Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love.
Where there is injury, pardon.
Where there is doubt, faith.
Where there is despair, hope.
Where there is darkness, light.
Where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive.
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.
Amen.

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, I may bring love.

In Mother Teresa’s Own Words:
“When God created us, He created us out of love. There is no other explanation because God is love. And He has created us to love and to be loved. If we could remember that all the time, there would be no wars, no violence, no hatred in the world. So beautiful. So simple.”

(Practical idea from our parish staff)    How can I bring love?
Is there someone who is not liked by another or others? Perhaps not like by you? Go out of your way today to give an act of kindness to this person.
(PRAYER PORTION)
In Mother Teresa’s Own Words:
Today I want to speak to you about forgiveness. I beg of you, Sisters, forgive one another and ask pardon from one another. There is so much suffering and unhappiness because of unforgiveness. … Remember, Sisters, in the Our Father we say, “Forgive us our sin as we forgive.” If you do not forgive, you are not forgiven. Look deep down in your heart. Is there any bitterness against any person? Then try to find that person or write to that person—maybe a sister or a poor person or someone at home. Forgive; otherwise you are not free to love Jesus with an undivided love. Do not keep any bitterness in your heart. … Some say, “I forgive, but I can't forget.” Confession is the forgiveness—the kind of forgiveness that God gives and we must learn that kind of forgiveness. So many years ago someone said this or did that, and so I say, “She said this, she ... and she ... and she ...” In one place there was a priest who was against the bishop and priests for some reason. There was so much bitterness in his speech each time I visited him and he said to me, “I will not forgive. I won't.” This time when I went, I told him, “This is your chance; ask sorry from your bishop. That is the only word the bishop wants from you.” And I was praying and the sisters were all praying inside. When I finished the prayer he said, “Mother Teresa, give me paper.” So, I gave him the paper and I was so happy. I took him to the bishop and gave the paper, otherwise he might change his mind, and I told him, “This is not enough; say “I forgive”—and he did.”


(Practical idea from our parish staff)  How can I bring the spirit of forgiveness?
Look deep down in your heart. Is there any bitterness against any person? Then try to find that person or write to that person—maybe a sister or brother, a spouse, a co-worker, or a poor person or someone at home. Forgive; otherwise you are not free to love Jesus with an undivided love. Do not keep any bitterness in your heart.

(PRAYER PORTION)

In Mother Teresa’s Own Words:
Let us remember, also, that Jesus cannot deceive us. This is why we must pray, and pray very much, “Lord increase my faith.” Pray everywhere and always. Let our work be a true prayer. Going up and down, studying, sweeping, going along the streets, we must pray and pray sincerely. “Lord, increase my faith, Lord, help my unbelief.���� Who will teach you how to pray? The Holy Spirit. Invoke [Him] often, “Holy Spirit, teach me how to pray.” It is through prayer that we get the grace of a deep faith and faith comes through prayer.

(Practical idea from our parish staff) How can I dispel doubt and be an instrument of faith?
In today’s would, we are distracted by many worldly issues. We attempt to seek God in many strange places. If we see our relationship with God as the center point of our life, our confusion, our doubt can melt away. It begins with prayer. Set the alarm on your watch or phone to chime every hour. Take a few moments to say a prayer, a prayer of thanks, a prayer for encouragement, a prayer for strength…

(PRAYER PORTION)

In Mother Teresa’s Own Words:
The people are asking for spiritual help, for consolation, they are so afraid, discouraged, in despair, so many commit suicide. That’s why we must concentrate on being God���s love, God’s presence—not by words, but by service, concrete love, listening.

(Practical idea from our parish staff) How can I bring hope?
Listen! Seek out someone who is suffering…from illness, from loneliness, from being forgotten. Is there someone who has no one left in their family or is all alone? Give the gift of presence to that person. Visit that person. Call them up on the phone. Bring God’s love to them by listening and being present to them.

(PRAYER PORTION)

In Mother Teresa’s Own Words:
Sometime back the sisters found a very, very miserable person, a man, one of those shut ins close by in Rome where the sisters are working, and they have never seen, I believe, anything like that. So anyway they washed his clothes, they cleaned his room, they made some hot water for him and so on, closed up everything, and they made a little bit of food for him also, and he never said one word. After two days—sisters kept on going to him twice a day— after two days he said to the sisters: “Sisters, you have brought God in my life, bring Father also.” And the sisters went and brought the priest and the priest heard his confession after 60 years. Next morning, he died. This is something so beautiful – that compassion of those young sisters brought God in the life of this man who had been for so many years forgotten, what is God’s love, what is to love one another, what is to be loved, he had forgotten for his heart was closed to everything.

(Practical idea from our parish staff)  How can I bring light?
Who is off my radar? Who have I forgotten? When was the last time I told someone that I thank God for their life and they are in this world? Who haven’t I spoken to in years: a friend, a relative, a former co-worker. Leave them a message on their answering machine (if talking to them in person is not possible). Tell them that you are grateful to God for their life.
(PRAYER PORTION)
In Mother Teresa’s Own Words:
Every Sunday I visit the poor in Calcutta’s slums. I cannot help them, because I do not have anything, but I go to give them joy. Last time about twenty little ones were eagerly expecting their “Ma.” When they saw me, they ran to meet me, even skipping on one foot. I entered. In that “para”—that is how a group of houses is called here—twelve families were living. Every family has only one room, two meters long and a meter and a half wide. The door is so narrow that I hardly could enter, and the ceiling is so low that I could not stand upright. . . . Now I do not wonder that my poor little ones love their school so much, and that so many of them suffer from tuberculosis. The poor mother [of the family she visited] did not utter even a word of complaint about her poverty. It was very painful for me, but at the same time I was very happy when I saw that they are happy because I visit them. Finally, the mother said to me: “Oh, Ma, come again! Your smile brought sun into this house!” (Come Be My Light, p. 27)

(Practical idea from our parish staff)  How can I bring light?
Our culture celebrates a lot of “special days”…. Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Birthdays, St. Valentine’s Day. On these days, wish those you meet a “Happy Mother’s Day” (to the women you meet), “Happy Father’s Day (to the men you meet), Happy St. Valentine’s Day (to everyone, whether you are in the grocery store or at a gas station). Around town the theme parks give away “Birthday Buttons” for people to wear on their special day. When you see someone wearing one, wish them a Happy Birthday. When a friend, relative or co-worker is celebrating a birthday, send them a card, write them an e-mail or call them up and let them know you are praying for them (and remember them in your prayers!) Watch the joy these simple and kind gestures can bring.


The quotes from Mother Teresa (above) come from the Mother Teresa Center, the Missionaries of Charity’s website (www.MotherTeresa.org) which aims to promote and support authentic knowledge of and devotion to Mother Teresa by the study, development and dissemination of her work, spirituality and message. The quotes were assembled for the Centenary celebration of Mother Teresa’s Birth.

Resources on Mother Teresa of Calcutta

Missionaries of Charity.  “Centenary of Mother Teresa’s Birth.”  Mother Teresa. www.MotherTeresa.org/Centenary/English/Index_Centenary2.html (accessed July 7, 2012)

Mother Teresa of Calcutta.  Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light - the Private Writings of the Saint of Calcutta.  Edited by Brian Kolodiejchuk.  New York, NY:  Doubleday Broadway Publishing Group, 2007.

Mother Teresa of Calcutta.  No Greater Love.  Edited by Becky Benenate and Joseph Durepos.  New York, NY:  MJF Books, 1997.

Mother Teresa of Calcutta.  A Simple Path.  Compiled by Lucinda Vardey.  New York, NY:  Ballantine Books, 1995

Schorn, Joel.  Holy Simplicity:  The Little Way of Mother Teresa, Dorothy Day and Thérèse of Lisieux. Cincinnati, OH: St. Anthony Messenger Press, 2008.