Pope John Paul I to St. Therese, the Little Flower

The Following are excerpts from John Paul I's letter to the Little Flower. This letter, in it's full text can be found in the book Illustrisimi:

"...What strikes me the most is the way in which you loved God and your neighbor. St. Augustine wrote: 'We reach God, not by walking but through love.' You also called your road 'the way of love'. Christ said: 'No one comes to me unless my Father calls him.' You were perfectly in tune with these words feeling 'like a bird without strength and without wings', and seeing in God an eagle who came down to carry you off on high, on its wings.'

To the merciful God you offered yourself as a victim. All this did not prevent you from enjoying what was good and beautiful. Before your final illness you loved painting, and wrote poetry and short plays on religious subjects, taking some of the parts yourself and showing quite a talent for acting. In the last stage of your illness when you felt briefly better, you asked for some chocolates. You had no fear of your own imperfections, not even of having sometimes slept during meditation, out of
weariness ('mothers love their children, even when they are asleep).

In Donizzetti's l'Elisir d' amore the 'secret tears' Adina weeks are enough to make her lover Nemorino feel reassured and happy. God does not want merely secret tears. He likes external tears so long as they match a decision we have made, a decision of the will. It is the same with outward good works: they please him only if they correspond with an inner love. Religious fasting had actually made the Pharisees' faces thin, but these thin faces did not appeal to Christ because the Pharisees' hearts were a long way from God. You, dear Theresa, wrote: 'Love should lie not in feelings, but in works.' Yet you added: 'God does not need our works, only our love.' Perfect!

We may love all kinds of other fine things, so long as nothing we love is against, or above, or in the same measure as God. In other words, the love of God should not be exclusive, it should suffuse the rest of life.

Seeking the face of Christ in our neighbor is the only way of making sure that we really love everyone, overcoming dislikes and ideologies, and mere philanthropic feelings.

September 5: Blessed Teresa of Calcutta

Eleven years ago the world mourned the death of Mother Teresa of Calcutta. Her funeral was attended by thousands and watched by millions including myself, (eventhough it was televised live at 3 AM Pacific Standard Time). Thousands of miles away and only 19 years old, I too felt the sadness and mourning that the world felt at her passing.



Next to the pope, she was perhaps the most recognized Catholic in the last century and her appeal reached beyong Catholicism. Mother Teresa inpired many to a life permeated by love for justice, tender care and humility. Her biggest appeal is that she practiced exactly what she preached.


There is a photo of John Paul and Mother Teresa embracing that speaks volumes on the lives of these two extraordinary figures. Faith, hope and love come to a poignant embodiment in that simple embrace. Never one to shy away from the public light, she never missed an opportunity to challenge and uncomfort our society. Saint, prophet, and friend of God.

May she continue to insire us with her example and her words:

• The dying, the cripple, the mental, the unwanted, the unloved -- they are Jesus in disguise.
• Little things are indeed little, but to be faithful in little things is a great thing.
• Speak tenderly to them. Let there be kindness in your face, in your eyes, in your smile, in the warmth of your greeting. Always have a cheerful smile. Don't only give your care, but give your heart as well.
• The more you have, the more you are occupied, the less you give. But the less you have the more free you are. Poverty for us is a freedom. It is not a mortification, a penance. It is joyful freedom. There is no television here, no this, no that. But we are perfectly happy.
• If you are humble nothing will touch you, neither praise nor disgrace, because you know what you are.
• Do not allow yourselves to be disheartened by any failure as long as you have done your best.
• Before you speak, it is necessary for you to listen, for God speaks in the silence of the heart.
• We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop.
• It is not how much we do, but how much love we put in the doing. It is not how much we give, but how much love we put in the giving.
• Nakedness is not only for a piece of clothing; nakedness is lack of human dignity, and also that beautiful virtue of purity, and lack of that respect for each other.
• There is a terrible hunger for love. We all experience that in our lives - the pain, the loneliness. We must have the courage to recognize it. The poor you may have right in your own family. Find them. Love them.
• There is more hunger in the world for love and appreciation in this world than for bread.There is only one God and He is God to all; therefore it is important that everyone is seen as equal before God. I've always said we should help a Hindu become a better Hindu, a Muslim become a better Muslim, a Catholic become a better Catholic.
• If we really want to love we must learn how to forgive.
• It is a poverty to decide that an unborn child must die so that you may live as you like.
• If we pray, we will believe; If we believe, we will love; If we love, we will serve.
• We can do no great things; only small things with great love.
• I know God will not give me anything I can't handle. I just wish that He didn't trust me so much.
• Only in heaven will we see how much we owe to the poor for helping us to love God better because of them.
• I want you to be concerned about your next door neighbor. Do you know your next door neighbor?
• Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless.
  God doesn't require us to succeed; he only requires that you try.
• Despite giving your best to the world, you may be kicked in the teeth. Give the best you've got anyway.
• Make us worthy, Lord, to serve those people throughout the world who live and die in poverty and hunger. Give them through our hands, this day, their daily bread, and by our understanding love, give them peace and joy.
• Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier. Be the living expression of God's kindness: kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile.
• Well, let's do something beautiful for God.

Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta, Pray for Us.