Today's Zenit article...Author: Mother Teresa Still Teaches Us How to Love

Author: Mother Teresa Still Teaches Us How to Love

Knights of Columbus Commemorate Nun

By Genevieve Pollock

NEW HAVEN, Connecticut, AUG. 24, 2010 (Zenit.org).- Years after her death, Blessed Teresa of Calcutta still teaches us how to love by her words and humble example, says author Donna-Marie Cooper O'Boyle.

O'Boyle, author of "Mother Teresa and Me: Ten Years of Friendship" (Circle Press, 2009), will be speaking about her personal experiences with the saintly nun at an event celebrating the founder's 100th birthday on Thursday.

Thursday's celebration, sponsored by the Knights of Columbus at their New Haven museum, will include an unveiling of the Mother Teresa U.S. postage stamp.

O'Boyle, who will give an address on "Discovering Calcutta in Our Midst: Mother Teresa's Lessons of Love," told ZENIT that the nun and founder of the Missionaries of Charity still has an important message for us today: "Love one another."

Even 13 years after her death, the author said, "Mother Teresa's love for Jesus transcends time."

O'Boyle affirmed, "She beckoned us all to answer our own calls to holiness in our lives -- to serve Jesus in one another -- to thirst for Jesus' love and love him in return."

She continued, "Now, 100 years after her birth we are blessed with the lessons of love from a remarkable yet humble woman's life."

Extraordinary love

This woman "may have looked overly ordinary, but because she loved Jesus so earnestly her life was immensely extraordinary and the effects of that love radiated out to the entire world," O'Boyle told ZENIT.

She observed that the nun's "one-by-one approach to serve Jesus in all she met changed the world and opened our eyes to understand the plight of the poor."

"She taught us that the poor are not just those starving for a piece of bread, but are those even in affluent areas starving for love and care," the author affirmed.

O'Boyle concluded, "We too can love as Mother Teresa loved by answering our Lord with our own 'Yes!' and living the Gospel of Mathew 25:35-46 as she did: 'Just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of the family, you do to me.'"

The Knights of Columbus Museum is also currently featuring an exhibit on "Mother Teresa: Life, Spirituality and Message," which will run through Oct. 4.

It includes items such as the founder's sari, personal articles, and a full-scale replica of her convent cell in the Calcutta convent.

For more information visit the Knights of Columbus here.

[You can see the article at Zenit here.]

Zenit interview of me

Mother Teresa Shows Families How to Be Holy


Interview With Author Donna-Marie Cooper O'Boyle


By Genevieve Pollock

NEW YORK, MARCH 18, 2010 (Zenit.org).- Mother Teresa encouraged working with the poor not only in the slums of India, but primarily in our own families, says the author of a new book about the nun.

Donna-Marie Cooper O'Boyle is the author of the recently published "Mother Teresa and Me: Ten Years of Friendship."

She spoke with ZENIT about her experiences with Mother Teresa, now recognized as Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, and the ways in which the nun taught the Missionaries of Charity, the congregation she founded, and others to love Christ in the poor.

Mother Teresa encouraged O'Boyle, a wife and mother, to live her vocation well and to help other families thrive. Over the years, the author has also written other books with this goal, including "The Heart of Motherhood: Finding Holiness in the Catholic Home," "The Domestic Church: Room By Room," and "Grace Cafe: Serving Up Recipes for Faithful Mothering."

As well, she is a host for Eternal Word Television Network, and will soon be premiering a new series, "Everyday Blessings for Catholic Moms."

O'Boyle has written for several newspapers and magazines, and maintains various personal blogs, including a new saints' Web site for youth.

In this interview with ZENIT, she spoke about the holiness of Mother Teresa, and the ways in which her teachings can be implemented in families today.

ZENIT: In one point in your book, you talk about Mother Teresa's unshakeable faith coupled with a feisty attitude; in another part you mention that she was called extraordinarily ordinary. Yet you also say that you have no doubt about Mother Teresa's eventual canonization. What makes you so certain? How does the normality of your relationship affect your belief that she is a saint?

O'Boyle: My relationship with Mother Teresa was certainly normal but I feel that it was extraordinary as well because I never had a doubt that I was visiting and corresponding with a living saint.

I saw great holiness in everything about Mother Teresa -- in her speech, her posture, her demeanor, the "glow' about her that radiated Christ's love, peace, and joy.

I knew that she truly lived the Gospel of Matthew: "Whatever you do to the least of these that are in my family, you do to me."

She lived her life, her every moment to satiate the thirst of Christ for souls... Continued here