There are two women who have had a huge impact on my life as a Catholic, St. Teresa of Calcutta and Servant of God Dorothy Day. No matter how lost in my faith or angry at the world I feel, I turn to the lives of these two women. I am constantly amazed by their lives, especially their perseverance and commitment to solidarity. As Catholics, we are called to live out solidarity (one theme of Catholic Social Teaching) through recognizing that we are all one community. This theme has always held a special place in my heart because of the examples of our beloved saints.
Mother Teresa lived in spiritual darkness, feeling as if God had abandoned her. Yet, she continued to love and serve God through the poor, taking vows of poverty and calling her fellow Missionaries of Charity to do the same.
Before her conversion to Catholicism, Dorothy Day struggled with living a life that never felt quite right. Yet, she searched for ways to work with the marginalized, voluntarily entering a life of poverty as she opened the first house of hospitality, St. Joseph’s, in New York City.
What do these women have in common? A willingness to live in solidarity.
Dorothy Day and Mother Teresa met the most vulnerable in their communities exactly where they were at. Living out Catholic Social Teaching, they both understood we are all part of one universal family, having a commitment to each other and to the well-being of every person.
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Mother Teresa didn’t just give the sick medicine or food to the hungry and leave them be. She continuously visited with the sick, ate with the hungry, and prayed with each person she encountered. Dorothy Day didn’t just provide housing and food for those living on the streets of New York and then wish them the best. She lived with them, cooked with them, and worked with them.
In the Diocese of Phoenix, we are blessed by the work of these two women.
- Mother Teresa visited Phoenix in 1989, and we currently have the Missionaries of Charity serving at Our Lady of Fatima Parish Mission. We are grateful for the example of these women religious who continue to walk with the community and minister to the poor in the heart of Phoenix.
- Andre House of Hospitality inspired by the Congregation of the Holy Cross in downtown Phoenix serving and loving God through the marginalized. Andre House is one of over 180 communities across the world offering dignity and radical hospitality to all who pass through their doors. These houses were founded on the influence of Dorothy Day and the model of St. Joseph’s House.
We’re not all called to live lives of deep poverty like Dorothy Day and Mother Teresa. But each of us is called to “do small things with great love”, as Mother Teresa would say. I see these little acts every day through volunteers encountering the marginalized in relational ministry, young people learning about other countries and our impact on them, and individuals choosing to live simply rather than in materialistic ways.
We each have the opportunity to live our lives working for the good of our brothers and sisters. Today I invite you to consider how God is inviting you to take a deeper look at caring for our brothers and sisters with the inspiration of these great saintly examples.
