October 31

Humility is the mother of all virtues; purity, charity and obedience. It is in being humble that our love becomes real, devoted and ardent. If you are humble nothing will touch you, neither praise nor disgrace, because you know what you are. If you are blamed you will not be discouraged. If they call you a saint you will not put yourself on a pedestal.

October 30

Let me tell you something: If you feel the weight of your sins, do not be afraid! He is a loving Father; God's mercy is much greater than we can imagine.

October 29

We picked up a young man from the streets of Calcutta. He was very highly educated and had many degrees. He had fallen into bad hands and his passport had been stolen. After sometime, I asked him why he had left home. He said his father did not want him. "From childhood he never looked me in the eye. He became jealous of me, so I left home." After much praying, the Sisters helped him to return home to forgive his father and this helped both of them. This is a case of very great poverty.

October 28

Each one of us is here today because we have been loved by God who created us and our parents who accepted and cared enough to give us life. Life is the most beautiful gift of God. That is why it is so painful to see what is happening today in so many places around the world; life being deliberately destroyed by war, by violence, by abortion.

October 27

To love and be loved, we must know our brothers and our sisters, for knowledge always leads to love, and love in action is service. Our work is only the expression of the love we have for God.

October 26

When I choose evil, I sin. That's where my will comes in. When I seek something for myself at the cost of everything else, I deliberately choose sin. For example, I am tempted to tell a like and then I accept to tell the lie. I have put an obstacle between me and God. That lie has won. I preferred to lie to God.

October 25

Deep confidence and trust will come through self-knowledge. Then you will turn to Jesus to support your weakness, whereas if you think you are strong, you will not need our Lord. Do your very best to reduce self-will. Don't do anything just for yourself; concentrate on the whole, in which you are included. Then you will be able to receive God's grace.

October 24

To young people who say: "I could never do that - I'm no Mother Teresa," I would tell them that they need a clean heart and we get a clean heart by praying. That's the beginning of great love. They will be able with a clean heart to see Jesus in the poor and do everything that Christ wants them to do: feed the hungry, clothe the naked, house the homeless. Because it is only for love. And the young people today don't want to listen so much as they want to see, to see love in action to see faith in action.

October 23

This is what is so beautiful for you, young people. Open your hearts to the love of God which He will give you. He loves you with tenderness. And He will give you not to keep but to share. And the less you have, the more you can give and the more you have, the less you can give. And so when we are praying, ask - ask for courage to give until it hurts.

October 22

I find it great, great poverty that a child must die because we are afraid to feed one more child, to educate one more child. The fear of feeding one more old person in the family means that that person must be put away, and yet one day we too have to meet the master. What will we answer to him about that little child, that old father and mother, because they are His creation, they are children of God.

October 21

To Rotarians, Lions and Knights: You are men with influence; you have power; you have money; use them well for the good of society, especially for the benefit of the poor.

October 20

To doctors: You cannot love the patients and the suffering if you have no love for your own at home. That is why, not only must you try to love, you must love. That is why, before you touch a patient, before you listen to the patient - pray. Because you need a clean heart to love that patient. And you need clean hands to touch that patient. I will pray for you that, through this work of your hands and heart you may grow in holiness. Let us promise our Lord that through your medical work, you are going to become holy.

October 19

It strikes me how God is humble. He humbled Himself; He who possessed the fullness of the Godhead took the form of a servant. Even today God shows His humility by making use of instruments as weak and imperfect as we are. He deigns to work through us. Then there must be joy in the heart. That is not incompatible with humility.

October 18

It is better to make mistakes in kindness than to work miracles with unkindness. It is very important to be kind to ourselves and control ourselves by keeping our balance. If we want to live in peace and harmony with each other we must pay attention to our tongue. Especially when we deal with the poor we must be very careful in talking to them.

October 17

Silence is the root of our union with God and with one another. In silence we are filled with the energy of God Himself that makes us do all things in joy. The more we receive in silent prayer, the more we can give in our active life.

October 16

Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow is yet to come. We have only today. If we help our children to be what they should be today, they will have the necessary courage to face life with greater love.

October 15

I find the work much easier and I can smile more sincerely when I think of each one of my suffering brothers and sisters. Jesus needs you to keep pouring into the lamp of your life the oil of your love and sacrifice. You are really reliving the passion of Christ. Bruised, divided, full of pain and wounds as you are, accept Jesus as He comes into your life.

October 14

Young people, open your hearts to the love of God. He loves you with tenderness, and He will give you not just to give but to share. And the less you have, the more you can give; and the more you have, the less you can give. And so, when you are praying ask, ask for courage, and give and give until it hurts. This kind of giving is love in action.

October 13

Someone asked me: What will you do when you are not Mother General any more? I replied: I am first-class at cleaning toilets and drains. It is not what we do, but how much love we put into the doing. If I belong to Christ and at that moment He wants me to be cleaning the toilets, or taking care of the sufferers from leprosy, or talking to the President of the United States, it is all the same; because I am being what God wants me to be, and doing what He wants me to do. I belong to Him.

October 12

To doctors: Yours is a consecrated life, because touching the sick, in healing the sick, Jesus said: "You did it to me." How full of love your heart must be, because the sick, the lonely, the disabled come to you with hope and that is why they must be able to receive from you that tender love, that compassion.

October 11

We are not channels, we are instruments. Channels give nothing of their own, they just let water run through them. In our action, we are instruments in God's hand and He writes beautifully.

October 10

Holiness is not the luxury reserved for a few favorite persons. All are invited to be holy. I think only holiness will be able to overcome evil and all the sufferings and miseries of the people, and of our own lives. Because we too have to suffer, and suffering is a gift of God if we use it in the right way. The cross must be there, so let us thank God for this.

October 9

Whenever you feel that you have not done something, do not be afraid. He is a loving Father. God's mercy is much greater that we can imagine. The Sisters also need your prayers to be able to do their work; the poor need your help, your understanding, your love. We all have much to give, to share, to contribute, wherever we find ourselves.

October 8

How much love do we put in our presents? That's why people who have not got the capacity to give and to receive love, even if they are very rich, are the poorest of the poor.

October 7

Joy is prayer, joy is strength, joy is love. God loves a cheerful giver. The best way we can show our gratitude to God and the people is to accept everything with joy.

October 6

And this is something that is so beautiful to see, that shining happiness in the face of that mother, who had the love to share. I had not the courage to ask her how long her family hadn't eaten, but I am sure it must have been a long time, and yet she knew - in her suffering, in her sorrow, in her terrible bodily suffering she knew that next door they were hungry also.
Do we know that our neighbor needs love? Do we know that our neighbor needs care? As the example of this family shows, God will never forget us and there is something you and I can always do.

October 5

I will never forget the night an old gentleman came to our house and said that there was a family with eight children an they had not eaten, and would we do something for them. So I took some rice and went there. The mother took the rice from my hands, then she divided it into two and went out. I could see the faces of the children shining with hunger. When she came back I asked her where she had gone. She gave me a very simple answer: "They are hungry also." And "they" were the family next door and she knew that they were hungry. I was not surprised that she gave, but I was surprised that she knew.

October 4

Riches and money do not make us rich - what makes us rich is our attachment to them. God gives us things to share, God doesn't give us things to hold, and so the more we learn to share the more we come to know each other, we will love one another, and if we love one another we will be able to share the joy of what we have.

October 3

Today we see more and more that all the suffering in the world has started from the home. Today we have no time even to look at each other, to talk to each other, to enjoy each other, and still less to be what our children expect from us, what the husband expects from the wife, what the wife expects from the husband. And so more and more we are out of our homes and less and less in touch with each other.

October 2

God doesn't ask that we succeed in everything, but that we are faithful. However beautiful our work may be, let us not become attached to it. Always remain prepared to give it up, without losing your peace.

October 1

Love is a fruit, in season at all times and within the reach of every hand. Anyone may gather it and no limit is set. Everyone can reach this love through meditation, the spirit of prayer and sacrifice.