October 2009
Dear people
I want to share one of Mother Teresa’s prayers with you all this month. I hope it can cause thought and reflection in your own mind and heart.
Dear Jesus, help us to spread Your fragrance everywhere we go. Flood our souls with Your spirit and life. Penetrate and possess our whole being, so utterly, that our lives may only be a radiance of Yours. Shine through us, and be so in us, that every soul we come in contact with may feel Your presence in our soul. Let them look up and see no longer us but only Jesus! Stay with us, and then we shall begin to shine as You shine; so to shine as to be a light to others. The Light O Jesus will be all from You, none of it will be ours. It will be You shining on others through us. Let us thus praise you in the way You love best by shining on those around us. Let us preach you without preaching, not by words but by our example. By the catching force, the sympathetic influence of what we do, the evident fullness of the love our heart bears to You. Amen
Radiating Christ – Prayer of Mother Teresa
I just think this prayer is so beautiful. The words make me think of a few things.
I think of broken walls and how beams of light press through the cracks. I am broken, all of us are, but because of the brokenness and through the broken places another light, the only True light, can shine.
I think of incense and the penetrating smell that lingers in the air. I light it at home, leave, then come back and can still smell its smoky sweetness. We light it at work and the scent, however weak or strong, floods into all the spaces of the office. Flood. Spread. Penetrate. I love imagining the presence of Christ in this way – it seems untamable.
I also think of eyes and how they can be so telling. You can sometimes get a glimpse or an idea of what another person is gazing at by looking into his/her eyes. Reminds me of Mother’s words, “And see no longer us but only Jesus”; I get a sense of confidence when I think of that radiance.
I think about the places where and people with whom we serve. There is so much suffering, so many injustices; so much that is awful and unanswerable. I cannot understand it. A lot of times I wonder how we can sing songs of hope or make claims of gladness. Then I remember Jesus – an innocent man crucified for us. It was the greatest injustice but in the injustice there is redemption. It is Him shining on others. Our hearts and lives can bear witness to His love.
It is so important that we remember and embrace the Light within that is all from Him
Please remember me, remember WMF, remember those that go without. I cannot tell you enough times how thankful I am to have you all supporting and partnering with WMF. Reading these letters, reading The Cry, offering financial assistance, saying prayers, being excited and involved in the work that we do – you are so vital to this and it is important that you know that.
Support Update: Last month was a really great month! I had a couple one-time gifts that were pretty sufficient and so encouraging! I would love your financial help! Please continue to consider a way that you can partner through monthly sponsorship. Thank you, thank you and thank you for being a part of this! I love being with WMF and I could not be here with your love, encouragement and support!
Peace to you
Hilary