CBB Review – Mother Teresa and Me: Ten Years of Friendship

There are a number of books out that detail the life of Mother Teresa. Many of these take a distant look at her life and works but a few offer a more intimate portrait of this saint from our own times. Donna-Marie Cooper O’Boyle knew Mother Teresa for ten years. She relays that time in her book Mother Teresa and Me: Ten Years of Friendship.

The book opens with Donna-Marie describing her chance encounter. “Never in my wildest dreams could I have anticipated an encounter with a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, much less a living saint. Yet that’s exactly what I experienced one summer morning two decades ago while on a trip to Washington, DC.” This chance meeting would grow into a ten year friendship. A friendship that would be a life-changing one for Donna-Marie.

For those ten years Donna-Marie and Blessed Mother Teresa exchanged letters and numerous visits, Each chapter opens with a letter Donna-Marie received from Blessed Teresa. As Donna-Marie points out each of those letters was composed on an old ribbon typewriter leading her and the reader to wonder if Mother was re-inking an obsolete ribbon!

The real depth of this book comes from the various lessons Blessed Teresa’s example gives us. An example of self-sacrifice, of love for others, and a viewpoint of the poor I had never considered before. Blessed Teresa viewed the streets of Calcutta to be beyond those streets she served in India. The streets of Calcutta reach beyond India to our own country. People can be poor in more than finances. “In Mother Teresa’s opinion, the United States suffers from far worse diseases and poverty than people in Calcutta. In the United States, a lack of love and care a serious disease. People are starving for love. We are too busy to say “hello” to someone who lives right next door to us, much less a stranger we see walking down the street. What I learned from Mother Teresa is that the greatest suffering is to feel alone, unwanted, or unloved. Not knowing what it really means to have a family or friends is much worse than any physical suffering.”

That was just one lesson of many. Donna-Marie weaves her own life experiences as well as the examples of Blessed Teresa to teach us about such things as:

Simplicity – “The definition of simplicity is a lack of complexity, embellishment, difficulty, and complication. Where do we find simplicity in our convoluted world? Should we seek to lead a less complicated life?”

Silence –“Even amid our crazy lives, we can discover silence……A mother can find silence even within the noise of her household – in the busyness of caring for her children, folding laundry, cooking a meal, or washing dishes – when she looks inward and offers her heart to God.”

Take time – “Time waits for no one. Like Blessed Teresa, we must make time todo God’s will, to live out the Gospel message to serve him in each other, especially the Poor and those in need. We need to take time for prayer. As Mother Teresa said, “Prayer in action is love, and love in action is service.””

What comes through loud and clear in this book is Donna-Marie’s  love and admiration for her friend Mother Teresa. She reveals a personal side of this modern dynamic saint that goes beyond the image we saw on the news. This unassuming saint from the streets of Calcutta touched many lives. She reached down and helped the Poor and helpless of India bringing them hope and dignity in times of death. She reached out to the world through her example and she touched the life of an ordinary mother in Connecticut. She inspired Donna-Marie Cooper O’Boyle to write, speak and evangelize beyond her front doorstep. Is that not what we are all called to do? To evangelize and help lead each other to heaven.? I  will step aside and let Donna-Marie close this review out with her own words from the final chapter.

“Oh Lord, thank you for bringing Mother Teresa to our world that is so lacking in love. She demonstrated the joy of loving and taught us the greatness and dignity of every human being, from conception to natural death. She revealed to us how we must strive to satiate your thirst for souls and cultivate within ourselves a great hunger and thirst for you. She taught us that little things done faithfully with love are pleasing to you. Help us to turn to prayer as Mother Teresa did in order to find the strength to carry on your work.”

“Please,Lord, give us the strength to say “Yes” to you every morning. Bless our hearts and our hands, filling us with your grace, love, and truth so that we may preach your Gospel with caring hands and giving hearts as we go forward to serve our families, our neighbors, and our world. Enlarge our hearts, dear Lord, so that the flame you bring to our hearts will shine brightly and bring others to you, lighting the way to heaven. Jesus, I trust in you. Amen.”

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