Mother Teresa: The Documentary

When Mother Teresa speaks of "divine providence," she is discussing one of the central ideas that she bases all of her missionary work on. "Divine providence" literally means that God will provide. She does not allow anyone to put forth a fundraiser in order to raise money to fund her work. All she will accept is the donations of those who want to, personally, finance some of her work. People should give and provide for the poor until it hurts them so that they can share in the joy of loving. An example of its work in Mother Teresa's life is when the sisters are starting the missionary building in San Francisco and the American people provide them with such luxuries as a boiler, carpets, mattresses with springs, and pews. She calls these things unessential and asks for them to be removed. She does not want something to be simply handed to her. She knows that what she is doing is meant to be labor and that is what it should be. All should be left up to God, for after all it is his work. It is not the work that is easily done because amenities are handed to them. She would not even let the man, who wanted to create a fundraiser in America for her work, do such a thing. Her work always was based on "divine providence."

My favorite quote by Mother Teresa is that which states, "I want you to be concerned about your next door neighbor. Do you know your next door neighbor?" This quote reminds us of The Mount's mission of helping the dear neighbor. This quote bares a lot of truth. We spend all of our lives surrounded by people and all we do is make judgments and then simply pass them by. We, as humans, do not take the time to get to know all that is around us. We blame this on being busy or tired, when in reality all it will take is ten minutes of our time. You do not need to be the Mother Teresa for your neighbors. But, a reassuring smile every couple of days shows that you care enough. We must look to those all across the world and support those who have less than us or are in need of assistance. Everybody in this world is connected to the next person in some way. We have a duty to helping our dear neighbor. This quote is one of truth and great power, which is why it is my favorite.