You don’t need to be a Catholic to love this little book^. It is now featured in the Library G/F Collection Highlights corner in celebration of International Women’s Day. Mother Teresa was small in physical stature, but a spiritual giant to many. She founded in 1950 the Missionaries of Charity, a congregation of Catholic sisters, to serve the poorest and the smallest in the Calcutta slums of India. If you have never heard of Mother Teresa, Google and ChatGPT can fill in all the details for you.
This book works like a flippable calendar to me. While my IPhone calendar reminds me of countless errands and deadlines, a daily piece of wisdom from Mother Teresa puts my jampacked life into perspective and keeps reminding me to do good, no matter what, where, and how. It goes from January 1 through December 31, and works like ‘an angel a day keeps the devil away’. It’s incredibly green. When December is gone, start afresh with January 1. We follow idols in showbiz, in sports, in politics. Have you imagined yourself being a fan of Mother Teresa? And not simply collect collectables but putting her words into practice.
The Vatican canonized Mother Teresa in 2016. She is now officially Saint Teresa of Calcutta. I don’t think Mother Teresa cared much about her worldly title, but she must be thrilled in heaven if we accept her invitation to follow her in spirit and action. Aim high. We can all be saints, in myriad little ways. One of my favorite of Mother Teresa’s quotes is “Not all of us can do great things, but we can do small things with great love.”
^ Do something beautiful for God : the essential teachings of Mother Teresa : 365 daily reflections
Catherine Kwok
Head of Collection Development
lbckwok@ust.hk
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