Souls Of Great Silence - Mother Teresa

1910–97

Mother Teresa had been a nun and a schoolteacher for several years in the city of Calcutta before, on a bus ride, she sensed God telling her that he wanted nuns who would be his fire of love to work with the poor, sick, dying, and children. She heard him say to her, “I want to use you for my glory. Wilt thou refuse?”

It took Mother Teresa a year and a half after hearing God’s request to get permission from her order to change her position from teacher to missionary to the poor. Once she had permission, she went to work helping those she’d heard God name—the poor, sick, dying, and children. For the children, she established an open-air school. She received medical training so she could help the sick. She created a home for people who were dying and destitute.

She also established the Missionaries of Charity, a Catholic church made up of women dedicated to the poor. It started with twelve members, but by the end of Mother Teresa’s life, the Missionaries of Charity had four thousand members in congregations all over the world.

All of this came because she listened to God’s voice one day while she was riding on a bus. We don’t know how quiet that bus might have been, but we do know that Mother Teresa believed in seeking out quiet to be able to hear the voice of God. She believed that God could be found in the quiet, and silence was necessary to communicate with God.

“In the silence of the heart God speaks,” she said. “If you face God in prayer and silence, God will speak to you. Then you will know that you are nothing. It is only when you realize your nothingness, your emptiness, that God can fill you with Himself. Souls of prayer are souls of great silence.”

In our busy, noisy world, making the time to find a place to be in silence and remain quiet can be a challenge. Imagine how difficult it must have been for Mother Teresa, who knew there were always more people to tend to, more mouths to feed, and more sick to care for. If she could find the time, do you think you can?

Let all that I am wait quietly before God, for my hope is in him.

Psalm 62:5