Go Beyond

Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu — the child who would one day be known as Mother Teresa — was born on August 26, 1910 in Skopje, Albania. Her family lived next door to the church, where she spent much of her time. She was influenced by the example of her mother, a compassionate and generous woman who never allowed the poor who came to her door to leave empty-handed. Agnes developed a special interest in missions and began to sense God’s call to the missionary life at the age of twelve. At eighteen, she joined the Order of the Sisters of Our Lady of Loreto and served in India. In 1946, Sister Teresa sensed God’s call to leave the convent and consecrate herself to helping the poor by living among them. She left the Sisters of Our Lady of Loreto in 1948 and founded the Order of the Missionaries of Charity in 1950.

British journalist Malcolm Muggeridge introduced Mother Teresa to the world in an interview aired by the BBC in 1967. Muggeridge was deeply touched by the life and work of Mother Teresa. He later traveled to Calcutta to produce a documentary about her and wrote a best-selling book entitled Something Beautiful for God: Mother Teresa of Calcutta. One of Muggeridge’s most treasured possessions is a devotional manual that Mother Teresa gave to him. She wrote the following prayer in the flyleaf of this book: ”Make us worthy, Lord, to serve our fellow men throughout the world who live and die in poverty and hunger. Give them through our hands this day their daily bread, and by our understanding love, peace and joy.” Mother Teresa was always thinking about the least of these and encouraged others to do the same.

I first read about Mother Teresa in the December 29, 1975 issue of Time magazine. This issue was titled “Living Saints: Messengers of Love and Hope” and featured the image of Mother Teresa on the cover. I was so inspired by what I read that I saved that issue of the magazine and still have it. Over the subsequent years I watched Mother Teresa’s selfless life unfold on the world stage. While in Nigeria in 2008, I stopped at a bookstore to purchase something to read on the long flight home. The shelves of the bookstore were sparse but they did have a copy of Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light, a biography based on a collection of Mother Teresa’s letters. So, I purchased and read this book on the flight home. This was the first of several books about Mother Teresa that I purchased and read.

Soon after returning home from Nigeria, I read Dangerous Surrender: What Happens When You Say Yes to God by Kay Warren. In one chapter, Kay wrote about her visit to Kolkata to serve at Kalighat, Mother Teresa’s home for the dying. Her story touched my heart and got me to thinking deeply about the possibility of going to Kolkata to serve at Mother Teresa’s homes. After a short period of prayer and planning, I was on a flight to Kolkata. I did not know what to expect and was both anxious and excited. But, my time at Mother Teresa’s homes turned out to be one of the best and most enriching experiences of my life. As a volunteer, I could not just stand and observe from a safe and sterile distance. I had to physically touch the broken bodies of the lowest of the least of these — Jesus in the distressing disguise of the poor. This experience touched me deeply and challenged me to look for and respond to the needs of Jesus in the distressing disguise of the poor wherever I go.

Mother Teresa was born 100 years-ago on this day and died on September 5, 1997. Since my first visit to her homes in January 2009, I have returned to Kolkata to serve at her homes on three other occasions. On each of my visits I have worked alongside hundreds of volunteers who traveled to Kolkata from around the world to serve the poorest of the poor. Every volunteer I have spoken with has told me the same thing — they were inspired to travel to Kolkata to serve the poor at their own expense because of Mother Teresa’s Christ-like example of unconditional love and selfless service. One-hundred years after her birth, Mother Teresa’s influence and legacy continue to inspire and challenge the people of the world to love as Jesus loved.