"Not all of us can do great things, only small things with great love."
On this weekend where many celebrate their love and spend time together, we can reflect on the love of our Catholic faith. The Theology of the Body defines love as “freely choosing to do the greatest good for the sake of another.” This definition of love does not only focus on love within a relationship but also in friendships and it tells us how we are to serve others.
A great, Saintly example of love is Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta. Mother Teresa has been a role model for me all of my life by her example of love and service. Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta was born in Macedonia in 1910. Mother Teresa started The Missionaries of Charity after receiving a "call within a call." While riding on a train from Calcutta to the Himalayan foothills she heard God speak to her, calling her to leave her current convent and teaching job to serve Calcutta's poorest and sickest citizens, God said, "Come be my light."
As she left her first order, she left in a blue and white sari that would be the sign of her new order, the Missionaries of Charity. In the 1950s Mother Teresa and her sisters established a leper colony, an orphanage, a nursing home, a family clinic and many mobile health clinics.
At 5 foot tall and in her 80s, Mother Teresa continued to serve those on the streets of Calcutta, coming into contact with many illnesses, but serving without fear. Mother Teresa's life is an example and a witness to the joy of love and service. As I have grown up and come to the position of Youth Minister at St. Charles, one of my mottos by Mother Teresa has always been, "Not all of us can do great things, only small things with great love."
At the beginning of our Lenten journeys we can follow Mother Teresa’s example, especially during this Year of Mercy and serve others in small ways, through the Corporal works of Mercy. The Corporal Works of Mercy are: Feed the hungry, Give drink to the thirsty, Clothe the naked, Shelter the homeless, Visit the Sick, Visit those in Prison and Bury the Dead.
Though a very holy and Saintly women, Mother Teresa was not without her own struggles. Spiritually Mother Teresa felt separated from God, "in darkness" or "in the desert."
"I long for God— I want to love Him—to love Him much— to live only for love of Him—to love only – and yet there is but pain— longing and no love. Before I could spend hours before our Lord—loving Him–talking to Him-- and now—not even meditation goes properly--nothing but "My God" – even sometimes does not come. Yet deep down somewhere in my heart that longing for God keeps breaking through, there is a presence of someone living very close, in me. I don't know what this is, but very often, even every day, that love in me for God grows more real."
Mother Teresa's experience of dryness is similar to Jesus' experience in this weekend's Gospel. Jesus spends 40 days fasting in the desert.
"At once the Spirit drove Him into the desert, and he remained in the desert for forty days, tempted by Satan. He was among wild beasts, and the angels ministered to Him." (Mark 1:12-13)
Jesus is the New Adam who remained faithful where the first Adam had given into temptation. Why does Jesus go into the desert to face temptation? "This is why Christ vanquished the Tempter for us, "For we have not a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sinning (CCC 540) So let us confidently approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and to find grace for timely help (Hebrews 4:15-16)."
In this Year of Mercy, we can take a deeper look at our Lenten journeys and confidently approach God in prayer and the Sacrament of Reconciliation to receive mercy and grace because Jesus went into the desert and experienced temptations like we do. We are a few days into Lent, how are you doing? Why do we fast? Fasting is connected with the mystery of Life and Death. Adam and Eve rejected a life dependent on God for a life dependent on “bread alone.” When Jesus fasted for 40 days in the desert, he became hungry. Hunger is a state where we realize our dependence on something else. When Adam gave into the devil’s temptation, he believed the lie that we are entirely dependent on food. When Jesus rejects the temptation, it shows us that we are not totally reliant on food. Fasting is a time for us to recover our spiritual nature and to let go of some of our material goods.
Three summers ago, I worked at a summer camp in Georgia. Before that summer I hadn’t really understood the purpose of fasting. Several of my teammates would fast from something they chose, such as dessert, as a prayer for the teens we were serving. The only time they would break the fast was for big celebrations in the Catholic Church— Feast Days and Solemnities. This experience taught me a lot about the importance of fasting. Fasting helps us to step back from our regular life and let go of some of our material wants. Fasting makes us aware of our dependence on God, and brings us closer to Him and our faith. Fasting these 40 days can be difficult, but we have Jesus to look up to as a role model as we prepare for the biggest celebration, Easter, where Christ died for you!
"God has chosen you, called you-- each of you by name. It is part of His plan, part of his infinite mercy that He called us all together, each of us with our particular characters and faults. We need each other. He has chosen us; we have not first chosen Him. But we must respond by making our Society something beautiful for Godsomething very beautiful. For this we must give all-- our utmost. We must cling to Jesus -- grasp Him. Have a grip on Him and never let go for anything. We must fall in love with Jesus," - Mother Teresa
Let’s fall in love with Jesus by doing small things with great love this Lent!
-Jen DeCoster