Mother Teresa loved her Sisters with all her heart, but she recognized that they had their faults, like all of us.  She wrote to Archbishop Périer:  "...I have to find the answer to the difficulty that sometimes comes from the Sisters' different characters, etc.  Yet, Your Grace, how we have to thank God for our good Sisters - in spite of all their shortcomings they are very fervent and generous - God must be very pleased with the great amount of sacrifices these young Sisters make everyday.  God keep them so."

She had to discipline and direct the Sisters in love to remind them that they must conform to the way of the Missionaries of Charity, to a life of service, sacrifice and sainthood. 

I believe we can see God in Mother Teresa's understanding of her Sisters' frailties - that He loves us in the same way.  He disciplines us in our sin, but He does so with a love that assures us that He wants what is best for us, that He wants to guide us in the way of holiness:   "My (child), do not make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a (child)."   (Hebrews 12:5b-6)  If our hearts are open, we will recognize His chastisement: when our plans, which perhaps did not match His, go awry; when we read or hear something that convicts us in our hearts; when we come face-to-face with our own hypocrisy.  

"Father, look not upon our sins but on the faith of your Church", we pray!  God knows that we try our best, and though like a child we may balk at His forming us, deep inside we know His love is a constant in our lives.

Bl. Mother Teresa, pray for us!

"I don't know what the success will be - but if the Missionaries of Charity have brought joy to one unhappy home - made one innocent child from the street keep pure for Jesus - one dying person die in peace with God - don't you think, Your Grace, it would be worthwhile offering everything - for just that one - because that one would bring great joy to the Heart of Jesus."  (BMT in letter to Archbishop Périer)

What is success?  How do we measure it?  Most people would probably define a successful life as one in which a person attains a certain standard of wealth, position and notoriety.  But Mother Teresa realized that a successful life should perhaps be judged not so much by what we collect, but more by what we give away.

We can collect money, homes, cars, etc., but usually the more we have, the more we lose our peace of mind.  There is more to protect, more to worry about.  When we give, we lose not only our possessions, but our fears.  When we give freely, of our things, our time, ourselves, we can love more freely.  Jesus told us:  "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."  (Matthew 6:19-21) 

Mother Teresa believed that success was measured by her effect on one person's life - could she win just one soul for God?  If she did, she knew her life had been worthwhile.  As we look at our own lives, what can we give to be more successful?  Can we give our time in prayer for others?  Offer up our suffering for someone else?  Give our money for a worthy cause?  Today, let us try to be a success in God's eyes - let us give of ourselves to bring "great joy to the Heart of Jesus."

Bl. Mother Teresa, pray for us!

When Mother Teresa received her “call within a call” to minister to the poor in India, she was quite adamant that the Sisters who joined her be Indian or become as closely identified with being Indian as possible.  “God wants Indian nuns”, she said repeatedly.  She chose as a habit the ordinary dress of an Indian woman – a simple white sari with blue trim. 

Mother Teresa knew that the only way the impoverished families of Calcutta would accept the Sisters was if they became poor themselves, walked in their shoes and lived their life.  The Sisters would be welcome into their “holes”, (as Mother called the hovels they lived in), only if they understood their suffering.  In one of her letters she wrote:  "To be an Indian - to live with them - like them - so as to get at the people's heart...The Sisters are to cling to perfect poverty."  And think about it - didn’t God do the same for us?  Didn't He send His Son to be one of us, in perfect poverty, to show us that He understands our problems, our temptations, and our pain? 

We cannot all work in the slums of Calcutta, but we can do our best to better understand those around us.  There are always people in our lives who we misjudge because we do not take the time to try to empathize with them. “If you judge people, you have no time to love them”, Mother Teresa reminds us.  In our western society, many live in a spiritual “slum” and need us to enter into their suffering to bring the love of Christ.  Let’s follow Mother Teresa’s example and go wherever God leads us…

Bl. Mother Teresa, pray for us!

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September 5th is the Feast Day of Blessed Mother Teresa.  Do an act of charity in her name today!