“The greatest disease in the West today is not TB or
leprosy; it is being unwanted, unloved, and uncared for. We can cure physical
diseases with medicine, but the only cure for loneliness, despair, and
hopelessness is love. There are many in the world who are dying for a piece of
bread but there are many more dying for a little love. The poverty in the West
is a different kind of poverty—it is not only a poverty of loneliness but also
of spirituality. There's a hunger for love, as there is a hunger for God.” —Mother
Teresa, A Simple Path: Mother Teresa (1995)
Perhaps as much as any individual since Francis of
Assisi, Mother Teresa becomes a saint today practically by acclamation. Quotes
such as the one above—which testify to her life’s work, even as they continue
to inspire others—explain how and why she became “St. Teresa of Calcutta.” (The picture says quite a lot, too.)
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