Mother Teresa's Speech
at the National Prayer Breakfast
Washington, DC
February 5, 1994
On the last day, Jesus will say to those on His right hand,
"Come, enter the Kingdom. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and
you gave me drink, I was sick and you visited me." Then Jesus will turn to those on
His left hand and say, "Depart from me because I was hungry and you did not feed me,
I was thirsty and you did not give me to drink, I was sick and you did not visit me."
These will ask Him, "When did we see You hungry, or thirsty or sick and did not come
to Your help?" And Jesus will answer them, "Whatever you neglected to do unto
one of the least of these, you neglected to do unto Me!"
As we have gathered here to pray together, I think it will be
beautiful if we begin with a prayer that expresses very well what Jesus wants us to do for
the least. St. Francis of Assisi understood very well these words of Jesus and His life is
very well expressed by a prayer. And this prayer, which we say every day after Holy
Communion, always surprises me very much, because it is very fitting for each one of us.
And I always wonder whether 800 years ago when St. Francis lived, they had the same
difficulties that we have today. I think that some of you already have this prayer of
peace - so we will pray it together.
Let us thank God for the opportunity He has given us today to have
come here to pray together. We have come here especially to pray for peace, joy and love.
We are reminded that Jesus came to bring the good news to the poor. He had told us what is
that good news when He said: "My peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto
you." He came not to give the peace of the world which is only that we don't bother
each other. He came to give the peace of heart which comes from loving - from doing good
to others.
And God loved the world so much that He gave His son - it was a
giving. God gave His son to the Virgin Mary, and what did she do with Him? As soon as
Jesus came into Mary's life, immediately she went in haste to give that good news. And as
she came into the house of her cousin, Elizabeth, Scripture tells us that the unborn child
- the child in the womb of Elizabeth - leapt with joy. While still in the womb of Mary -
Jesus brought peace to John the Baptist who leapt for joy in the womb of Elizabeth.
And as if that were not enough, as if it were not enough that God
the Son should become one of us and bring peace and joy while still in the womb of Mary,
Jesus also died on the Cross to show that greater love. He died for you and for me, and
for the leper and for that man dying of hunger and that naked person lying in the street,
not only of Calcutta, but of Africa, and everywhere. Our Sisters serve these poor people
in 105 countries throughout the world. Jesus insisted that we love one another as He loves
each one of us. Jesus gave His life to love us and He tells us that we also have to give
whatever it takes to do good to one another. And in the Gospel Jesus says very clearly:
"Love as I have loved you."
Jesus died on the Cross because that is what it took for Him to do
good to us - to save us from our selfishness in sin. He gave up everything to do the
Father's will - to show us that we too must be willing to give up everything to do God's
will - to love one another as He loves each of us. If we are not willing to give whatever
it takes to do good to one another, sin is still in us. That is why we too must give to
each other until it hurts.
It is not enough for us to say: "I love God," but I also
have to love my neighbor. St. John says that you are a liar if you say you love God and
you don't love your neighbor. How can you love God whom you do not see, if you do not love
your neighbor whom you see, whom you touch, with whom you live? And so it is very
important for us to realize that love, to be true, has to hurt. I must be willing to give
whatever it takes not to harm other people and, in fact, to do good to them. This requires
that I be willing to give until it hurts. Otherwise, there is not true love in me and I
bring injustice, not peace, to those around me.
It hurt Jesus to love us. We have been created in His image for
greater things, to love and to be loved. We must "put on Christ" as Scripture
tells us. And so, we have been created to love as He loves us. Jesus makes Himself the
hungry one, the naked one, the homeless one, the unwanted one, and He says, "You did
it to Me." On the last day He will say to those on His right, "whatever you did
to the least of these, you did to Me, and He will also say to those on His left, whatever
you neglected to do for the least of these, you neglected to do it for Me."
When He was dying on the Cross, Jesus said, "I thirst."
Jesus is thirsting for our love, and this is the thirst of everyone, poor and rich alike.
We all thirst for the love of others, that they go out of their way to avoid harming us
and to do good to us. This is the meaning of true love, to give until it hurts.
I can never forget the experience I had in visiting a home where
they kept all these old parents of sons and daughters who had just put them into an
institution and forgotten them - maybe. I saw that in that home these old people had
everything - good food, comfortable place, television, everything, but everyone was
looking toward the door. And I did not see a single one with a smile on the face. I turned
to Sister and I asked: "Why do these people who have every comfort here, why are they
all looking toward the door? Why are they not smiling?"
I am so used to seeing the smiles on our people, even the dying
ones smile. And Sister said: "This is the way it is nearly everyday. They are
expecting, they are hoping that a son or daughter will come to visit them. They are hurt
because they are forgotten." And see, this neglect to love brings spiritual poverty.
Maybe in our own family we have somebody who is feeling lonely, who is feeling sick, who
is feeling worried. Are we there? Are we willing to give until it hurts in order to be
with our families, or do we put our own interests first? These are the questions we must
ask ourselves, especially as we begin this year of the family. We must remember that love
begins at home and we must also remember that 'the future of humanity passes through the
family.'
I was surprised in the West to see so many young boys and girls
given to drugs. And I tried to find out why. Why is it like that, when those in the West
have so many more things than those in the East? And the answer was: 'Because there is no
one in the family to receive them.' Our children depend on us for everything - their
health, their nutrition, their security, their coming to know and love God. For all of
this, they look to us with trust, hope and expectation. But often father and mother are so
busy they have no time for their children, or perhaps they are not even married or have
given up on their marriage. So their children go to the streets and get involved in drugs
or other things. We are talking of love of the child, which is were love and peace must
begin. These are the things that break peace.
CONTINUED.PARTS 2 AND 3