I will never forget one of the first times I visited a certain woman in a nursing home ... early 60s, a bright mind, and a body that would not work at all (not even able to talk). Could you imagine? I left there ashamed of my selfishness and knew I had to make a change. I must learn how to love and I prayed God would help me. I believe that over the years he has allowed several trials in my life as an answer to that prayer ... and even though it's been hard to endure sometimes, I know that after everything else burns up, only the gold will remain. Love IS gold. I will gladly take on any trial sent my way, knowing that the dross and scum is being removed.
I will never forget the first book I read from Mother Teresa ... she put me to shame ... yet at the same time she inspired and encouraged me to be a better person. So here now I would like to share several quotes from Mother Teresa. May her words inspire you to love more fully.
“These are the few ways we can practice humility:
To speak as little as possible of one's self.
To mind one's own business.
Not to want to manage other people's affairs.
To avoid curiosity.
To accept contradictions and correction cheerfully.
To pass over the mistakes of others.
To accept insults and injuries.
To accept being slighted, forgotten and disliked.
To be kind and gentle even under provocation.
Never to stand on one's dignity.
To choose always the hardest.”
“Never be so busy as not to think of others.”
“We do not need guns and bombs to bring peace, we need love and compassion.” (and may I add that guns and bombs can be figurative too)
“God doesn't ask that we succeed in everything, but that we are faithful. However beautiful our work may be, let us not become attached to it. Always remain prepared to give it up, without losing your peace.”
“God gives us things to share, God doesn't give us things to hold...”
“every time you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing”
“Today somebody is suffering, today somebody is in the street, today somebody is hungry. ... We have only today to make Jesus known, loved, served, fed, clothed, sheltered. Do not wait for tomorrow. Tomorrow we will not have them if we do not feed them today.”
“Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.”
“I am not sure exactly what heaven will be like, but I know that when we die and it comes time for God to judge us, he will not ask, 'How many good things have you done in your life?' rather he will ask, 'How much love did you put into what you did?”
“Do not think that love in order to be genuine has to be extraordinary. What we need is to love without getting tired. Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies.”
“Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless.”
“Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin.”
“Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier. Be the living expression of God's kindness: kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile.”
“At the end of life we will not be judged by how many diplomas we have received, how much money we have made, how many great things we have done.
We will be judged by "I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat, I was naked and you clothed me. I was homeless, and you took me in.”
We will be judged by "I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat, I was naked and you clothed me. I was homeless, and you took me in.”
“I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.”
“Live simply so others may simply live.”
“I can do things you cannot, you can do things I cannot; together we can do great things.”
“A life not lived for others is not a life.”
“If you can't feed a hundred people, feed just one.”
“It is a poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish.”
“I would rather make mistakes in kindness and compassion than work miracles in unkindness and hardness.”
“Never worry about numbers. Help one person at a time and always start with the person nearest you.”
“Without patience, we will learn less in life. We will see less. We will feel less. We will hear less. Ironically, rush and more usually mean less.”
“I pray that you will understand the words of Jesus, “Love one another as I have loved you.” Ask yourself “How has he loved me? Do I really love others in the same way?” Unless this love is among us, we can kill ourselves with work and it will only be work, not love. Work without love is slavery.”
“Intense love does not measure it just gives. ”
“Love is a fruit in season at all times and within reach of every hand.”
“Smile at each other. Smile at your wife, smile at your husband, smile at your children, smile at each other- it doesn't matter who it is- and that will help to grow up in greater love for each other.”
“There are many people who can do big things, but there are very few people who will do the small things.”
“Go out into the world today and love the people you meet. Let your presence light new light in the hearts of people.”
“Be happy in the moment, that's enough. Each moment is all we need, not more.”
“Spread love everywhere you go: first of all in your own home. Give love to your children, to your wife or husband, to a next door neighbor . . . Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier. Be the living expression of God's kindness; kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile, kindness in your warm greeting.”
“It is a kingly act to assist the fallen.”
“If a mother can kill her own child - what is left for me to kill you and you to kill me - there is nothing between.”
“There should be less talk; a preaching point is not a meeting point.
What do you do then? Take a broom and clean someone's house.
That says enough.”
What do you do then? Take a broom and clean someone's house.
That says enough.”
“It is easy to love the people far away. It is not always easy to love those close to us. It is easier to give a cup of rice to relieve hunger than to relieve the loneliness and pain of someone unloved in our own home. Bring love into your home for this is where our love for each other must start.”
“If I look at the mass I will never act.”
“I want you to be concerned about your next door neighbor. Do you know your next door neighbor?”
“When you have nothing left but God, you have more than enough to start over again.”
“When Mother Teresa received the Nobel Prize, she was asked, "What can we do to promote world peace?" She answered "Go home and love your family.”
“Holiness does not consist in doing extraordinary things. It consists in accepting, with a smile, what Jesus sends us. It consists in accepting and following the will of God.”
“Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment.”
“Christ came to be Father's compassion to the world. Be kind in your actions. Do not think that you are the only one who can do efficient work, work worth showing. This makes you harsh in your judgment of others who may not have the same talents. Do your best and trust that others do their best. And be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies.”
“There's nothing more calming in difficult moments that knowing there's some one fighting with you.”
“We learn humility through accepting humiliations cheerfully.”
“One truly must have suffered oneself to help others.”
“You can find Calcutta anywhere in the world. You only need two eyes to see. Everywhere in the world there are people that are not loved, people that are not wanted nor desired, people that no one will help, people that are pushed away or forgotten. And this is the greatest poverty.”
“I have found the paradox that if I love until it hurts, then there is no hurt, but only more love.”
“If we really want to love we must learn how to forgive.” (and Christ said, if we do not forgive we will not be forgiven)
“Some people come in our life as blessings. Others come in our life as lessons.” (which is really a blessing too!)
“I will never understand all the good that a simple smile can accomplish.”
“I used to pray that God would feed the hungry, or do this or that, but now I pray that he will guide me to do whatever I'm supposed to do, what I can do. I used to pray for answers, but now I'm praying for strength. I used to believe that prayer changes things, but now I know that prayer changes us and we change things.”
“It is not the magnitude of our actions, but the amount of love that is put into them that matters.”
“We the willing, led by the unknowing, are doing the impossible for the ungrateful. We have done so much, with so little, for so long, we are now qualified to do anything, with nothing.”
There are so many more ... but I'll stop now.
Those are some challenging quotes. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome! God bless you all :)
ReplyDeleteI think I need to print these out and review them often. Thank you so much for sharing!
ReplyDeleteAmi