Vigils Reading – St Theresa of Calcutta

GENEROSITY

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

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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 how 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.