Mother Teresa - Joy

JOY IS PRAYER. JOY IS STRENGTH. JOY IS LOVE - JOY IS THE NET OF LOVE BY WHICH WE CAN CATCH SOULS. WE GIVE MOST WHEN WE GIVE WITH JOY. THE BEST WAY TO SHOW OUR GRATITUDE TO GOD AND TO EACH OTHER IS TO ACCEPT EVERYTHING WITH JOY. A JOYFUL HEART IS THE INEVITABLE RESULT OF A HEART BURNING WITH LOVE. WE ALL LONG FOR HEAVEN WHERE GOD IS, BUT WE HAVE IT IN OUR POWER TO BE IN HEAVEN WITH HIM RIGHT NOW - TO BE HAPPY WITH HIM AT THIS VERY MOMENT. BUT BEING HAPPY WITH HIM NOW MEANS:

LOVING AS HE LOVES,
HELPING AS HE HELPS,
GIVING AS HE GIVES,
SERVING AS HE SERVES,
RESCUING AS HE RESCUES,
BEING WITH HIM FOR ALL THE 24 HOURS, AND
TOUCHING HIM IN HIS DISTRESSING DISGUISE OF THE POOR.

-MOTHER TERESA, FROM Mother Teresa's Lessons of Love and Secrets of Sanctity

Motivational Poem -
Life Is....
by Mother Teresa

Life is an opportunity, benefit from it.

Life is beauty, admire it.

Life is a dream, realize it.

Life is a challenge, meet it.

Life is a duty, complete it.

Life is a game, play it.

Life is a promise, fulfill it.

Life is sorrow, overcome it.

Life is a song, sing it.

Life is a struggle, accept it.

Life is a tragedy, confront it.

Life is an adventure, dare it.

Life is luck, make it.

Life is too precious, do not destroy it.

Life is life, fight for it.

I think the world today is upside-down and is suffering so much because there is so very little love in the homes and in family life. We have no time for our children, we have no time for each other; there is no time to enjoy each other.
– Mother Teresa of Calcutta,
Mother Teresa: In My Own Words

prayer by Mother Teresa & Missionaries of Charity

Deliver me, O Jesus
From the desire of being loved,
From the desire of being extolled,
From the desire of being honored,
From the desire of being praised,
From the desire of being preferred,
From the desire of being consulted,
From the desire of being approved,
From the desire of being popular,
From the fear of being humiliated,
From the fear of being despised,
From the fear of being rebuked,
From the fear of being calumniated,
From the fear of being forgotten,
From the fear of being wronged,
From the fear of being ridiculed,
From the fear of being suspected.

~Mother Teresa, p. 37-38,
A Simple Path