St Teresa of Calcutta

“I am not sure exactly what heaven will be like, but I don’t know that when we die and it comes time for God to judge us, he will NOT ask, How many good things have you done in your life?, rather he will ask, How much LOVE did you put into what you did?” – Mother Teresa

Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu was born in 1910 in Skopje. She was the youngest of the family and at age 5 and a half she received her First Communion. From an early age she felt a strong bond between God. Just at the age of 18 she left her home and joined the Sisters of Loreto. She taught at St. Mary’s School for girls. When Anges made her Final Profession Vows, she was then given the name Mother Teresa. Mother Teresa taught there for 20 years and loved every second on it. One day, she felt a special call within her. From here on, she was blessed with the gift from Jesus to work for the poorest of the poor and dedicate her life to care for them.

Throughout her life, she achieved major events only some get to have. That includes getting the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979, in 1989, she was awarded Medal of Freedom, the highest U.S civilian award, and in 2015, she is cleared for canonization after Pope Francis declares that the cure of a Brazilian man suffering from brain abscesses was a miracle. Mother Teresa is the patron Saint of Archdiocese of Calcutta and was canonized September 4, 2016. Her feast day is September 5.

Some of her prayers that she prayed every day were: Radiating Christ, Prayer for Peace, Make Us Worthy Lord, Memorare, Anima Christi. She started out each day with communion then went out, rosary in her hand to find and serve him among the “unwanted, unloved, and the uncared for.” Mother Teresa established a religious community, missionaries of charity, dedicated to the service of the poorest of the poor. She visited families, washed them with sores of some children, cared for an old man lying sick on the road and nursed a woman dying of hunger and tuberculosis.

These are just a few ways that she loved others just as Jesus did. Much of her life is not that far from ours either. Just as we do, she prayed everyday and received calls from God which we occasionally do in our life. Mother Teresa demonstrated a life of heroic virtue by going above and beyond. In spite of her decreasing health at the time, she continued to govern her society and respond to the needs of the poor and the church, persuaded Israelis and Palestinians to stop shooting long enough to rescue 37 children from hospital in besieged beirut.

Not everyone in this world is going to give up their lives like Mother Teresa to help care for the poor and the sick. Not everyone is going to listen to the call they experience within them from God. And from time to time, we are all going to have our doubts that Christ is really who he says he is. But Teenagers today can imitate aspects of this saint’s life and live a holy and saintly life according to the Catholic principles of christians discipleship and true holiness by filling their lives up with the things God wants and community service/volunteering. Doing Catholic community service is a great way to humble oneself just as Mother Teresa did. She even wore the same clothes as they did and lived with them.

September 5, 1997 is the day God called her to be with him. Mother Teresa even in bad health, continued to strive to help the poor and preach on what she knew to be true. Today, there are more than 4 thousand Missionaries of Charity that Mother Teresa originally started. We can take her life as a great example on a way to live a very happy life. She did not use money or power, but only love. She saw people and loved them just as Christ saw and loves us. Nor was it intelligence. Mother Teresa couldn’t bare to see the unforgotten not being cared for. It was always in the back of her mind and when she finally felt the call to help the poor, a new life opened up for her.

Mother Teresa did all of her work based on love. Money can’t buy us happiness and nor can worldly things. God fills the empty space in our heart that nothing else can. When we have faith in Him, money doesn’t become an issue anymore and nor does other things. God loves us so much that he sent his only son to die for our sins. He wants to lift and help us with our burdens in life, but only if we can put our trust in Him. Mother Teresa did these exact things and He gave her the strength to keep going. She lived one happy life and now she is even more happier in Heaven with God. It all starts with love.

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