Triduum for Mother Teresa of Calcutta (Part II)

Two saints: Blessed Mother of Teresa meeting Venerable Servant of God John Paul II

Continuing the Triduum of reflections on Mother Teresa of Calcutta

Soon after God called Mother Teresa to the “new path” of serving Him in the poorest of the poor, Mother made a vow: Never to deny God anything.

Let us reflect just for a second how amazing this is: It is total gift. It is totally a gift of love to Him who first loved us. It is also total Freedom. This may sound odd, after all by never denying God anything, do we not give up our Freedom? This is the amazing part. God is all powerful, He has the might to force and coerce us into doing His will. He does not though. He loves us too much to do that. He allows us to share in His Freedom. So when we give ourselves totally to Him, we share totally in His Freedom.

Mother Teresa found this to be true in her own life. She was now free for God, free to serve Him in a radical way that she could not before. We are called to this same Freedom – I am not saying we are called to do the same things that Mother did, but we are called never to deny God anything. We recall the words of Saint Francis de Sales, “God asks only one thing of us, and that is to be ourselves perfectly.” So when God ask something of us, He is asking us to be more who we are. This could be to be more of a husband or wife, more of a father or mother, more of a son or daughter. This is how we are called to follow the path that Mother took, but in the way that God calls us. This is the basis of what the Church calls the Universal Call to Holiness. We are all called to be saints.

Let us pray:

Mary, Mother of Jesus,
Give me your most beautiful heart,
As pure, as immaculate,
As full of love and of humility,
So that I can receive Jesus in the Bread of Life,
So that I can love Him as you have loved Him,
And so that I can serve Him as you have served Him
Under the figure of the poorest of the poor.
Amen.

Prayer composed by Blessed Teresa of Calcutta