Humbly, she dedicated her entire life to serving the sickest of the sick and the poorest of the poor. This supermodel for humanity never strutted down a catwalk and there were no Gucci jeans, TV sets, big houses, trips to the malls, vacations, flashy cars, or gourmet meals in her life. She died with just two serapes and a pair of sandals to her name.

What was she trying to teach us? What is the message that she and others continually bring to this planet telling us? Why isn't the whole world filled with Mother Teresa's? What are we missing? When will we begin to see the Light?

Here are some of her words to gently stimulate thought and a sense of wonder about who you really are...

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"The sisters shall visit the destitute and the sick, going from house to house or wherever these may be found and they must render to all the humblest services."


"We are the servants of the poor. We give wholehearted, free service to the poor. In the world people are paid for their work. We are paid by God. We are bound by a vow to love and serve the poor, and to live as the poor with the poor."


"For money people do so much work in the world. I want you to do your work well for the greater glory of God."


"A Missionary of Charity is just a little instrument in the hands of God. We must try to keep it always like that... being just a small instrument in his hands."


"Choose the hardest thing. Go with a humble heart,
with a generous heart. Don't go with ideas that don't fit into our way of life... with big, big ideas about theology and what you would like to teach, but rather go to learn and serve."


Go to the poor with great tenderness. Serve the poor with tender, compassionate love."


"I was hungry and I waited for you but you did not come. I was homeless on the street. I waited for you but you did not come. Jesus will judge us on this."


"Be kind, very kind, to the suffering and the poor. We little realize what they go through. The most difficult part is the feeling of not being wanted. This is the first hardship a leper experiences."


"Do we treat the poor as our dustbins to give whatever we cannot use or eat? I cannot eat this food so I will give it to the poor. I cannot use that piece of cloth so I will give it to the poor. Am I then sharing the poverty of the poor? Am I one with them?"


"Our poor people suffer much, and unless we go with joy we cannot help them. We will make them more miserable."


"Very often we pick up sick and dying destitutes
from the streets of Calcutta. In twenty-five years we have picked up more than thirty-six thousand people from the streets and more than eighteen thousand have died a most beautiful death."


"Kindness has converted more people than zeal, science or eloquence. We take a vow to give wholehearted service to the poor. Does that not mean love the poor? The poor are not at our service. If we want to see the Christ in us, we first must see Christ in the poor."


"The more repugnant the work, the greater the effect of cheerful love and service. If I had not first picked up that woman who was eaten by the rats... her face, and legs, and so on... I could not have been a Missionary of Charity."

What is this incredible messenger of God trying to tell us? More importantly, are we listening?