"I
do not pray for success. I ask for faithfulness."
"Now
let us do something beautiful for God."
"We
are all pencils in the hand of God."
"We
shall never know all the good that a simple smile can do."
"Love
begins by taking care of the closest ones - the ones at home."
"Do
not wait for leaders. Do it alone, person to person."
"One
of the greatest diseases is to be nobody to anybody."
"Words
which do not give the light of Christ increase the darkness."
"If
you can't feed a hundred people, then feed just one."
"Prayer
gives us a pure heart and a pure heart can do much."
"Be
faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies."
"In
this life we cannot do great things. We can only do small things with
great love."
"Let
us always meet each other with a smile, for the smile is the beginning
of love."
"So
let us keep the joy of loving in our hearts and share this joy with all
we meet."
"Spread
love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier."
"I have found the paradox, that if you love until it hurts, there
can be no more hurt, only more love."
"The
dying, the cripple, the mental, the unwanted, the unloved-- they are Jesus
in disguise."
"I
know God will not give me anything I can't handle. I just wish that He
didn't trust me so much."
"Many
people mistake our work for our vocation. Our vocation is the love of
Jesus."
"God
made the world rich enough to feed and clothe all human beings."
"Pride
destroys everything. To imitate Jesus is the key to be meek and humble
in heart."
"I
am Albanian by birth. Now I am a citizen of India. I am also a Catholic
nun. In my work, I belong to the whole world. But in my heart, I belong
to Christ."
"Unborn
children are among the poorest of the poor. They are so close to God.
I always ask doctors at hospitals in India never to kill an unborn child.
If there is no one who wants it, I will take it."
"The
right to life does not depend, and must not be contingent, on the pleasure
of anyone else, not even a parent or sovereign."
"You
who have received so much love, share it with others. Love others the
way that God has loved you, with tenderness."
"I
don't know what God is doing. He knows. We do not understand, but of one
thing I'm sure, He doesn't make a mistake."
"I
want you to be concerned about your next door neighbor. Do you know your
next door neighbor?"
"We
should teach our children to love one another at home. They can learn
this only from their father and mother, when they see the parents' love
for each other."
"I
see God in every human being. When I wash the leper's wounds, I feel I
am nursing the Lord himself. Is it not a beautiful experience?"
"Lead
me from death to life, from lies to truth Lead me from despair to hope
from fear to trust Lead me from hatred to love from war to peace Let peace
fill our heart, our world our universe with peace."
"Homelessness
is not only of bricks but homelessness comes from that terrible loneliness
that the unwanted, the unloved know along their way."
"All
God's gifts are good, but they are not all the same. As I often say to
people who tell me that they would like to serve the poor as I do, "What
I can do, you cannot. What you can do, I cannot. But together we can do
something beautiful for God."
"By
abortion, the mother does not learn to love, but kills even her own child
to solve her problems."
"Let
us make that one point - that no child will be unwanted, unloved, uncared
for, or killed and thrown away."
"Any
country that accepts abortion, is not teaching its people to love, but
to use any violence to get what it wants."
"We must not be surprised when we hear of murders, of killings, of wars,
of hatred. If a mother can kill her own child, what is left but for us
to kill each other."
"We
ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But
the ocean would be less because of that missing drop."
"It
is not how much we do, but how much love we put in the doing. It is not
how much we give, but how much love we put in the giving."
"God
will never forget us and there is something you and I can always do. We
can keep the joy of loving Jesus in our hearts, and share that joy with
all we come in contact with."
"Let
us touch the dying, the poor, the lonely and the unwanted according to
the graces we have received and let us not be ashamed or slow to do the
humble work."
"In
my heart, I carry the last glances of the dying. I do all I can so that
they feel loved at that most important moment when a seemingly useless
existence can be redeemed."
"At
the moment of death, we will not be judged according to the number of
good deeds we have done or by the diplomas we have received. We will be
judged according to the love we have put into our work."
"I
will never tire of repeating this: what the poor need the most is not
pity but love. They need to feel respect for their human dignity, which
is neither less nor different from the dignity of any other human being."
"My
prayer for you is that you come to understand and have the courage to
answer Jesus' call to you with the simple word 'yes'."
"The poor
give us much more than we give them. They're such strong people, living
day to day with no food. and they never curse, never complain. We don't
have to give them pity or sympathy. We have so much to learn from them."
"I am sure that
all people know deep down inside that the little child in the mother's
womb is a human being from the moment of conception, created in the image
of God to love and be loved. Let us pray that nobody will be afraid to
protect that little child, to help that little child to be born. Jesus
said: 'If you receive a little child in my name, you receive me.' "
"For me, life
is the most beautiful gift of God to mankind, therefore people and nations
who destroy life by abortion and euthanasia are the poorest. I do not
say legal or illegal, but I think that no human hand should be raised
to kill life, since life is God's life in us, even in an unborn child."
"Everybody
today seems to be in such a terrible rush, anxious for greater developments
and greater riches and so on, so that children have very little time for
their parents. Parents have very little time for each other, and in the
home begins the disruption of peace of the world."
"We think
sometimes that poverty is only being hungry, naked and homeless. The poverty
of being unwanted, unloved and uncared for is the greatest poverty. We
must start in our own homes to remedy this kind of poverty. "
"The greatest
destroyer of peace is abortion because if a mother can kill her own child,
what is left for me to kill you and you to kill me? There is nothing between."
"Instead
of death and sorrow, let us bring peace and joy to the world To do this
we must beg God for His gift of peace and learn to love and accept each
other as brothers and sisters, children of God."
"But why
did God make some of us men and others women? Because a woman's love is
one image of the love of God, and a man's love is another image of God's
love. Both are created to love, but each in a different way. Woman and
man complete each other, and together show forth God's love more fully
than either can do it alone."
"When I
pick up a person from the street, hungry, I give him a plate of rice,
a piece of bread. But a person who is shut out, who feels unwanted, unloved,
terrified, the person who has been thrown out of society - that spiritual
poverty is much harder to overcome. And abortion, which often follows
from contraception, brings a people to be spiritually poor, and that is
the worst poverty and the most difficult to overcome."
"Everything
starts with prayer. Love to pray--feel the need to pray often during the
day and take the trouble to pray. If you want to pray better, you must
pray more. The more you pray, the easier it becomes. Perfect prayer does
not consist of many words but in the fervor of the desire which raises
the heart to Jesus."
"The greatest
injustice we have done to our poor people is that we think they are good
for nothing; we have forgotten to treat them with respect, with dignity
as a child of God. People have forgotten what the human touch is, what
it is to smile, for somebody to smile at them, somebody to recognize them,
somebody to wish them well. The terrible thing is to be unwanted."
"I was asked
why I did not give a rod with which to fish, in the hands of the poor,
rather than give the fish itself as this makes them remain poor. So I
told them: The people whom we pick up are not able to stand with a rod.
So today I will give them fish and when they are able to stand, then I
shall send them to you and you can give them the rod. That is your job.
Let me do my work today."
"Those
who are materially poor can be very wonderful people. One evening we went
out and we picked up four people from the street. And one of them was
in a most terrible condition. I told the Sisters: "You take care of the
other three; I will take care of the one who looks worse." So I did for
her all that my love can do. I put her in bed, and there was such a beautiful
smile on her face. She took hold of my hand, as she said one word only:
"thank you" - and she died. I could not help but examine my conscience
before her. And I asked: "What would I say if I were in her place?" And
my answer was very simple. I would have tried to draw a little attention
to myself. I would have said: "I am hungry, I am dying, I am cold, I am
in pain," or something. But she gave me much more - she gave me her grateful
love. And she died with a smile on her face."
"Please don't
kill the child. I want the child. Please give me the child. I am willing
to accept any child who would be aborted, and to give that child to a
married couple who will love the child, and be loved by the child. From
our children's home in Calcutta alone, we have saved over 3,000 children
from abortions. These children have brought such love and joy to their
adopting parents, and have grown up so full of love and joy!"
"But I feel
that the greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion, because it is
a war against the child - a direct killing of the innocent child - murder
by the mother herself. And if we accept that a mother can kill even her
own child, how can we tell other people not to kill one another? How do
we persuade a woman not to have an abortion? As always, we must persuade
her with love, and we remind ourselves that love means to be willing to
give until it hurts. Jesus gave even his life to love us. So the mother
who is thinking of abortion, should be helped to love - that is, to give
until it hurts her plans, or her free time, to respect the life of her
child. The father of that child, whoever he is, must also give until it
hurts. By abortion, the mother does not learn to love, but kills even
her own child to solve her problems. And by abortion, the father is told
that he does not have to take any responsibility at all for the child
he has brought into the world. That father is likely to put other women
into the same trouble. So abortion just leads to more abortion. Any country
that accepts abortion is not teaching the people to love, but to use any
violence to get what they want. That is why the greatest destroyer of
love and peace is abortion. "
"If we
remember that God loves us, and that we can love others as He loves us,
then America can become a sign of peace for the world. From here, a sign
of care for the weakest of the weak - the unborn child - must go out to
the world. If you become a burning light of justice and peace in the world,
then really you will be true to what the founders of this country stood
for. God bless you!"
Compiled by Thomas George
editor@Preach-the-Gospel.com
