Something Beautiful for God

1. A Radical Call to Serve the Poorest

It was a call within my vocation. It was a second calling. It was a vocation to give up even Loreto where I was very happy and to go out in the streets to serve the poorest of the poor.

A profound transformation. Mother Teresa's life took a decisive turn from a comfortable teaching position at the Loreto convent in Calcutta to a radical commitment to the city's most destitute. This "call within a call" occurred during a train journey in 1946, where she felt a divine imperative to leave her established religious order and immerse herself directly in the suffering of the slums. This decision, made with only a few rupees and no institutional backing, marked the true beginning of her life's work.

Relinquishing comfort for Christ. Her initial impediment was the happiness and security of her Loreto life, which she willingly sacrificed for a stricter, self-devised path of service. She patiently awaited ecclesiastical permission to be released from her vows, demonstrating her deep respect for authority while remaining resolute in her new vocation. This act of courage deeply impressed the author, who recalled Calcutta's harsh conditions and his own inability to endure them, highlighting the stark contrast with Mother Teresa's choice to "move in and stay."

Starting from scratch. Upon her release in 1948, Mother Teresa moved into the poorest quarter, gathered abandoned children, and began her ministry of love. She started by teaching basic literacy and hygiene to children no other school would accept, quickly attracting helpers and eventually forming the Missionaries of Charity. This humble beginning, fueled by unwavering faith and divine providence, laid the foundation for a global movement dedicated to those society had forgotten.

2. Christian Love Transcends Social Welfare

Mother Teresa is fond of saying that welfare is for a purpose - an admirable and a necessary one - whereas Christian love is for a person.

Love for a person. Mother Teresa sharply distinguishes her work from mere social welfare, emphasizing that Christian love is directed at the individual person, not just a societal purpose or statistical outcome. While government agencies and welfare services address needs on a large scale, her mission focuses on the inherent dignity of each human being, seeing Christ in every suffering face. This personal approach ensures that the poor feel wanted and loved, addressing their deepest agony of being outcast.

Beyond statistics. The criticism that her work is statistically insignificant compared to the vast need in Calcutta misses the core Christian principle she embodies. Christianity, she asserts, is not a statistical view of life; the joy in heaven over one repentant sinner outweighs all the just. Similarly, saving one abandoned child or comforting one dying person holds infinite value, reflecting God's boundless love for each individual soul.

A different kind of provision. When asked if government agencies with greater resources were needed, Mother Teresa affirmed their value but insisted her Sisters offered "something else – Christian love." This love provides a unique form of care that money alone cannot buy, transforming the lives of the poor by making them feel cherished. Her refusal of government grants, partly to avoid bureaucratic accounting, underscores her commitment to a simple, direct service driven purely by faith.

3. Profound Joy Amidst Austerity and Suffering

Joy is prayer - Joy is strength - Joy is love - Joy is a net of love by which you can catch souls.

Radiating happiness. Despite living a tough, austere life by worldly standards, Mother Teresa and her Sisters radiate an extraordinary joy that captivates all who meet them. This joyousness is not superficial but stems from a deep inner peace and a heart burning with love for God, which they believe the poor deserve as much as service and dedication. Their cheerfulness is a powerful tool, drawing people to Christ and preventing the poor from feeling further depressed.

Austerity as strength. The Missionaries of Charity embrace extreme poverty, eating the same food, wearing the cheapest clothes, and possessing almost nothing, including no fans in Calcutta's sweltering heat. This identification with the poor is not a mere figure of speech but a lived reality, ensuring they never forget their purpose. This radical austerity, far from deterring vocations, attracts them at a fantastic rate, proving that demanding everything for Christ yields abundant commitment.

Fulfillment in sacrifice. The Sisters, many from middle-class or even richer backgrounds, find profound fulfillment in this challenging life. They make a "total surrender to God," giving up their positions, homes, and futures to serve the poorest, seeing it as a privilege and a challenge. This deep conviction that they are serving Christ himself transforms their difficult tasks into acts of love, making their giving a joy and their lives exceptionally happy.

4. The Unwavering Sanctity of Every Human Life

The notion that there could in any circumstances be too many children was, to her, as inconceivable as suggesting that there are too many bluebells in the woods or stars in the sky.

Life is a divine flame. Mother Teresa holds an absolute conviction in the sacredness of every human life, from the discarded fetus to the dying derelict. She vehemently rejects the idea that there can be "too many people," especially children, believing that God always provides and that each life is a divine flame that no one has the right to extinguish. This belief drives her mission to save abandoned children, many of whom would otherwise die from neglect or infanticide.

Opposing the death-wish. Her stance directly challenges contemporary views on population control and the perceived burden of unwanted lives. To her, countenancing a death-wish, even with humane motives, is a fearful thing with fearful consequences, leading to self-genocide. She sees man's technological prowess, capable of abundance, contrasted with a panic fear of scarcity, as one of history's most derisory attitudes.

No child refused. The Missionaries of Charity never refuse a child, regardless of how they arrive—from midwives, dustbins, hospitals, or police. They always find "one more bed for one more child," restoring acutely malnourished infants to health and preserving the life of Christ within each one. This unwavering commitment to life reflects a universal love that sees no one as unnecessary or better off terminated.

5. Divine Love Manifests as Luminous Presence

In the processed film, the part taken inside was bathed in a particularly beautiful soft light, whereas the part taken outside was rather dim and confused.

A photographic miracle. During the filming of a documentary about Mother Teresa, a technically inexplicable phenomenon occurred in the Home for the Dying. Despite the dimly lit interior and insufficient lighting equipment, the footage shot inside was bathed in a "particularly beautiful soft light," while exterior shots taken in good sunlight appeared dim. The cameraman, Ken Macmillan, insisted this was technically impossible, unable to replicate it elsewhere.

Luminosity of love. The author interprets this as a "Kindly Light," a visible manifestation of the overflowing love present in the Home for the Dying. This love, he suggests, is luminous, akin to the haloes artists depict around saints, and it registered on the photographic film. This "outward and visible luminosity manifesting God's inward and invisible omnipresent love" serves as a miracle, revealing the inner reality of God's creation.

Transforming desolation. The Home for the Dying, filled with derelicts from the streets, is described as a place of profound rest and serenity, despite the potential for repulsion. The miraculous light perfectly conveyed this inner peace, demonstrating how divine love transforms even the most desolate circumstances into something beautiful. This event, though met with skepticism by some ecclesiastical figures, stands as a testament to the spiritual power at the heart of Mother Teresa's work.

6. Personal Contact: The Essence of Service

To us what matters is an individual. To get to love the person we must come in close contact with him. If we wait till we get the numbers, then we will be lost in the numbers.

Person-to-person connection. Mother Teresa firmly believes that true service and love stem from direct, personal contact with individuals, rejecting the modern tendency to seek collective, large-scale solutions. She emphasizes that focusing on numbers risks losing the ability to show genuine love and respect for each person. For her, every individual is Christ, and therefore, each person is uniquely important in that moment.

Beyond pity. Her approach transforms the perception of the poor from pitiable objects to "marvellous people." By engaging directly, people realize that these individuals are not just destitute but lovable, capable of giving as much as they receive. This deep respect for the dignity of the poor is what enables volunteers, including non-Christians, to come into close contact and offer their hands to serve and hearts to love.

The greater gift. Mother Teresa encourages "Co-Workers" to give "something of me" rather than just money, citing an Australian donor who, after a large donation, began regularly shaving and talking to the dying. This personal engagement, though harder, is seen as a greater gift, fostering a sense of belonging and mutual appreciation. Through this direct interaction, people in the West, often disconnected by wealth, can find the "spark" of faith and personal feeling needed to truly serve.

7. Faith as a Dynamic, Giving Love

Faith to be true has to be a giving love. Love and faith go together. They complete each other.

The foundation of work. Mother Teresa's work is entirely built on her profound faith in Christ, who declared, "I was hungry, I was naked, I was sick, and I was homeless and you did that to me." This conviction that she serves Christ in the poorest of the poor is the stimulus, fire, and strength behind everything she does. She begins each day with Mass, recognizing that "without him we could do nothing."

Finding God in others. For those struggling with faith, Mother Teresa offers a clear path: "By getting them in touch with the people, for in the people they will find God." Since Christ cannot be seen directly, love for Him is expressed through love for one's neighbor. While acknowledging the danger of becoming mere social workers, she stresses that their actions are always an expression of love for Christ, making the poor the means of expressing that divine love.

A continuous contact. Her faith is not a static belief but a dynamic, giving love that manifests in continuous contact with Christ through her work. This contact is as real and profound as receiving Christ in the Blessed Sacrament during Mass. This active, embodied faith is what allows her and her Sisters to see the broken bodies and suffering children in the slums as Christ himself, transforming their service into a sacred act.

8. Unshakable Allegiance to the Enduring Church

The various controversies and conflicts now shaking the Church scarcely touch her; they will pass, she says, and the Church will remain to perform its divinely inspired and directed function.

Beyond temporal flaws. Mother Teresa's allegiance to the Church is absolute, rooted in dimensions far beyond its historical failings or contemporary controversies. She views the Church as revealing and fulfilling God's purposes on earth, a divinely inspired institution that will endure despite any passing "fantasies and follies" or internal conflicts. Her faith provides a clear path, ensuring she is never lost or separated from the Lord she follows.

A personal struggle with faith. The author, Malcolm Muggeridge, contrasts his own intellectual hesitations and doubts about the Church's institutional history—its crusades, inquisition, and scandalous popes—with Mother Teresa's unwavering certainty. He expresses a deep longing to belong, envying those who find joy and family in worship, but feels it would be "fraudulent" to join given his intellectual reservations about its current state and past actions.

God's will and individual paths. Mother Teresa, in her letters, gently urges Muggeridge to "become a little child in God's Hands," assuring him that Christ longs to be his food and that his finite difficulties with the Church are outweighed by Christ's infinite love. She believes God fulfills desires for faith and suggests that perhaps God wants some individuals to remain outside the Church, yet still dedicated to Him, as Simone Weil also pondered. Ultimately, her loyalty is to Christ, whose light, like the first Pentecost, will shine until the last day.

9. Doing Something Beautiful for God

Now let us do something beautiful for God.

Life's ultimate purpose. For Mother Teresa, the phrase "doing something beautiful for God" encapsulates the entire meaning of life. Every action, every human soul, becomes beautiful when it participates in this divine purpose. This philosophy transforms the grim realities of human misery and affliction into opportunities to construct something radiant and joyful for God.

A fragrant presence. The author recalls visiting a leper settlement near a slaughterhouse, where the usual stench was unnoticed in Mother Teresa's presence, "another fragrance had swallowed it up." This metaphor illustrates how her spiritual luminosity and the love she embodies transform the environment, making the beautiful for God palpable even in the most challenging settings. Her presence itself is a "shining light" and a "joy abounding."

An enduring witness. Mother Teresa and her Missionaries of Charity provide a living testament to the power and truth of Christ's message. Her ability to inspire high-caste Indian ladies to tend to outcasts, and to establish houses of charity globally, demonstrates the universal appeal of her simple, profound message. She preaches Christ not through evangelism in the propagandist sense, but by living for and in Him every moment, making her existence a comforting and reassuring beacon in a dark and cruel world.

Last updated: February 12, 2026