When A Saint Calls, Surrender!

By: Judy Jones
Submitted: 02/28/2010

Women and children could most often be seen seeking food and shelter at Mother Teresa's shelters. Their voices would not go silent in Mother Teresa's presence, and they would knock on the doors of the Missionaries of Charity after being evicted from their homes, beaten by men, or when they were in desperate need of medical care.

Mother Teresa never asked questions. Instead, she lovingly offered open hearts, arms and doors. The open door allowed the women one night of freedom from the kind of violence that crushes the spirits of the most vulnerable amongst us: homeless women and children.

Women around the world are raped and murdered every second of the day simply because they were born female. Yes, we are evolving, but much too slowly. Some countries murder female babies as they are thought of as a burden to society. Mother Teresa tried for years to open homes in these countries; often to no avail. Her only desire was to offer women and children hope, love and a safe home if for only one night.

The last time I saw Mother Teresa, she was on her knees praying on a hardwood floor in her chapel that connected a soup kitchen to a medicine dispensary for the poor. She had just been released from the hospital the day before where she had had heart surgery. She was in her eighties.

After mass had ended, Mother leaped up from the floor and grabbed her doctor's arm, saying; "I want to talk with you." Her doctor turned around as Mother continued to speak, "I want you to start an ambulance service for the poorest of the poor in this city. They have none."

The doctor, a female, said, "I will do anything you wish, Mother."

I was not surprised that Mother Teresa would spend her last breath getting help for the poor. What surprised me most was that, in all her travels around the world, she would know that there was no ambulance service for the poor in this small community. She seemed to know every need of those less fortunate.

Mother Teresa often said that it is the job of each and every one of us to be holy, and that holiness can only be claimed when we share the heartbeats, thoughts, wishes and needs of every woman on this earth. She said that we must live our lives always with the thought: "My mothers, my sisters, my daughters, I hear your cries; I see your needs. You and I, together, will reach the top of the mountain. Of this I am certain."