Today we rejoice as we celebrate the canonization of Mother
Teresa of Calcutta.
Her life was truly extraordinary in her love for others,
humility, and her trust in God. God used
her to do incredible work. Her love and her example stretched across continents and touched millions
of lives.
In another way, though, her life was ordinary in the sense
that there are many, many people like her.
I speak from my own perspective as a Catholic, although I'm sure there
are also examples from other faiths. But
as a Catholic, I know that her example of complete self-sacrifice for others
and zealous devotion to God is quite common.
St. Damien Malachi, for example, spent 10 years of his life caring for
lepers and eventually sacrificed his life, dying from the disease that made him
an outcast. St. Maximillian Kolbe
offered up his life in place of another prisoner in a Nazi concentration camp. Even an ordinary priest or nun gives
up wealth, worldly ambitions, the freedom to control his or her own future, and
other good things like marriage and family in order to spend their entire lives
in service to others. There are hundreds
and hundreds of canonized saints, all who share some or all of the traits that
we admire in St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta.
And there are even more Saints who are not canonized. Perhaps you know some.
There are many lessons to be drawn from the life of St.
Mother Teresa of Calcutta. But instead I
will end with the question. What would
God do with your life or mine if we gave it to Him completely in love and
trust?
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