Where There Is Love, There Is God: A Path to Closer Union with God and Greater Love for Others

by Mother Teresa

Mother Teresa’s relationship with God and her commitment to those she served—the poorest of the poor—is here powerfully explored in her own words.  Taken largely from her private lessons to her sisters, published here for the first time, Where There is Love, There is God unveils her extraordinary faith in and surrender to God’s will. This book is in some way a sequel to Mother Come Be My Light, in which her own very private spiritual struggles were explained.  Sent to alleviate the sufferings of the poor, she assumed their struggles and pain in the depths of her heart. This led to particularly intense anguish which she lived through with heroic courage and fidelity over several decades.  As important as this aspect of her life is, that remarkable testimony of her life and her words intensifies the need and desire to know more of her thought.  There is much she can teach us as we face our daily struggles or sufferings, which can at times be unusually severe.  Where There is Love, There is God, though not an exhaustive anthology of Mother Teresa’s teaching, nonetheless shows what she believed and taught about important issues that confront all people. Due to her constant interaction with people of diverse backgrounds, no life situation was foreign to her and in this book her role is primarily one of teacher and guide.  Love is perhaps the word that best summarizes Mother Teresa’s life and message. The title reflects what she proclaimed during her entire God is alive, present, and “still loves the world through you and through me”.  Mother Teresa sought to be an extension of God’s heart and hands in the world of today. She was called to be a missionary of charity, a carrier of God’s love to each person she met, especially those most in need. Yet she did not think that this was a vocation uniquely hers; each person is in some way called to be a carrier of God’s love. Through the practical and timely advice she offers, Mother Teresa sets us on the path to closer union with God and greater love for our brothers and sisters. MOTHER TERESA (1910–1997) was born in Skopje (present-day Macedonia), and joined the Sisters of Loreto in Dublin in 1928. She left the Loreto order in 1948 to begin the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta. Her service to the poorest of the poor became her life’s work. She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 and was beatified in 2003. Editor of Mother Come Be My Light, FATHER BRIAN KOLODIEJCHUK, M.C., Ph.D., was associated with Mother Teresa for twenty years and is now director of the Mother Teresa Center, which has offices in California, Mexico, India, and Italy.  “What you are doing I cannot do, what I’m doing you cannot do, but together we are doing something beautiful for God, and this is the greatness of God’s love for us—To give us the opportunity to become holy through the works of love that we do because holiness is not the luxury of the few. It is a very simple duty for you, for me, you in your position, in your work and I and others, each one of us in the work, in the life that we have given our word of honor to God.…You must put your love for God in a living action.” -Mother Teresa, From Where There is Love, There is God

Genres: Christian, Nonfiction, Religion, Catholic, Spirituality, Biography, Faith

386 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 10, 2010

About the author

Mother Mary Teresa Bojaxhiu[6] (born Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu, Albanian: [aˈɲɛzə ˈɡɔndʒɛ bɔjaˈdʒiu]; 26 August 1910 – 5 September 1997), honoured in the Catholic Church as Saint Teresa of Calcutta,[7] was an Albanian-Indian[4] Roman Catholic nun and missionary.[8] She was born in Skopje (now the capital of North Macedonia), then part of the Kosovo Vilayet of the Ottoman Empire. After living in Skopje for eighteen years, she moved to Ireland and then to India, where she lived for most of her life.

In 1950, Teresa founded the Missionaries of Charity, a Roman Catholic religious congregation that had over 4,500 nuns and was active in 133 countries in 2012. The congregation manages homes for people who are dying of HIV/AIDS, leprosy and tuberculosis. It also runs soup kitchens, dispensaries, mobile clinics, children's and family counselling programmes, as well as orphanages and schools. Members take vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience, and also profess a fourth vow – to give "wholehearted free service to the poorest of the poor."[9]

Following her death she was beatified by Pope John Paul II and canonized by Pope Francis.

Reviews

[Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book, which I received via the Blogging for Books program, has been on my dresser waiting to be read since before Christmas. In case you haven't noticed, I've been in kind of a reading/blogging funk. Tonight I picked it up and thought I'd start reading a biography of Mother Teresa. I soon found that it wasn't a biography but rather a collection of Mother Teresa's sayings and teachings.

Generally when I write a DNF review, I'm saying a book isn't good enough to finish. Today I'm writing a DNF review because it is going to take me a LONG time to finish this book, not because it is extraordinarily long but because it is extraordinarily full of things on which to reflect. I recommend this book as a prayer aid, as one to be read in small batches as a source for meditation, and that's what I am going to do.

I'm going to leave you with the saying on Mother Teresa's "business card".

The fruit of silence is prayer
The fruit of prayer is faith
The fruit of faith is love
The fruit of love is service
The fruit of service is peace

May the peace of the Lord by always with you.

[Joyce Mccarten · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mother Theresa writes a lot about surrendering to God - letting Him have His way- and no grumbling and feeling sorry for yourself is allowed.
She was devoted to Jesus and often explained that she and her Sisters of Charity were not social workers. They take care of the poorest of poor, those throw-away people who have not one to care for them in their last days of life. The inspiration is Jesus' love for her. She did not feel that love, but she knew it was there. If you read the Holy Scriptures with an acknowledgement that you need God, the scriptures will come alive for you and you will know how much God loves you, too! No "do-gooder" or "bleeding heart" could do the things that she and her order have done and are doing. It is only thru
the love of God thru Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit that you can lead such a devoted life.

[Bailey L. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is beautiful and is guaranteed to soften anyone's heart that reads it. I was gifted this earlier this year, and gift indeed it is!

Three main ideas that will stick with me:

-Do small things with great love (especially for the poor, lonely, and forgotten)
-"[Your name], I thirst." - Jesus. Meditate on that (for days on end!)
-"Let Jesus use you without consulting you."

[Akvilė Kergytė · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kokia stipri knyga!
Kiek daug tiesos, nepatogios, bet tikros tiesos.
Tikrai tikiu, kad knyga nepatiks paviršiumi einantiems žmonėms, ir tikrai nerekomenduoju tiems, kurie nenori nerti į gylį.
Bet jeigu norisi kažko prasmingo ir stipraus.
Ji visiskai tobulai tinka.

Kadangi tai knyga surinkta iš viso Motinos Teresės gyvenimo pasisakymų, kalbų, užrašų, pasakojimų gale jau daug kas kartojasi. Bet tikriausiai tai padeda geriu įsiminti 😁
Tai nėra vientisa istorija, tai trumpos pastraipos įvairiomis temomis.

[Alicia · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a slow read to start, and some of her beliefs caught me off guard. This didn’t necessarily lessen the book for me since it put me in a place of contemplation as to whether I agreed with her interpretations, and gave me background information into some key catholic principles. The second half of the book was a much quicker read for me, however, and I’ll definitely revisit this book due to insights/inspirations, and the excerpts lending itself to spontaneous reads.

[Steve Kingsbury · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good book that provides a glimpse into Morher Teresa's life, but honestly, it is quite redundant. The clarity, focus, and humble emphasis of her convictions is a wonderful reflection of her soul, but that point could have been made differently, which would have improved the book. Still worth reading.

[Christopher Lewis Kozoriz · Rating 5 out of 5]

"The last time when I was travelling, a rich man was sitting next to me and [he] said: "Mother Teresa, why don't you give the rod to fish instead of the fish to eat?" And I said to him: "The people to whom I give the fish to eat cannot stand; they are the lepers, the dying, the mentally ill. When they are strong enough to hold the rod, I'll send them to you, and will complete the work and together do something beautiful for God." (Mother Teresa, Where There Is Love, There Is God, Page 276-277)

What a beautiful soul! Truly Mother Teresa was a pencil in the hand of God as she indicates in her teaching. She was obedient and I believe fulfilled the work God had her to do on this earth. I've heard people who have everything, say the above, "Give a Man a Fish, and You Feed Him for a Day. Teach a Man To Fish, and You Feed Him for a Lifetime". There is some truth to this saying; however, there are people who are too weak to learn how to fish and they require more than placid sayings. Usually, the people who say these things don't actually serve the poor, but are servers of themselves and have no regard for the poor in the first place.

Mother Teresa teaches you to see Jesus in people. When you serve them, you are serving Christ.

My favourite quote that I wrote down in this entire book was: "We fear the future because we are wasting the today" (Page 355).

The spirit of Mother Teresa will rub off on you as you read this book!

[Paul, · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting book. I read Mother Theresa like I read Dietrich Bonhoeffer: enthusiastic, but cautious. Bonhoeffer and Theresa are both full of weird, weird stuff. But those oddities are interrupted by nuggets of brilliant insight or crystal clear calls to action that make them worth reading. Mother Teresa is full of compassion and humility, two qualities that we could all use a little more of. She is also a radical believer whose life truly follows her faith. I find that admirable and more than a little inspiring. I think one of the key insights I take from this book is the idea that "whatever you did for the least of these" can be applied to all people, rich and poor, radical and conservative, Christian, Muslim, and atheist. Powerful words.

[Katie Morgan · Rating 1 out of 5]

I thought this would be more love and less judgement.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is SUCH a good book for both Catholics, Christians, and those of other religions. It teaches about the most important thing we can do in life-love. God is love and to love me must serve others. We must do small things with great love.

Although this is such a great book, it is a little repetitive. I recommend it to anyone is pondering what to do with their life or who is struggling with their faith.

[Kirsten T · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mother Teresa and I may not be on the same page with all of our religious beliefs, but this book had SO MANY amazing insights. I liked how her statements made me think about my beliefs as a Christian and how I could better live what I believe and "do small things with great love."

The book has many small paragraphs of quotes, as well as a few sections of what she taught and how she lived. Many paragraphs were very similar, but still an excellent book despite my slow progress through it.

[Rachael Shipard · Rating 4 out of 5]

full of wisdom about the active consecrated life, especially helping the poor. However very repetitive sometimes... anecdotes are written out multiple times, admittedly for different contexts but i think the book could have been condensed. Also it felt a bit choppy since the book is a collection of many talks/teachings given by Mother Teresa at all different points in life as Missionary of Charity. Would recommend for brief spiritual reading/mental prayer purposes

[Kbmaxwell Maxwell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Many words of comfort and wisdom, and also prods to become more charitable and Christlike, and wonderful stories that illustrate principles and deeds. Truly a servant of Christ. Organization of the book is a bit whimsical, but well worth reading.

[Aaron Rodriguez Fonseca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book if you want to dig deep between charity and your relationship with Christ. Basically we are here to help as much as we can as Christ came here to help us but we also can find real hapiness by giving ourselves to others, especially poor people in need.

[Quincy Passmore · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a saint - wish Protestants took a little more interest to the wisdom she carried. Truly a remarkable and simple life.

“Every person is Christ for me, and since there is only one Jesus, there is only one person in the world for me at that moment”

[Paul H. Rogers · Rating 5 out of 5]

The finest

The best the finest book I read. Nothing compared to it. Let it immerse your life and be he thankful

[Juice Rivera · Rating 5 out of 5]

The amount of humility and conviction in this woman is nothing short of inspiring.

[Danielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

The wisdom, advise, teaching and prayers of St. Teresa of Calcutta complied in this book with stay with me for a long, long time.

[Hyapatia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is repetitive, but it is good to hear these teachings over and over again.

[Anthony D’Apolito III · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love.

In the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit.

[Ron Thibeault · Rating 5 out of 5]

Truly a wonderful little book of a wonderful woman. In many ways my life has been touched and ministered to. I have been encouraged to love more, give more, and love more.

[Holly · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are a few books that I can point to that mark a change in the course of my life...fascinating power of books. This one is one of those. This one illustrates the power of a heart that has completely surrendered its own will and attached itself to the will of God...a complete emptying of self and a complete overflowing of love to the smallest and poorest of people. The more forgotten, the more precious the life. She makes life make sense! She has the gift of discerning the most simple route to displaying real love toward others. Love, she says, begins at home; it begins with those who are closest, those who cross our own paths. The smile is one of the simplest things she advocates giving. "A smile," she says, "is often the only love a person might encounter all day." One doesn't have to seek out living well by seeking out great moments, or great things, with which to apply ourselves and our service. It is the simple things done with great love that really matter. The absolute simplest things can be offered to God as acts of love. Don't complain, never complain...accept what you are given. Accept what you are given and do your work with great love. I hate to answer the phone at work; when it rings, my heart sinks. Now, I say, "Ok, I will answer it with patience and kindness." I will offer the best of what I have even for a task like this. Silly maybe, but the change it begins to stir in oneself is profound. I ask Blessed Mother Teresa to pray that I will remember to smile and to offer my work as a witness, to be a small light wherever I am, not just at church or amongst my own interests. Something else she said was to the effect of, "Do not let your poor pass like shadows, unloved, and unseen." Christ told us that when we serve the poor, the thirsty, the hungry, the lonely...we are serving him. What an extraordinary woman. I cannot tell you, much about Mother Teresa because she only reflected God and she changed the world...and she changed me.

[Jen · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a book I won from the GoodReads First Reads program. While I am thankful to be chosen to receive this book, I just couldn't finish it. I made it about halfway, but some of Mother Teresa's views didn't agree with mine. I am fine with people with different view points but she was hitting them so hard toward the reader that it turned me away from the book.

I was hoping this would be more about Mother Teresa's life because I still think she was a very interesting person with many great insights. She often came across as a very caring person, but some of her quotes kind of came out as sounding condemning, even though she has quotes about not judging. I believe some of these "quotes" and insights came too close to home for me. My faith is also different from hers so I don't understand the amount of Catholicism in this (I was sometimes confused about her guidance).Overall, she is an admirable person but I have no desire to try to continue this.

I apologize to the person who sent me the book for the giveaway. I tried my best to get through it, but I do not feel I can continue reading.

[Patrick]

Mother Teresa was an incredible person and this book is a collection of her own writings/speeches. While a lot of it is purely thoughtful, some of it can be really moving. The compassion and conviction conveyed by this woman is compelling. She knew the poor and loved the poor as she loved Jesus. (To her, loving the poor was loving Jesus!) I recall an example of her giving advice to someone about what they should do to serve God and she told them to go be with their family. She was wise in knowing that we cannot expect to love/serve others until we have loved/served our own.

There is a lot to glean from this work and there are others I look forward to reading.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mother Teresa was a truly amazing woman and her thoughts are very provoking. The things she talk about in this book are great pondering points to hold out and see how you respond to them and then dig deeper into why. With all the unrest and hatred in the world it is refreshing to read a book about someone who is dedicated to love for humanity.

Got a new quote from her that I adore. "I never call difficulties "problems." I always say, "gift of God," because it is always much easier to take a gift than to take a problem."

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wanted to hear what motivated Mother Teresa's passion for the poor. This book detailed some of her teachings to the sisters and her personal thoughts and beliefs in her ministry. I also learned what Mother Teresa's ministry consisted of each day and how she prepared in her heart to serve as Jesus did. Liberal spoiler: Mother Teresa loved even the unborn and thought the loss of the innocents a great sadness in the world. This book is a great insight into one person's ministry in the name of Christ to the poorest of the poor. Great book, great women.

[Todd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a book to be read straight through, instead read a bit of it each day to fill your thoughts and future deeds with the Love that Saint Mother Teresa had for Jesus. She will show you through her words and her actions just how much we are loved by God and how we should treat all of those around us.

This book, which is made up of tidbits of Saint Mother Teresa's writings, interviews, and prayers, is a great introduction to her philosophical and religious views. It will change how you view yourself, your relationship with God, and your actions in this lifetime.

[Bonnie Garrett · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book consists of quotes and sayings by Mother Teresa throughout her years. I got a lot of value out of it, but it could have been about half the length and would have been twice as good. The latter half of the book is pretty much just a re-wording of many of the things already said. All wise words, but it gets tedious. It's not her fault...she didn't publish the thing.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mother Theresa is a truly remarkable human being and certainly deserves sainthood.
I got this book as a goodreads giveaway book. I thought that the way it was put together was rather fragmented and frequently repetitive. It probably would have been better to read it in bits instead of reading right through it.

[Deni Aria · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is so appealing to learn how the work of Mother Teresa is accomplished by total submission to God, She simply found The Lord in every way of living in this world mostly, The Lord exists in the poor of the poor in humanity that's the ultimate moment of meeting with The Lord when we love the poor and love being poor as well !