We are truly blessed to have been witness to this Saint’s life in our own lifetime. Yet what did we learn from her? How can her life be an example and inspiration for our own?

Mother Teresa’s amazing works in the slums of Calcutta are familiar to all. In a true calling, she looked at the poor and sick to recognize the suffering Christ reflected in their faces. Her mission of helping went beyond caring for them solely in the physical sense, she also offered and taught others to offer all people Christ’s unconditional love. “Many people mistake our work for our vocation. Our vocation is the love of Jesus.”

During her lifetime, she encouraged all of us to give ourselves fully to God. So that “he will use you to accomplish great things on the condition that you believe much more in His love than in your own weakness.” She recognized that, “In this life we cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love.”

Many of us will not feel a calling to sell all our possessions, move to India, and take a vow of material poverty to serve the poor and sick. However, Mother Teresa reminded us that not all poverty is being hungry, naked, and homeless. “One of the greatest diseases is to be nobody to anybody.”

“The poverty of being unwanted, unloved and uncared for is the greatest poverty. We must start in our own homes to remedy this kind of poverty.”

To honor her 100th birthday, consider your own personal mission to spread Christ’s love among one another. For Mother Teresa also said that “Love begins at home, and it is not how much we do…but how much love we put in that action.”

Not how much we do…. But how much love we put into the action.

A sincere smile for someone you pass in the hallway.

Holding open an elevator door when you see someone approaching.

Listening to your child tell about her school day.

Filling up the gas tank for your spouse because you happen to
notice it’s closer to empty.

Allowing someone with two items to go ahead of you and your
full basket in a crowded grocery store line.

How many small acts do we perform every day without being conscious of the love found within the action. We can all battle the varied types of poverty found in our daily lives.

Mother Teresa’s true lasting legacy in our world? She made people feel wanted and loved.

“God doesn’t require us to succeed; he only requires that you try.”

“I do not pray for success, I ask for faithfulness.”