Monday, June 13, 2005
THEY DESERVE OUR LOVE
By Mother Teresa
Founder Missionaries of Charity
Excerpted from "The Poor Don't Need Our Sympathy" (orig. title)
Do we know the lonely? Do we know the unwanted and the unloved? Do we know the hungry? Do we really know what hunger is?
I'll give you an example of what hunger is. A child got a piece of bread from a Sister. (He had not eaten for sometime. I saw that child eating the bread slowly, crumb by crumb. I said to him, "I know you are hungry. Why don't you eat the bread up?"
The little one answered, "I want it to last longer!"
He was afraid that when he finished the bread, his hunger would come back again. And so he ate it crumb by crumb!
The other child next to him, was not even eating. I thought that he had finished his bread. But the little one said, "My father is sick, I'm very hungry, but my father is sick, and I think he would love to have this bread."
That little child was willing to go without food to be able to give his father the joy of having a little piece of bread.
The poor are great people!...They aren't asking us to feel sorry for them...They deserve our love!
Not long ago, some Sisters and I went out and picked up four or five people off the streets. One of them was in terrible condition, so I told the Sisters, "I'll take care of her." And I tried to do all that I could for her, all that my love of Jesus could do.
When I put her in bed, she took hold of my hand. There was a beautiful smile on her face. She said only, "Thank you!" And then she died.
She had given me much more than I had given her. She gave me her GRATEFUL LOVE.
I couldn't help but examine myself. I said, "If I were she, what would I have done?" And my answer was very sincere, "I would have tried to draw some attention to myself by saying, 'I'm hungry, I'm cold, I'm dying!' "
But she had courage, and she had love to give to me, instead of keeping it for herself, of being focused on herself. These are very admirable things!
Why are the Sisters always smiling?...Because we are trying to be contemplatives in the heart of the world. We have chosen to be Missionaries of Charity, to be carriers of God's love.
We have no reason to be unhappy. How can that be? If the words of Jesus are true, "I was hungry, I was sick, I was naked, I was homeless, and you did it to me," (Mt. 25:40) then we are touching Him twenty-fours a day.
This call is basically the same for you too, you have chosen to be Christians. With Jesus and for Jesus, you will be able to live happily.
What we are doing, you cannot do.
And what you are doing we cannot do.
But together, we are doing something beautiful for God.
May our service to the poor further the salvation of mankind, of you and me, for we are touching Jesus.
Founder Missionaries of Charity
Excerpted from "The Poor Don't Need Our Sympathy" (orig. title)
Do we know the lonely? Do we know the unwanted and the unloved? Do we know the hungry? Do we really know what hunger is?
I'll give you an example of what hunger is. A child got a piece of bread from a Sister. (He had not eaten for sometime. I saw that child eating the bread slowly, crumb by crumb. I said to him, "I know you are hungry. Why don't you eat the bread up?"
The little one answered, "I want it to last longer!"
He was afraid that when he finished the bread, his hunger would come back again. And so he ate it crumb by crumb!
The other child next to him, was not even eating. I thought that he had finished his bread. But the little one said, "My father is sick, I'm very hungry, but my father is sick, and I think he would love to have this bread."
That little child was willing to go without food to be able to give his father the joy of having a little piece of bread.
The poor are great people!...They aren't asking us to feel sorry for them...They deserve our love!
Not long ago, some Sisters and I went out and picked up four or five people off the streets. One of them was in terrible condition, so I told the Sisters, "I'll take care of her." And I tried to do all that I could for her, all that my love of Jesus could do.
When I put her in bed, she took hold of my hand. There was a beautiful smile on her face. She said only, "Thank you!" And then she died.
She had given me much more than I had given her. She gave me her GRATEFUL LOVE.
I couldn't help but examine myself. I said, "If I were she, what would I have done?" And my answer was very sincere, "I would have tried to draw some attention to myself by saying, 'I'm hungry, I'm cold, I'm dying!' "
But she had courage, and she had love to give to me, instead of keeping it for herself, of being focused on herself. These are very admirable things!
Why are the Sisters always smiling?...Because we are trying to be contemplatives in the heart of the world. We have chosen to be Missionaries of Charity, to be carriers of God's love.
We have no reason to be unhappy. How can that be? If the words of Jesus are true, "I was hungry, I was sick, I was naked, I was homeless, and you did it to me," (Mt. 25:40) then we are touching Him twenty-fours a day.
This call is basically the same for you too, you have chosen to be Christians. With Jesus and for Jesus, you will be able to live happily.
What we are doing, you cannot do.
And what you are doing we cannot do.
But together, we are doing something beautiful for God.
May our service to the poor further the salvation of mankind, of you and me, for we are touching Jesus.
# posted by F O O D F O R T H O U G H T @ 7:34 PM 
