Pebbles

Mother Teresa, in her writings, repeatedly said that if they weren’t doing it for Jesus that their work would mean nothing. She also wrote that she saw her work as if tossing pebbles. She focused on one human life at a time, not saving the world. But her work with each person was like tossing a pebble into a pond with the ripples ever expanding outward. It was her belief that God calls us to be pebbles in whatever we do in our daily lives. Little acts, done for Jesus, reaching ever outward, ultimately transforming the world. To live our lives that way, to be so focused that what we do we do for Jesus, we need to pray. The sisters of Mother Teresa started each day with prayer and Mass and ended the day with prayer. She said that the time the community spent in adoration transformed the community. We are all called to begin and end each day with prayer, to settle ourselves before we begin and to conclude each day before we sleep, to put our joys, hopes, troubles and needs before God and trusting that he will take care of us, giving us what we need (not necessarily what we want). To be a pebble for God, we must maintain a relationship with God. We are called to bring Jesus to others. Mother Teresa lived by the words of St. Francis, “Preach the gospel always; if necessary use words.”