As Told by Mother Teresa
One night a man came to our house and told me, "There is a family with eight children. They have not eaten for days." I took some food with me and went. When I finally came to that family, I saw the faces of those little children disfigured by hunger. There was no sorrow or sadness in their faces, just the deep pain of hunger.
I gave the rice to the mother. She divided the rice in two, and went out, carrying half the rice. When she came back, I asked her, "Where did you go?" She gave me this simple answer, "To my neighbors-they are hungry also!"
I was not surprised that she gave, because poor people are really very generous. But I was surprised that she knew they were hungry. As a rule, when we are suffering, we are so focused on ourselves we have not time for others.
Matthew 25:37-40 says,34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40 “The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’
The church where I am a member is participating in something called, "The Advent Conspiracy". Our pastor is encouraging the families of our church to decrease our spending on gifts for family members and pool the money we did not spend on ourselves to provide milk for our local food bank for 2013, and to supply twenty-five villages in Bolivia with wells for drinking water. We are hoping to raise $50,000 to make this happen.
Imagine how many more wells could be dug and how many more of the poor in our communities could be fed or be provided with milk if all of our families and our churches participated in the Advent Conspiracy? Would God be pleased more with more gifts under our trees, or more poor people being fed and provided with safe sources of drinking water? I encourage you to join me and challenge your family and church to be a part of the Advent Conspiracy.
