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Spotlight Script Title: Mother Teresa Calcutta
| Sister
Nirmala | Love
Hello. I’m Tony
Ford. And I'm Becky Sharp. Welcome
to Spotlight. This programme uses a special English method of broadcasting. It
is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they
live. Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu is
the name of a woman respected all over the world. We knew her better by her
other name: ‘Mother Teresa’. Agnes made an important
decision at the age of eighteen. She became a nun. Nuns are Christian women who
devote their whole lives to serving God. Agnes made special promises to God to
serve him always. She took the name ‘Teresa’ in honour of a French holy woman -
Therese of Lisieux. And so Agnes became ‘Sister Teresa’. Later, she became
Mother Teresa. One
of Mother Teresa’s first jobs was to teach at a school in Calcutta, India. In
nineteen forty-six, things changed. Mother Teresa said that God called her to
work directly with the poor.
So, she did. In nineteen forty eight, she set up an organisation called
‘The Order of the Missionaries of Charity’. The Order’s members were all women -
nuns like Mother Teresa. They gave themselves completely to helping the poor.
They did this with the love of God in their hearts. They provided food and
shelter for the poor, the needy and the dying. They worked in the poorest areas of
Calcutta. The words of Mother Teresa guided the group. She said, ‘Let every action of
mine be something beautiful for God.’ Mother Theresa put all
her heart into this work. She put herself through training in health care so
that she could be of more help to the poor. Yet some people criticised Mother
Teresa and her work. They said that it was not enough for all the millions of
poor people in India. But this did not stop her. She believed that every person
is important in the eyes of God. The work of Mother
Teresa’s organisation soon grew. Her workers opened homes for children without
parents. They worked with people with deadly diseases. Their work spread
throughout India. Today, this work, started by Mother Teresa, is
worldwide. Her death on September
the fifth, nineteen ninety-seven, saddened the hearts of many. Her death also
brought fear to many people. They feared that without Mother Teresa the work she
set up would die too. But the work did not
stop after her death. It continues to grow. Today, Sister Nirmala leads Mother Teresa’s work as
‘Sister General’ of the organisation. But Sister Nirmala never expected to be
exactly like Mother Teresa. She said, "God is not asking me to
be Mother Teresa. He is asking me to be Sister Nirmala." She says that their work
is as strong as ever. They have set up more houses for the poor. This includes
houses in India, but also in other countries. Over four thousand nuns are in the
organisation now. Their work is far from easy. The memory of Mother Teresa still lives on. Her memory provides hope and
encouragement for many people. I wonder how you feel
when you think about Mother Teresa. A woman so full of love and compassion. Her
love touched the poor and needy in a real and powerful way. Hearing about people
like this can encourage us in our own lives. But it can also discourage us. It
can make us feel that we are not good enough. Not many of us live a life like
Mother Teresa. It seemed almost as if the love of this woman could light up a
room. Not many of us feel like this about ourselves. But Mother Teresa
probably did not feel like this either. In fact, when we read some of her words
we can see that she did not have a high opinion of herself at all. Mother Teresa
shared her experiences with others. She remembers one thing, especially, from a
very difficult time. Millions of refugees had fled to India. One night in Calcutta we
went out late. We picked up four or five people from the street. We took them to
our shelter, which we called ‘The
Home for the Dying’. One of them was in a very bad condition. I wanted to take
care of her myself. I did for her all that my love could do. When I put her into
bed, she took hold of my hand. There was such a wonderful happy smile on her
face. She said one just thing: "Thank you." Then she died. These words from Mother
Teresa show that she did not have a high opinion of herself. But, that did not
matter. It did not stop her. She said, ‘We should not worry too
much about ourselves. If we do, we will not have time for
others.’ Everything she did came from her deep desire to serve Jesus. Her
faith made her strong, and able to love. In the book ‘No Greater Love’ she
shares her knowledge and experience with other Christians who want to show this
same kind of love. She says. ‘Do not think that love,
to be true, has to be anything extra special. What is necessary is to continue to love. How does a lamp burn?
It is by the continuous feeding of little drops of oil. What are our drops of
oil in our lamps? They are the small things in every day life - a simple thought
for someone else. Our way to be
silent. Our way to listen. Our way to forgive, to speak and to act. These are
the real drops of oil. They make our lamps burn brightly our whole lives. Do not
look for Jesus far away, He is not there. He is in you. Take care of your lamp
and you will see Him.’ The writer of today’s
programme was Marina Santee. The voices you heard were from the United Kingdom.
Computer users can hear our programmes, read our scripts and see our wordbook on
our website at www.radio.english.net. This programme is called ‘Mother
Teresa’. We love to hear comments
and questions from our listeners. You can write to us, care of this station. Or
you can reach us by email. Our address is radio@english.net Thank you for joining us in today’s Spotlight
programme. Goodbye. Save this page | Close this page | Word list
Website: http://www.specialized.english.net/home.htm
Radio programs in
'Specialized English'
(Program
number: 677)
She gave me her
thankful heart. It was more than I gave her. I thought, ‘If I was in her place,
how would I have acted? What would I have done? My answer was, ‘I would have
tried to make people look at me. I would have said: “I am hungry”. Or, “I am
cold”. Or, “I am dying”. But she was so great. She was so beautiful in her
giving. The poor are great people.