Loving Jesus: Mother Teresa

by José Luis González-Balado (Editor)

Mother Teresa shares the heart of Jesus in a way that will inspire you to love those who are forgotten and neglected-no matter where they live. Besides Mother Teresa's reflections on the poor and sick, Loving Jesus includes a wide-ranging interview with Mother Teresa and a biographical sketch pinpointing important developments in her life. Loving Jesus is not simply the title of a book but a way of life for Mother Teresa. It will encourage you to follow her example. A Servant Book.

Genres: Christian Non Fiction, Nonfiction

176 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1991

Reviews

[Lauren Wicker · Rating 4 out of 5]

“so the breakdown of peace in the world begins at home”… favorite quote from this book which includes many teachings and interviews and even a timeline of life events. Thankful for Mother Theresa’s life which teaches to love our closest family well which then in turn changes the world + loving each person we encounter as if we were literally loving on Jesus.

[Anton Dubrovskiy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of speeches from Mother Teresa. Her message is very consistent and takes root from Mt 25:40: "Whatever you did for the least of these my brethren, you did it for me. For I was hungry and you gave me to eat". She was a strong opponent of abortion and a strong supporter of love within families and communities.

[Jeanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mother Teresa has a way of looking at every person and seeing Jesus in each one. She implores us to of serve/love every human being we encounter—with a smile or a touch or more.

Here are some quotes I enjoyed:

Holiness is not a luxury for the few. It is not just for some people. It is meant for you and for me. If we learn to love we learn to be holy. But if we want to be able to love, we must pray. Prayer will give us a clean heart, and a clean heart can see God. If we see God, immediately God’s love works in us. And we need to love not with words but with deeds—love in action.

We live in a world where there is hunger, not only for a piece of bread but also for love…We are too busy. We have no time even to smile at each other. We have even less time to pray together…to stay together…

Nakedness is being thrown away by society—unwanted, deserted…that is a terrible form of nakedness…

Let us pray that we come to know the poor right in our midst. If you want that to change, you must bring prayer into your life—you must pray if you want to be able to love.

We can turn and ask him, “my Father, help me now! I want to be holy. I want to be good. I want to live.”

There are thousands of people who would love to have what you have, and yet God has chosen you to share the joy of loving others.

It doesn’t matter how much we give, but how much love we put into our giving.

No Missionary of Charity can give Jesus if she does not have Jesus in her heart.

Don’t be afraid of suffering. Your suffering is a great means of love if you make use of it.

Jesus will judge us—either by saying, “come ye blessed, ye fed the hungry…” or “you didn’t”. But we needn’t be afraid of Jesus. We can find Him everywhere—in our homes and streets. We can bless Him.

If we really center our lives on Jesus’ body and blood…it will be easy for us to see Jesus in every person. Jesus in our midst.
—-

The unborn child, John the Baptist, rejoiced in Elizabeth’s womb. How wonderful it was— Almighty God chose an unborn child to announce the coming of his son.

Yet today unborn children are targeted for death.

I don’t know whether you (the United States), have very many people who are hungry for a piece of bread—but I believe yours is a rich country materially. But if you allow abortion in your country you are a very poor country spiritually— so poor that you are afraid of children. You are so afraid of bringing unborn children into the world that you decide they must die.

—-
That is the task of a priest: to Treat each human being like Jesus, and to be his presence in the world.

We (Missionaries of Charity) Do things that you cannot do, and you in your homes and your families are doing things we cannot do.

In the world today we have so much… sorrow, because people have lost the joy of loving God in their hearts. With that gone, they cannot share the joy of loving each other.

Become the works of peace.

We see in the poor Christ, who continues to suffer the sorrows of His passion.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book mainly functions as a three hour meditation on the words of Christ that whenever you see the poor, you see Him. The missionaries of charity seem to have been able to have a mystical and rapturous joy at seeing the poorest of the poor as the body of Christ.

Some of her words are at odds with each other, because she says that without priests, they cannot have Jesus, but also that Jesus is the poor.



Here are some interesting lines from the book:

The rosary has been our strength and our protection

Our whole vocation is to belong to Christ

If you see the poor, you see Jesus

We need holy priests. Without priests. We have no Jesus.

Remember in times of hardship that your name is graven unto God's hand. So every time he looks at his hand he sees you

Love to be true has to hurt

A coworker is someone who loves God

In the poor we see Christ in a distressing disguise

In the leper we find The wounds of Christ

AIDS is the modern day leprosy

Love in order to survive, must be nourished by sacrifice especially the sacrifice of self

Zacchaeus became it like a child to climb up a tree to see Jesus

If you are like Mary, you are always in a hurry to share Jesus with others

The greatest sin is indifference to those on the fringes of society

Unhappiness doesn't necessarily come from not having this or that. If we have each other, we have everything. This is why it is important for mothers and fathers to love their children…. Children who are loved never run away from home.

All of us are better working among the poor than among the rich. This is our life's work.

It Is impossible to love God without loving our neighbor.

Love has no other Message than its own

If we do any preaching it is through deeds not words

Money is useful, but the love we offer to others are the most important thing…

By practicing Christian love, we grow closer to God without placing any religious pressure on anyone

It was a command. I knew where I had to go. But I didn't know how to get there..

[Amberlee Stewart · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such an inspiring book! It just starts out with Mother Teresa's powerful testimony piced together from several speaches she gave during her service. It then includes an amazing Q and A with her and a reporter, and ends with a mini biography on her life. I am just amazed at all she was able to do and the millions of lives she touched for the better. She bears amzing testimony of the importance of family and ministering. Great book!

[Shannon Maddox · Rating 1 out of 5]

I recently read No Greater Love by Mother Theresa. It contained most of the same information as this book, plus many other wonderful chapters. Also, for such a small volume, this was extremely repetitive. I would recommend No Greater Love instead.

NOTE: I read the audio version, but it was not an available choice on Goodreads.

[Katharine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although I do greatly admire Mother Teresa‘s work with the poor in India, and I definitely took some wisdom from this book, I just couldn’t get behind the Catholicism aspects. As someone who is a born-again Christian, I find many Catholic aspects to be blasphemous, especially when it comes to the Saints and Mary.

[Lindsay · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a short and succinct account of Mother Theresa’s life, her teachings and view points. It doesn’t delve too deeply into any one thing, but gives a good overview of who she was. I will be looking for other texts that go more deeply into her teachings, but this was the perfect place to start.

[Nicole Stanton · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love Mother Teresa and her work. But this wasn't edited well.

[Carlee Loehr · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful message! A little repetitive with a few stories being repeated in the book. St. Teresa of Calcutta pray for us!

[Laila Adriana · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am always fascinated by the way St. Mother Teresa's words can draw me in. It's as engaging as a fictional novel.

[Curtis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting, some stories are repeated. An incredible woman!

[Tammy · Rating 2 out of 5]

A little repetitive and focused more on abortion than on "loving Jesus."

[Nathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

(Audiobook version)
This was an excellent short audiobook full of Mother Teresa’s interesting stories and basic teachings, which boiled down to showing Christlike loving service and selfless sacrifice for all, especially the poor and helpless. She also regularly taught against abortion and of its effects. A short biography of Mother Teresa’s extraordinary and remarkable life is given at the end.
A few notable gems:
- “Suffering will never be completely absent from our lives. Through it, we are given the chance to share the joy of loving Jesus in His passion (suffering). Your suffering is a great means of love…especially if you offer it for peace in the world.” (Ch. 2)
- “Love begins by praying together. The family that prays together stays together.” (Ch. 2)
- “Abortion has become the greatest destroyer of peace. It destroys love. It destroys the image of God. It destroys the presence of God. It destroys the conscience of the mother.” (Ch. 2)
- Why so many broken families? It is not poverty. It is unbridled ambition for things and for status; something that we love more than our family. (Ch. 12)
- “Love, in order to survive, must be nourished by sacrifices, especially the sacrifice of self.” (Ch. 15)
- “The worst disease of all is feeling unloved. The greatest sin is the terrible indifference to those on the fringe of the social system. May the sick and afflicted find in us angels of comfort and consolation.” (Ch. 15)
- “Whenever you think of the poor and make sacrifices for them, you are really doing it to Christ.” (Ch. 16)