Professor of Love

On September 4, 2016 the Catholic Church will confirm what many have long known — the heroic virtue of Mother Saint Teresa of Calcutta.

One by one, since 1949, I saw young girls arriving. They had been my students. They wanted to give everything to God, and they were in a hurry to do it. They took off their most expensive saris with great satisfaction in order to put on our humble cotton sari. They came fully aware that this was a difficult thing. When a girl who belongs to a very old caste comes to place herself at the service of the outcasts, we are talking about a revolution. The biggest one. the hardest of all: the revolution of love. St. Mother Teresa

Sometime back two young people came to our house and they gave me lots, lots of money. And I said, “Where, where did you get so much money?” And they said, “Two days ago we got married, and before marriage we decided we will buy no wedding clothes, we will have no wedding feast. We will give you the money.” For a Hindu family that’s a big, big, big sacrifice because wedding day is one of the biggest days in their life. And again I offered, “Why, why did you do that?” And they said, “We love each other so much that we wanted to share the joy of loving with the people you serve, and we experience the joy of loving.” St. Mother Teresa, Love: A Fruit Always in Season, (Ignatius, 1987)