126 - The meek shall inherit the earth

Once two visitors, one of them a very rich man from the west and another a Bengali youth of the lower middle class, called on Mother Teresa at the same time. Both wished to be of assistance to her centres. The rich man who had come with a big amount expected that he would receive a grand welcome and would be thanked profusely.

The mother was told about the visitors. She sent for the Bengali youth first. He was thrilled and could hardly speak. Muttering some words with great difficulty he stretched out his hand to give her some money. This is what he wished to say - he had been without employment for a number of years and at last he had found work and wanted to give his first month's salary to Mother Teresa's work. The next month would be a hard one, but what of it? Had he not endured hardships for years? The Mother should accept his contribution. This was his plea.

Mother Teresa's eyes were filled with tears.

The Mother stroked him affectionately. She asked him not to act emotionally but to give his first month's salary to his mother. But the young man would not listen. His was a cultured family, so he himself said. This was not only his decision but that of his mother and his sisters too. He said that they would all be unhappy if Mother Teresa did not accept their small contribution. The Mother has no choice but to accept their small contribution. The Mother had no choice but to accept. She asked him to bring his mother and his sisters once to the ashram. Thereafter the family used to visit the ashram now and then and render what service it could.

Centre in Albania

Mother Teresa was keen on opening a centre in her own motherland Albania. It is a small country but was the first country to declare itself an athiest. In this land mosques, churches and convents had been closed. In 1946, the Communists banned all religious activities, but Mother Teresa succeeded in opening a religious centre there.

On 4th December, 1990 Mother Teresa visited Tiron, the capital of Albania for a day. The object of the visit was to assess the progress of the construction of the building for the Missionaries of Charity. The new leader of the country Ramiz Alia welcomed her and eulogized her services. "You are hailed as Mother Teresa of Calcutta, but we regard you as Mother Teresa of Albania", he said proudly.

This centre started functioning in the middle of March in 1991. Mother Teresa had succeeded in opening a centre of God's love in the land of atheists. Her dream had been realized.

Abortion

Mother Teresa never hesitated to say clearly and directly what she believed was right. Early in 1994 she was invited to speak at a breakfast meeting in Washington. The invitees numbered five thousand and included President Clinton and his wife.

Mother Teresa stood up. Her choice of the subject surprised everyone. She opposed abortion and strongly defended her stand. "We are assembled here to pray for peace, joy and love in the world, but today the greatest threat to peace comes from the practice of abortion because it is a fearful war against innocent helpless infants. The future of mankind rests on the institution of the family. We should all remember this."

"In western countries little boys and girls are becoming slaves to drugs, why? Because there is no one in the family to welcome them and take loving care of them. Children depend on us for everything - for health, nutrition, security and to understand and love God. They look up to us with expectation and hope. But the whole day the parents are immersed in their own affairs or, what is worse, are either not married at all, or are divorced. The children are thrown to the streets and drugs beckon them."

"All of you should learn this. Love and peace must begin with the child. Abortion is the greatest danger today, because it is an action against and innocent child. It is murder by the mother herself. If we agree that a mother can kill her child how can we say that others should not kill one another?"

Fund Raising

Mother Teresa often needed funds for her plans, and she intelligently took advantage of opportunities to raise money.

One such occasion was during the visit of the Pope to India. The Supreme Pontiff was so pleased with Teresa's work that he gifted to her the gorgeous white car which he was using.

This was a treasure to Mother Teresa. Her ingenuity went to work immediately.

She organized  a lottery and auctioned the car for a big amount and immediately set up a lepers' colony, which had been her dream for a long time.


source: Stories from Here and There, Ekalavya Education Foundation - By: Sunil Handa - http://www.eklavya.org/storyhere.html