Blessed Mother Teresa: Inspiration from Her Words and Deeds

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of The Letters (Film). The opinions and text are all mine.

With today’s release of the movie The Letters, which is a look at the life of Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta, it seemed like a great time to reflect on Blessed Mother Teresa, her words, and her work, as well as my boys’ amazing experience this fall with the Missionaries of Charity.

Blessed Mother Teresa believed and practiced, in what St. Therese of Lisieux wrote about, the idea of doing small acts for others with great love.  Because I sometimes find myself being an “all or nothing” kind of person, I frequently try to remember this.  I am inspired by the idea that even though I may not do huge things that make a difference for the whole world, the little acts that I do for the people in my life (whether they are people I know or not) might make a difference to them.

Blessed Mother Teresa said, “Little things are indeed little, but to be faithful in little things is a great thing.”

As a busy parent, I need this kind of message.  Sometimes the days can feel repetitive.  “Wait!  Didn’t I just help you with geometry homework yesterday?  Why do we have to do this again today?”  Seriously.  Geometry is harsh.  I need that reminder that sitting next to Noah helping him with geometry may be a small thing that takes a great deal of time, but it is an act of love that is huge in his life.

Blessed Mother Teresa shared so much wisdom, love, and charity with the world.  We’re really excited about the new movie The Letters that is being released today.  It recounts her spiritual and worldly journeys through nearly 50 years of correspondences she had.  I was moved just watching the trailer for the movie, so it should be an amazing movie to see and you should definitely go check out the trailer for The Letters as well.

View the trailer for The Letters #TheLetters

I’m not the only person in our household who has been inspired by Blessed Mother Teresa.  When Eric was finishing his degree at a small Catholic college a few years ago, he was so taken by the things that they read about her in a social justice class that he took that I took started saying to him, “Your girl, Mother Teresa.”  (This was an homage to the fact that I call Saint Martha “my girl, Martha” because she is such a kindred to me that I chose Martha as my Confirmation name.)

This fall, however, we added some new Blessed Mother Teresa fans in the house.  Both of our teenage sons are going through Confirmation classes right now.  One of their activities that they were able to choose from to do for one requirement was to go on a day long trip to a Missionaries of Charity (Mother Teresa’s order) convent to help the Sisters clean and do other jobs around the house, as well as to learn more about Blessed Mother Teresa.

It was an amazing experience for our sons, as well as for the other teenagers that went as part of their group.  Since I am volunteering in their Confirmation classes, it was such a delight to watch the kids recount their experience.  They were taken by the Sisters’ simple lives, their peaceful home, and their level of joy.

I know that having had that experience will make seeing The Letters even more powerful for our boys.

After you check out the trailer and another movie clip, you can connect with The Letters on Facebook and Twitter.

How have you been inspired by Blessed Mother Teresa?

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of The Letters (Film). The opinions and text are all mine.