Just Do It Anyway

7 Sep

“What we do is less than a drop in the ocean.  But if it were missing, the ocean would lack something.”  ~ Mother Teresa

Yesterday, I began the daily reflection with a quote from Mother Teresa:  “It’s not how much we give but how much love we put into giving.”  I went on to speak about giving from the heart.  Mother Teresa was certainly a person who gave from the heart.

This past Monday, September 5th, was the anniversary of her death at the age of 87.  That tiny, scrappy woman changed the lives of so many people in her world and in our world.  She did not seek fame or fortune.  All she sought was Jesus.  She sought Him out in the poor and the needy, in the sick and the lame, and in the destitute and the dying.  To be able to cradle a dying person in her arms with the full knowledge that she was cradling the Lord was enough for her.

Mother Teresa encouraged her followers to center themselves on Jesus in the Eucharist and to serve Jesus in the poor they encounter on a daily basis.  That is not bad advice at all.

This day, center yourself on the Lord.  If you have the opportunity, go to Mass or at the very least visit a church and sit in front of the tabernacle, praying to the Eucharistic Lord for strength and grace to do His will.

FAITH ACTION:  Reflect upon the following which was found on one of the walls of an orphanage in Calcutta and attributed to Mother Teresa.  Think about each phrase and truly take it to heart:

People are unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered.
Love them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish ulterior motives.
Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some false friends and true enemies.
Succeed anyway.

The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.
Be good anyway.

Honesty and frankness will make you vulnerable.
Be honest and frank anyway.

What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.
Build anyway.

People need help, but may attack you if you try to help them.
Help them anyway.

In the final analysis, it is between you and God.
It was never between you and them anyway.