in a school for girls. The misery and affliction of the masses of people in India greatly touched her, and over the next several years her compassion moved her to try to ease their pain and suffering.
On September 10, 1946, on a long train ride to Darjeeling, India, where she was traveling to recover from suspected tuberculosis, Mother Teresa had a life-changing spiritual experience: "I realized that I had the call to take care of the sick and the dying, the hungry, the naked, the homeless - to be God's love in action to the poorest of the poor. That was the beginning of the Missionaries of Charity."
At this point Mother Teresa took this mission most seriously. She didn't just try to do more to help those in need, she went right to the top of her church and asked permission to leave the religious order to which she belonged and establish a new order of sisters. After receiving that permission from Pope Pius XII, she went to work in Calcutta, long known as having one of the worst concentrations of human misery in the world. She spent the rest of her days trying to ease their physical and spiritual suffering. From the legacy Mother Teresa has left us, we can see the familiar pattern common to many heroes: She knew exactly who she was, what was most important to her, what she was about, and what she wanted to accomplish on this earth.
One of the amazing aspects of Mother Teresa's story is how she stood out in a quest that many have been motivated to do. There are great stories of nurses, missionaries, humanitarians, and others who have done marvelous things in serving those less fortunate. Why was Mother Teresa singled out as an icon of this concept? The answer to that seems quite simple to me as well. It is wrapped up in a word and concept called consistency. Mother Teresa consistently went about living her life in accordance with the mission she had identified for herself. She clearly wasn't in it for the personal accolades that it ultimately brought. She was in it because she wanted to bring hope and peace, and end the suffering of people who were sick and dying in the streets of Calcutta.
I have never been to Calcutta, but I've heard from those who have been there that nowhere else in the world has the poverty, sickness, and filth you'll find there. But this is where Mother Teresa decided she was going to make a difference. The statistics show that over the years more than forty-two thousand people were treated at an abandoned Hindu temple that she was able to acquire and convert into the Kalighat Home for the Dying. The nuns would go out and literally take from the streets of Calcutta those who were sick and dying and bring them to the home, where they received love and kindness. To many it would seem like a hopeless and thankless task. More than nineteen thousand died there, but at least they died in a place where people were caring for and loving them.
Mother Teresa's story gradually became known to the world. People were stunned by this inspiring departure from the usual prevalent attitude of "it's terrible, but I can't do anything about it." People simply couldn't comprehend this little dynamo who had created her own order of sisters to help the sick, dying, and needy. As a result, she had a tremendous impact on the world. Perhaps the reason the world has heard of this woman who labored in a faraway place is that she lived her life with a deep understanding of what mattered most, a commitment to doing something about those things, and a willingness to sacrifice the energy of her life for and on behalf of the people to whom she had dedicated it.
If you put Mother Teresa's talents and skills into the profile of the typical success pattern that modern society seems to look for, she doesn't qualify for the kind of universal acclaim and notoriety that she had. She was born in humble circumstances in Skopje, Macedonia, part of the former Yugoslavia. She wasn't highly educated. She did not have the charisma that often comes with being large in stature. She had very few "marketable skills" of the kind that the world seems to think are essential for influence and success today. What was it about her, then, that promoted her into the white ligths of acclaim on a world stage?
The answer is simple and yet very powerful. It is all wrapped up in a word and concept called service. At the age of eighteen she entered a convent in Ireland, and from that time on she dedicated her life to serving her fellow human beings. In 1929 she arrived in Calcutta and began to teach in a school for girls. The misery and affliction of the masses of people in India greatly touched her, and over the next several years her compassion moved her to try to ease their pain and suffering.
On September 10, 1946, on a long train ride to Darjeeling, India, where she was traveling to recover from suspected tuberculosis, Mother Teresa had a life-changing spiritual experience: "I realized that I had the call to take care of the sick and the dying, the hungry, the naked, the homeless - to be God's love in action to the poorest of the poor. That was the beginning of the Missionaries of Charity."
At this point Mother Teresa took this mission most seriously. She didn't just try to do more to help those in need, she went right to the top of her church and asked permission to leave the religious order to which she belonged and establish a new order of sisters. After receiving that permission from Pope Pius XII, she went to work in Calcutta, long known as having one of the worst concentrations of human misery in the world. She spent the rest of her days trying to ease their physical and spiritual suffering. From the legacy Mother Teresa has left us, we can see the familiar pattern common to many heroes: She knew exactly who she was, what was most important to her, what she was about, and what she wanted to accomplish on this earth.
One of the amazing aspects of Mother Teresa's story is how she stood out in a quest that many have been motivated to do. There are great stories of nurses, missionaries, humanitarians, and others who have done marvelous things in serving those less fortunate. Why was Mother Teresa singled out as an icon of this concept? The answer to that seems quite simple to me as well. It is wrapped up in a word and concept called consistency. Mother Teresa consistently went about living her life in accordance with the mission she had identified for herself. She clearly wasn't in it for the personal accolades that it ultimately brought. She was in it because she wanted to bring hope and peace, and end the suffering of people who were sick and dying in the streets of Calcutta.
I have never been to Calcutta, but I've heard from those who have been there that nowhere else in the world has the poverty, sickness, and filth you'll find there. But this is where Mother Teresa decided she was going to make a difference. The statistics show that over the years more than forty-two thousand people were treated at an abandoned Hindu temple that she was able to acquire and convert into the Kalighat Home for the Dying. The nuns would go out and literally take from the streets of Calcutta those who were sick and dying and bring them to the home, where they received love and kindness. To many it would seem like a hopeless and thankless task. More than nineteen thousand died there, but at least they died in a place where people were caring for and loving them.
Mother Teresa's story gradually became known to the world. People were stunned by this inspiring departure from the usual prevalent attitude of "it's terrible, but I can't do anything about it." People simply couldn't comprehend this little dynamo who had created her own order of sisters to help the sick, dying, and needy. As a result, she had a tremendous impact on the world. Perhaps the reason the world has heard of this woman who labored in a faraway place is that she lived her life with a deep understanding of what mattered most, a commitment to doing something about those things, and a willingness to sacrifice the energy of her life for and on behalf of the people to whom she had dedicated it.
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