|
| |
Spiritwalk
Reading
Mother Teresa
-
Compassion in Action
To
me, God and compassion are one and the same. Compassion is the joy of
sharing. It’s doing small things for the love of each other-just a smile,
or carrying a bucket of water, or showing some simple kindness. These are
the small things that make up compassion.
Compassion
means trying to share and understand the suffering of people. And I think
it’s very good when people suffer. To me, that’s really like a kiss from
Jesus. And a sign, also, that this person has come so close to Jesus,
sharing his passion.
It
is only pride and selfishness and coldness that keep us from having
compassion. When we ultimately go home to God, we are going to be judged on
what we were to each other, what we did for each other, and, especially, how
much love we put in that. It’s not how much we give, but how much love we
put in the doing ~ that’s
compassion in action.
One’s
religion has nothing to do with compassion. It’s our love for God that is
the main thing. Many Christians and non-Christians come to help in our
houses in Calcutta and throughout the world. We have volunteers of all
religions working with our aides day and night. Religion is meant to help us
get closer to God, not meant to separate us.... true religion, no? All God
really wants is for us to love him. The way we can show our love for Him is
to serve others.
You
may ask how the contemplative life fits together with compassion in action.
It fits together by bringing union with God. Jesus said, “ Whether you do
it the last of my brethren, you are doing it to me.” If you do everything
for him, you are acting as contemplative in the heart of the world.
There
is contemplative life where people separate themselves completely from the
world and live a life of prayer, of sacrifice. We are out in the world doing
that- being contemplatives in the heart of the world.
We
need a life of deep prayer to be able to give until it hurts. It seems the
more we have, the less we give. And the less we have, the more we can give.
The
need is great for food, clothes, medicine, and tender-love-and-care. This is
the greatest need. We have homes for the dying, for lepers, for children,
for the poorest of the poor. And now, in the United States, we have homes
for people with AIDS, also.
My
message to the people of today is simple. We must love one another as God
loves each one of us. To be able to love, we need a clean heart. Prayer is
what gives us a clean heart. The fruit of prayer is a deepening of faith and
the fruit of faith is love. The fruit of love is service, which is
compassion in action.
Religion
has nothing to do with compassion; it is our love for God that is the main
thing because we have all been created for the soul purpose to love and to
be loved.
-
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - -
Mother Teresa
was
born Agnes Boyaxhui in 1910 in Yugoslavia. In 1928 she joined the Loretto
nuns on Ireland and soon was sent to India to do her novitiate. She taught
high school in Calcutta for nearly twenty years, but then left the convent
to work with the poor, under the archbishop of Calcutta. She founded a
school in the slums for older children, learned some basic medicine, and
began treating the sick in their homes.
A
few years later Mother Teresa asked the Calcutta government’s aid in
providing a place for the sick and dying in the streets. She was offered a
building that she immediately started using as a shelter for the needy. This
home became known as the Kalighat.
Mother
Teresa founded the missionaries of Charity. A worldwide mission whose
members follow her path, ministering the “poorest of the poor.” Her
works have earned her the love and admiration from people all over the
world. She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979.
Home Contents
QuickLinks Newsletter Library Archive Bookstore E-mail
Mailing List
© Spiritwalk
http://www.spiritwalk.org/compinact.htm |