Mother Teresa
Mother Teresa
Mother Teresa was a woman of power, leadership, and compassion. Her great deeds in serving the poor has won her many awards, such as the prestigious
Nobel Peace Prize in the year of 1979 (World Book). Mother Teresa changed the lives of many, which includes the rich, poor, parentless, living, and dying. Mother Teresa had a vision to serve the poor, a strong work ethic as a teacher, collaboration skills for working with the Missionaries of Charity, and a strong commitment to gospel values.
Mother Teresa’s early years spent with her family and community prepared her for the hard work she was going to face in the future. Her name at birth was Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu. She was born in August 1910 in Serbia. She was born to Catholic Albanian parents and was the youngest of three (Spink). Agnes received her education from a convent-run primary school (Spink). She learned her morals and values at both school and at home. Her family had been Catholic for generations and prayer was a must (Spink). Catholicism was a tradition in the family and carried out well. Her family was active in the church and had a lot to contribute, for example, musical talent. Agnes played the mandolin and sang in the choir (Spink). Drana Bojaxhiu, Agnes’s mother, was a critical part of Agnes’s journey. Drana let those who were less fortunate into her home and welcomed them by offering food and homemade clothing. Sometimes, Agnes helped her out with errands (Spink).
“She assumed her new role as provider with all the strength of which has undoubtedly possessed. Thus it was very largely under the influence of her devout mother, and her insistence on the value of the non-material riches of kindness, generosity and compassion for the poor and weak, that the foundations for Agnes’s future apostolate were laid” (Spink). With her mother’s influence, Agnes grew up following in her mother’s footsteps. By helping others she experienced what it was like to serve, and with such such fruitful education and a holy family, her roots for the hard work ahead grew deeper and stronger.
After becoming a missionary nun, one of Mother Teresa’s first tasks was teaching, which contributes to her strong work ethic. She taught students who were fron convent schools, and even students who were abandonded or from broken homes (Spink). She did not only teach those who were clean, happy, and paid to go to school. She taught those in ragged clothes, sad, and lonely. To Mother, people were people, and she believed that every child deserved to have an education. Teresa taught geography and history in the convent school, but later wanted to teach outside of the classroom. So in 1935, she asked permission from the archbishop of the diocese to go outside of the convent. Her wish was granted and went out and “became one with the poor” (Spink). Terasa had a willingness to teach others with an open heart and share her knowledge with those who did not have a chance to learn because of their conditions. She gave less fortunate children a chance to learn and open their minds to new knowledge, stories, and concepts. While she was teaching outside of the convent, she learned one thing herself. She learned that the poor could be happy, even without material possessions. She said that when she was with them, they smiled and laughed like they were the richest people on earth. She sais,“Oh God, how easy it is to spread happiness in that place”. Her presence jus brightened up peoples’ days (Spink).
Although she faced big troubles in founding a new Holy Order, Mother Teresa’s collaboration skills greatly contributed to her founding of the Missionaries of Charity. Mother Teresa received a second call from God at a train station when she saw a poor, frail man begging for water and saying, “I thirst”. She believed that Jesus was talking to her through the man and at that