MOTHER TERESA: ANSWERING A CALL

Jean McGinnis

Mrs. McGinnis

20 November 2006

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Jean McGinnis

Mrs. McGinnis

Writing

20 November 2006

Mother Teresa: Answering a Call

Compassionate. Fearless. Strong. These are words that describe one of the most admired women in recent memory, Mother Teresa. Mother Teresa is one person who answered a call and made a huge difference in the lives of thousands of the poorest people in the world. She was raised in a home that emphasized caring, but she left her home and family to become one of the most inspirational figures of our time. Mother Teresa, from a young age, seemed destined to do great things. Today, her story is still an inspiration to people who care about the poor.

The woman we came to know as Mother Teresa was born on August 27, 1910, in Macedonia. The name given to her by her parents was Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu. As young as age 12, Agnes began accompanying her mother to distribute food and clothing to the poor (Harris 99). Her parents were very religious Roman Catholics who strongly believed in helping others, and Agnes followed their beliefs. Agnes’s father taught her to “Never take a morsel of food that you are not prepared to share with others” (Jacobs 10). Later, Mother Teresa later told Malcolm Muggeridge, “At age twelve I first knew I had a vocation to help the poor. I wanted to be a missionary” (Moritz 404). Therefore,

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after careful thought, Agnes sacrificed everything she knew to leave home at the age of eighteen and join the Sisters of Loreto, a community of Irish nuns in Dublin, Ireland. The Sisters of Loreto were known for their work with the poor. This was the last time she ever saw her mother (Harris 99).

Agnes took the name Teresa when she became a nun. Her order sent her to India in 1929. There she studied English, Hindi, and Bengali, the languages of Calcutta, India. At first, Sister Teresa was assigned to a school in Calcutta to teach the children of rich Indians. Outside the walls of the school, however, was some of the worst poverty in the world. She longed to be able to help these poor people, but was required to obey her superiors in the Church. She prayed for a chance to help the people on the streets of Calcutta (Jacobs 20).

Finally, in 1946, Mother Teresa received what she described as a calling from God. She heard the voice of God telling her how to further help the poor while sharing their way of life. Mother Teresa described the experience, “The message was clear. I was to leave the convent and help the poor, while living among them” (Moritz 404). This was a turning point in Mother Teresa’s life. Eventually, she received permission to move out of the convent and studied medicine with the Medical Missionary Sisters (Jacobs 24). In 1950 she founded a community of nuns called The Missionaries of Charity. These women had very strict rules and had to live off of what they could get as charity (“Saints” 48). They lived alongside the people they were there to help, just as Teresa was told to do by the voice of God. She and her fellow nuns treated everyone with dignity

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and respect. Indeed, they were not afraid to help even the most rejected individuals in Calcutta, the lepers. Leprosy is a painful disease that attacks the nerves and skin. Lepers were feared and shunned by society. However, Mother Teresa and her fellow nuns were not afraid to minister to the lepers. Mother Teresa said, “Our people, the poor people, are very great people. They give us much more, much joy in accepting us and the little things that we do for them” (Balado 53).

As a result of her dedication to the poor of Calcutta, Mother Teresa won the admiration and respect of people all over the world. World leaders and spiritual leaders alike were eager to spend time with her and learn compassion from her actions and words. Pope John Paul II visited in 1986 and praised her work and dedication to the sick and needy. Another example of Mother Teresa’s popularity was when Princess Diana visited her in Calcutta, and together they ministered to the poor. It turned into a media event. Princess Diana’s visit brought attention to the efforts of Mother Teresa and the Missionaries of Charity. She was honored in many ways. Most importantly, in 1979 Mother Teresa won one of the highest honors a person can achieve, the Nobel Peace Prize (Frangsmyr).

Mother Teresa died September 5, 1997. Pope John Paul II beatified her soon after her death. This is the first step for becoming a saint. Currently, there is a movement to have Mother Teresa canonized as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church. A saint is someone who voluntarily suffers something that is

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beyond the call of duty (“Saints” 47). Many believe that Mother Teresa’s life among some of the poorest people in the world fits that definition.

Compassionate. The poor of Calcutta were cared for and given dignity by the work of Mother Teresa and the nuns of her order. Fearless. She fulfilled her destiny by answering the call to help where she was needed most. Strong. She was not afraid to live among those who were sick and dying and desperate for help. As Mother Teresa herself said, “To be able to love the poor and know the poor we must be poor ourselves” (Moritz 404). She has left a legacy of caring that inspires people all over the world to this day.

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Works Cited

Balado, Jose Luis and Payfoot, Janet N. My Life for the Poor. New York:

Ballantine Books, 1985.

Frangmyr, Tore. “Mother Teresa The Nobel Peace Prize 1979.” nobelprize.org.

7 Nov. 2006. </nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1979/

teresa-bio.html>.

Harris, Laurie Lanzen. Biography Today. Detroit: Omnigraphics, Inc., 1998.

Jacobs, William Jay. Mother Teresa Helping the Poor. Brookfield, CT: The Millbrook Press, 1991.

Moritz, Charles. Current Biography Yearbook 1973. New York: The H. W.

Wilson Company, 1973.

“Saints Among Us.” Time. 29 December 1975: 47-56.