Mother Teresa, inspired by a call within a call from our Lord, founded the Missionaries of Charity (MC). The aim of the religious congregation is to labor for the salvation and sanctification of souls. The ultimate end of the society is to satiate the infinite thirst of Christ on the cross (Jn 19:28).
What was Christ thirsting for? Water, yes. But infinitely more for souls.
He thirsts to love and be loved. We satiate his thirst by loving Him.
But how to satiate Jesus' burning thirst? Where is his presence in the world today? Mother Teresa found an answer in the 25th chapter of Matthew's Gospel: whatever you did to the least of my brothers, you did it to me (Mt 25:40). You did it to me. We love Christ by loving Him in the least and the lost.
Who are the poor? Yes, those who hunger and thirst. But more than that--I am the poor. You are the poor. We find the poorest of the poor in the peripheries, and the peripheries are within us. As Mother Teresa would say, Calcutta is everywhere. It is a place of great beauty and a place of great suffering. Just like our heart. And so we come to know that there is a spiritual third world in every human heart.
Christ thirsts to be loved. And we can love him in the poorest of the poor. But what sustains such efforts? How do we learn to love? For we cannot give what we do not have. Of course, the answer is in another presence of Christ--the true presence in the Eucharist. It is at adoration that we encounter Christ's burning love for us that we share with others. Christ feeds us with the bread of life, that we may become that bread for others. When we recognize that we can love the poor and that the poor are the presence of Christ's love for us, all becomes prayer. All becomes grace.
No longer is there interior life and exterior apostolate. They become one. Working with the poor becomes adoration of Christ, and adoration of Christ in the Eucharist becomes the means of working for the salvation and sanctification of the poor.
In sum, Christ loves us so that we may love others. And in loving others, we become more open to sharing the love of Christ. It is an infinite cycle of love begetting love.
This is the life of an MC.
What was Christ thirsting for? Water, yes. But infinitely more for souls.
He thirsts to love and be loved. We satiate his thirst by loving Him.
But how to satiate Jesus' burning thirst? Where is his presence in the world today? Mother Teresa found an answer in the 25th chapter of Matthew's Gospel: whatever you did to the least of my brothers, you did it to me (Mt 25:40). You did it to me. We love Christ by loving Him in the least and the lost.
Who are the poor? Yes, those who hunger and thirst. But more than that--I am the poor. You are the poor. We find the poorest of the poor in the peripheries, and the peripheries are within us. As Mother Teresa would say, Calcutta is everywhere. It is a place of great beauty and a place of great suffering. Just like our heart. And so we come to know that there is a spiritual third world in every human heart.
Christ thirsts to be loved. And we can love him in the poorest of the poor. But what sustains such efforts? How do we learn to love? For we cannot give what we do not have. Of course, the answer is in another presence of Christ--the true presence in the Eucharist. It is at adoration that we encounter Christ's burning love for us that we share with others. Christ feeds us with the bread of life, that we may become that bread for others. When we recognize that we can love the poor and that the poor are the presence of Christ's love for us, all becomes prayer. All becomes grace.No longer is there interior life and exterior apostolate. They become one. Working with the poor becomes adoration of Christ, and adoration of Christ in the Eucharist becomes the means of working for the salvation and sanctification of the poor.
In sum, Christ loves us so that we may love others. And in loving others, we become more open to sharing the love of Christ. It is an infinite cycle of love begetting love.
This is the life of an MC.
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