Monday afternoon I took a stroll through the Vatican Plaza just to take care of a few errands. How cool is that? Here I am doing a few small errands in front of the home of our Holy Father, Pope Benedict and walking on the place where St. Peter was crucified. All around are people of every nation seeking to deepen their faith by visiting this holy place. Of course, some might just be tourist. Yet, I doubt any can leave the square of St. Peter's without being changed spiritually to some degree.
After this I went to a small place that is holding an exhibit of Mother Teresa of Calcutta's things in honor of what would have been her 100th birthday. Now, do not quote me on that, because it might have been for another reason -- there was nothing to tell me why. Yet, that is what another visitor told me.
This was a very deeply spiritual visit. They had posters around the walls explaining her journey from childhood to religious life to founding the community of the Sisters of Charity. She had three visions from God which she kept quiet about. Only after her death was this revealed. Imagine to be so close to God that you hear His voice!!! Then after two years of the beginning of the Sisters (again, I did not take notes, so my memory may be faulty) she entered into a "darkness". Her private writings indicate that she never felt the touch or voice of God there afterwards. To the world and all her meet her, she was a happy and faithfilled woman empowered with the grace of God. On the inside she felt nothing. Yet, this did not stop her from doing His will and praying faithfully everyday.
There were many awards, including her Nobel Peace Prize, but the objects that touched me most of hers were two items. First there was a small letter that she writes to an important person in India, "Dear Friend, We are out of rice could you lend us some until we can pay you?" How simple is that! How much trust in God did she have. In the early days her sisters went to restaurants and stores and asked for the left overs. They feed this to the poor and themselves. Truly humble living.
The other object was her sari and habit. It was stitched and re-stitched over and over again. When it tore, she just mended it. She meet the leaders of the political world and religious world in this humble habit of the streets of India.
When you finish the journey of her life, there is a statue of her, very life-like, squatting down in prayer with a rosary in her hands, a prayer book open on the floor in front of her and some flowers. The eyes of the statue lead you to stop and pray before a beautiful, but simply cross and opened bible.
I have no plans to leave the home missionary effort, but this left me hungry to do more for the Lord. Go to India, to Zambia, to some other poverty stricken place. Yet, I know in every corner of the world there are poor including in our precious United States. Also, I know that the United States suffers from an even larger poverty than material goods which is spiritual wealth. What type of nation worries more about the abuse of animals than the abuse of children? What type of people permit abortion, abandoning the sacred little ones in the womb, while spending thousands on fertility drugs? Something is out of focus. We need to be totally consumed by the love of Jesus. We need to do small little deeds to help people. If anyone has fallen into darkness, have made poor choices, including the addiction to drugs or an ill advised abortion, God's love is still there. God loves us despite our short-comings. Imagine, no one is outside the thought and heart of God. Through Jesus everyone is wrapped into his arms and meet with his loving eyes. If we are afraid to go to Jesus ourselves, our Mother Mary will carry us to him. We are never alone. We are never without love. We are always part of the heavenly family.
So there is no need to venture off to some far distant place. I just need to be love to my family, my parents, my siblings, my children. I just need to wash the plates after meal, carry someones groceries to the car, or smile at someone who makes my life difficult. It is the small things that show our love.
All Blessed Mother Theresa did was go in the streets and give comfort to the dying. That is all. God did the rest.
Finally, before I left, I was encouraged to select a message from a basket. Here is mine, which I happily share with you: THE FRUIT OF LOVE IS SERVICE.
Amen.
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