Mother Teresa
Paying Tribute to Mother TeresaMother Teresa(August 26, 1910 – September 5, 1997) was born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu in Skopje*, Macedonia, on August 26**, 1910. Her family was of Albanian descent. At the age of twelve, she felt strongly the call of God. She knew she had to be a missionary to spread the love of Christ. At the age of eighteen she left her parental home in Skopje and joined the Sisters of Loreto, an Irish community of nuns with missions in India. She never again saw her mother or sister.
After a few months'
training in Dublin she was sent to India,
where on May 24, 1931, she took her initial vows as a nun.
Mother Teresa founded the Missionaries of Charity for the
poor and neglected people of the society.
For over forty years she ministered to the poor,
sick, orphaned, and dying in Calcutta, India.
This simple, humble, Godly servant exemplified
the heart of God for the poor.
There’s a quote attributed to Mother Teresa
(which you probably already know) that makes clear
the cost of loving and
doing good, but for the intrinsic value of love and
goodness urges us to do it anyway.
“People are unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered.
Love them anyway. If you do good, people may accuse you
of selfish motives. Do good anyway.
If you are successful, you may win false friends
and true enemies. Succeed anyway.
The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow.
Do good anyway. Honesty and transparency make you vulnerable.
Be honest and transparent anyway. What you spend
years building may be destroyed overnight. Build anyway.
People who really want help may attack you if you help them.
Help them anyway. Give the world the best you have
and you may get hurt. Give the world your best anyway.”
Mother Teresa received the Nobel Peace prize in 1979 for
her humanitarian work,
in turn increasing the value of the Nobel Prize itself.
This is a Tribute to Mother Teresa, on her 99th Birthday.
