Inviting the Poor
- MOTHER TERESA
Through the years that I have spent working in the slums I have learned that it is precisely the poor who are aware of human dignity.
Their biggest problem isn't a lack of money. It is feeling snipped of their right to human dignity and love. Humanity's greatest sin stems from denying the poor their right to human dignity, because human beings measure being human only by the standard of the things they own.
Q: You live surrounded by a sea of poverty. Is there any hope that the tide will turn?
A: Yes, we live surrounded by a sea of poverty and suffering. Nevertheless, this sea can decrease in size. Our work is only a drop in the bucket, but this drop is necessary. It can represent a new beginning every day. It is something that many people scattered around the world can put into practice every day. In any case, it isn't necessary to go to the slums to have a brush with poverty and experience the lack of love in the world. In every family, as well as in families right next door, there is always someone who is suffering. This is something that we all come across.
This is Meaghen Gonzalez, Editor of CERC. I hope you appreciated this piece. We curate these articles especially for believers like you.
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Acknowledgement
Saint Teresa of Calcutta. "Inviting the Poor." excerpted from Our Heart Full of Love (Cincinatti, OH: Franciscan Media, 1988).
This excerpt appeared in Magnificat in October 2016.
The Author
Mother Teresa (Saint Teresa of Calcutta) was born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu in Skopje, Macedonia, to Albanian heritage. She founded the Missionaries of Charity which in 2015 consisted of 5,161 sisters serving in 758 houses in 139 countries. She described herself in this way: "By blood, I am Albanian. By citizenship, an Indian. By faith, I am a Catholic nun. As to my calling, I belong to the world. As to my heart, I belong entirely to the Heart of Jesus." Among her books are A Call to Mercy, Jesus is My All in All, Come Be My Light, and Where There Is Love, There Is God.
