1

Samir El-Sawaf
May 2, 2018
The Catholic Tradition
Dr. Dickens

Mother Teresa: Exemplar of Christian Servitude?

I have vivid childhood memories of incessantly asking my mother for help until she

would exasperatedly exclaim “who do I look like, Mother Teresa?!” I never really understood

what she meant by this. My mother, a product of a lifetime of Catholic education and a devout

Catholic woman who says the rosary three times a day and never misses mass, holds Mother

Teresa as the perfect example of patience, kindness, and endless generosity. Whenever I asked

my mother who Mother Teresa was, I was always met with the response of “a perfect woman

who we all try to be like but never can be.” Wholly dissatisfied with such a response but

nevertheless conditioned not to question my mother’s religious heroes, I never pressed.

As I continued on in my education I learned more about Mother Teresa and her works. I

was always presented with the image of a flawless hero who lived completely selflessly for the

sake of the poorest of the poor. I always carried with me a sense of skepticism. How can

someone truly live in the way I was told she did? Surely, nobody can be truly selfless.

Throughout college I became increasingly familiar with the Bible and Christian thought through

various religious coursework. However, it was not until this semester, when I read Mother

Teresa’s words myself and watched the documentary about her life, that I was able to place her

life in the larger picture of the Catholic Church and social justice and truly understand her

mission. Admittedly, I understand the criticism that Mother Teresa’s work sometimes receives. I

do not believe Mother Teresa’s work was perfect. However, I believe that by turning to Christian

scripture we can visualize the framework where Mother Teresa stands firmly as an excellent

example of what it means to be humble servant.

 2

In the book Mother Teresa: Essential Writings, Jean Maalouf selects a series of quotes by

Mother Teresa herself to help the reader gain insight into Mother Teresa’s life and ideologies.

Maalouf first includes an introduction to help orient the reader to who Mother Teresa was.

Mother Teresa was born on August 27, 1910 in Macedonia as Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu (p 12).

She lived much of her early life as a nun and schoolteacher, but eventually heard a distinct call

from God that compelled her to live with and for the poor. Mother Teresa describes the day she

heard that call, saying “in quiet, intimate prayer with our Lord, I heard distinctly, a call within a

call. The message was quite clear: I was to leave the convent and help the poor while living

among them. It was an order. I knew where I belonged, but I did not know how to get there” (p

12). Beginning with Mother Teresa’s initial call to work with the poor, there are many scriptural

parallels that enhance our understanding.

Mother Teresa’s call to the poor came directly through prayer. Scripturally, the call to

action through prayer is a common theme. John 15:16 says “you did not choose me, but I chose

you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit” (The Holy Bible, NIV). This notion

of God appointing us to go and bear fruit is quite fitting in the story of the Mother Teresa’s life.

Mother Teresa felt strongly that she was called to this mission; she did not decide for herself that

this is what she wanted to do. Many wonder why Mother Teresa would willingly uproot her

comfortable socioeconomic status to live in service of the poor but understanding her fervent

belief that she could not ignore God’s call demonstrates her willingness, from the very

beginning, to live according to God’s will. Mother Teresa describes herself as a complete subject

of God when she says, “I belong to him. Because I belong to him, he must be free to use me. I

must surrender completely” (p 31). I think understanding how Mother Teresa viewed her

relationship with God is essential to contextualize and rationalize her sometimes eyebrow-raising
 3

experiences. Whatever God told Mother Teresa to do in her prayer, she did without question. For

example, the documentary shows Mother Teresa entering war-torn Beirut because she believed

she needed to be there right away, as that is what God wanted her to do. While to many this

seems almost insane, one must appreciate her profound faith and determination to help those in

need.

While she dedicated her live to helping the poorest of the poor, Mother Teresa was

always insistent that she, and the sisters who lived and served alongside her, must live simply. In

the documentary, she is seen refusing “luxuries” like carpeting, a hot water boiler, nice beds, and

other quite simple comforts. She firmly believed that material poverty was essential to prayer

and freedom. She writes, “our poverty is our freedom…The moment I use and dispose of things

as mine, that moment I cease to be poor” (p 108). How does freedom relate to poverty? Mother

Teresa argued that freedom from the constraints of material possessions and the worries

associated with them allowed for the total centrality of prayer in one’s life. If we are not worried

about our possessions, possessions which detach us from the world around us and isolate us, we

are free to pray and focus on our relationship with God. There is certainly Biblical support for

this notion. Romans 8:5-6 reads, “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the

things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the

Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace”

(The Holy Bible, ESV). According to this verse, we must set our minds on the Spirit, or the will

of God. We must release our minds from the flesh, or worldly possessions. In this way, Mother

Teresa seems to be living according to biblical ideas. However, this idea, which sounds like a

difficult yet pleasant reality, has brought about great controversy.

 4

In 1995, journalist Christopher Hitchens published a book entitled The Missionary

Position: Mother Teresa in Theory and Practice, which, among other things, deeply criticizes

Mother Teresa’s rejection of modern medical practices and comfort items for those under her

care in the name of “poverty.” Hitchens, who volunteered at the Motherhouse in Calcutta,

actually worked alongside Mother Teresa, and was given his first tour of the property by Mother

Teresa herself. He recounts being struck by the poor conditions and simplistic means of care,

especially knowing about a $1,000,000 donation the center had recently received. He writes of,

“immense quantities of money, donated in all sincerity by people 'from all walks of life',

which lingered unproductively in bank accounts, the size of which even many of the

sisters knew nothing about. The sisters were rarely allowed to spend money on the poor

they were trying to help. Instead they were forced to plead poverty, thus manipulating

generous, credulous people and enterprises into giving more goods, services and cash”

(Hitchens, 46).

The controversy here lies in the fact that no matter how much money seemed to be donated to

Mother Teresa and her Home for the Dying, the conditions that residents lived in never improved

beyond bare necessities. Economic and money management issues set aside, many had issue

with the fact that Mother Teresa’s decision to live a life of simplicity was being forced upon

those who were brought into her care. When Mother Teresa was asked to respond to these

criticisms brought up by Hitchens, she simply responded, “Oh, the book. It matters not. He is

forgiven” (Sr Theresa Aletheia Noble, 2016). Here, she demonstrates yet another quintessential

Christian value: unconditional forgiveness. We are called to forgive and give mercy, as Jesus

does for us. Mother Teresa’s forgiveness of one of her harshest critics demonstrates that the

strength to do such a difficult task can come from devout Faith.

 5

She continues her defense by saying that she cares for each single person with the love

of God, something that an outside observer cannot fully appreciate or notice on a large scale. She

writes, “I never look at the masses as my responsibility. I look at the individual. I can love only

one person at a time. I can feed only one person at a time. Just one, one, one” (p 80). This

defense seems more than reasonable. Mother Teresa was not focused on how to make the most

efficient medical practice or how to give those under her care the most advanced medical

treatments. She was focused on loving each person as a person and respecting their human

dignity. She focused on buying the materials she needed to fulfill that mission, and nothing else,

assuring the sense of simplicity that she treasured. In Mother Teresa’s mission, relationships with

those under her care allowed her to strengthen her own relationship with God.

Colossians 3:12 demands that “as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe

yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience” (The Holy Bible,

NIV). I think this verse demonstrates what God wants us to be as humble servants in His name.

Mother Teresa was certainly compassionate; she dedicated her life to the care of others. She

experienced true empathy, not sympathy. Sympathy is feeling bad for someone, and empathy is

feeling with someone. Mother Teresa’s choice to live simply brought her closer to understanding

the experience of those under her care. Mother Teresa’s kindness was evident in her smile.

Throughout the documentary, whenever Mother Teresa is holding a child or spending moments

with the dying, her face wears a smile. She was humble, as she never wanted the recognition that

she received, and even refused any fundraising efforts done in her name, as demonstrated in the

documentary. Her gentleness was evident by her soft-spoken demeanor and the tender care she

gave, especially to children. Finally, Mother Teresa was extremely patient. She had radical faith

in Divine Providence. She believed that if she was supposed to receive something, she would in
 6

time. She did not fundraise or stress financials because she knew God would provide if she

continued to do His work. She wholly trusted in God, which manifested itself in incredible

patience, which is probably the quality my mother admired most and frequently pointed out.

According to this Biblical definition of what it means to serve in God’s name, Mother

Teresa fits the bill. After all, she was canonized by Pope Francis in September 2016, when Pope

Francis said, “may she be your model of holiness” (Perry and Hume, 2016). It looks like my

mom was on to something. Mother Teresa is certainly a model of holiness that we can look to as

an example of true Christian servitude, marrying ‘compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness,

and patience’ with devout faith and prayerfulness.

 7

References

*Teresa,, Jean Maalouf, and Teresa. Mother Teresa: essential writings. Orbis Books, 2001.

Noble, Theresa Aletheia. “Mother Teresa Responds to Her Critics.” Aleteia – Catholic

Spirituality, Lifestyle, World News, and Culture, Aleteia, 28 Sept. 2017,

aleteia.org/2016/09/13/mother-teresa-responds-to-her-critics/.

Perry, Juliet, and Tim Hume. “Mother Teresa Declared a Saint by Pope Francis.” CNN, Cable

News Network, 4 Sept. 2016, www.cnn.com/2016/09/04/europe/mother-teresa-

canonization/index.html.

*Note: In-Text Citations with only page numbers are from Jean Maalouf’s collection, the main

text used in class.