Vigils Reading – St Teresa of Calcutta

GENEROSITY

From the book “In My Own Words” by St Mother Teresa1

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Without a spirit of sacrifice, without a life of prayer, without an intimate

attitude of penance, we would not be capable of carrying our work. We feed

ourselves, not to please our senses, but to show our Lord that we want to work

for him and with him, to live a life of sacrifice and reparation…

One night, a man came to our house to tell me that a Hindu family, a

family of eight children, had not eaten anything for days. They had nothing to

eat. I took enough rice for a meal and went to their house. I could see the hungry

faces, the children with their bulging eyes. The sight could not have been more

dramatic! The mother took the rice from my hands, divided it in half and went

out. When she came back a little later, I asked her: “Where did you go? What

did you do?” She answered, “They also are hungry.” “They” were the people next

door, a Muslim family with the same number of children to feed and who did

not have any food either. That mother was aware of the situation. She had the

courage and the love to share her meager portion of rice with others. In spite of

her circumstances, I think she felt very happy to share with her neighbors the

little I had taken her. In order not to take away her happiness, I did not take her

anymore rice that night. I took her some more the following day.

“What is a Christian?” someone asked a Hindu man. He responded, “The

Christian is someone who gives.” I ask you one thing: do not tire of giving, but

do not give your leftovers. Give until it hurts, until you feel the pain. Open your

hearts to the love God instills in them. God loves you tenderly. What he gives

you is not to be kept under lock and key, but to be shared. The more you save,

the less you will be able to give. The less you have, the more you will know how11

to share. Let us ask God, when it comes time to ask him for something, to help

us to be generous.

It was late in the day (around ten at night) when the doorbell rang. I

opened the door and found a man shivering from the cold. “Mother Teresa, I

heard that you just received an important prize. When I heard this I decided to

offer you something too. Here you have it: this is what I collected today.” It was

little, but in his case it was everything. I was moved more than by the Nobel

prize.

One day a young couple came to our house and asked for me. They gave

me a large amount of money. I asked them, “Where did you get so much

money?” They answered, “We got married two days ago. Before we got married

we had decided not to celebrate the wedding, not to buy wedding clothes, not to

have a reception or a honeymoon. We wanted to give you the money I saved.” I

know what such a decision meant, especially for a Hindu family. That is why I

asked them, “But how did you think of such a thing?” “We love each other so

much,” they answered, “that we wanted to share the joy of our love with those

you serve.”

To share: what a beautiful thing! We should learn how to give. If we worry

too much about ourselves, we won’t have time for others.