“At the heart of silence is prayer. At the heart of prayer is faith. At the heart of faith is life. At the heart of life is service.” ~ Mother Teresa of Calcutta
Mother Teresa, for a very long time, was ignored by many. She was looked at as some kind of “religious kook”. People could not understand what she was doing and/or why she was doing it. They could not understand because Mother Teresa’s life was all about service. However, in order to get to that point, her life had to be grounded in silence and prayer.
That is one of the reasons why Mother Teresa insisted upon all of her sisters doing a daily Holy Hour in front of the Blessed Sacrament. That oriented their interior faith life and fueled them to exhibit a strong, passionate exterior faith life. The naysayers did not see that part of the equation. All they saw was a woman going out to the poor and the dying. They ridiculed that because, in their society, there were too many people destitute and dying. There was no way to help them all.
Mother Teresa’s example was simple. If she couldn’t help them all, she would help the one that was in front of her. Faithfully serving God’s people, she helped one then another and another and another. She reached out to so many individuals that she packed them in to facilities where they would be given proper care and either nursed back to health or provided a shelter in which they would experience a peaceful, dignified death.
At the heart of Mother Teresa’s life was service. However, that life had to be centered upon faith. That faith was fueled by prayer. The prayer was prompted by silence.
As it was with Mother Teresa, so it should be with us. We are called to find the Lord in the silence of our hearts. Finding Him, our souls open up in prayer. That prayer nurtures our faith. Our faith tells us that we, too, should be engaged in faithful service to God’s people.
FAITH ACTION: If you’re living your faith correctly, you will be a model servant. If you are not, decide what you need to change.