MOTHER TERESA AT HARVARD COMMENCEMENT

Mother Teresa spoke to the 1982 Class at Harvard about a hunger for God especially among the young. She said, “We must find Jesus and satisfy that hunger. Nakedness is not only for a piece of cloth. Nakedness is the loss of human dignity, the loss of respect, the loss of that purity which was so beautiful, the loss of that virginity which is the most beautiful thing that a young man and a young woman can give each other because of their love. The loss of that presence, of what is beautiful, of what is great – that is nakedness. And homelessness is not only the lack of a home made of bricks but the feeling of being rejected, being unwanted, having no one to call your own.”

She gave the new graduates the prayer of John Henry Newman for their future.

Dear Jesus, help us to spread your fragrance everywhere we go. Flood our souls with your spirit and life. Penetrate and possess our whole being so utterly that all our lives may only be a radiance of yours. Shine through us and be so in us that every soul we meet may feel your presence in us. Let them look up and see no longer us, but only Jesus. Stay with us and then we shall begin to shine as you shine. To shine so as to be a light to others. The light will be all from you, dear Jesus. None of is will be ours; it will be you shining on others.  Let us thus praise you in the way you love best, by shining on those around us. Let us preach you without preaching; not by words, but by our example. By the catching force, the sympathetic influence of what we do, the evident fullness of the love our hearts bear for you. 

She said, “My prayer for you is that you may grow in love for each other. That you may grow in the likeness of Christ, in the holiness of Christ. Holiness is not the luxury of the few; it is a simple duty for you and me. And where does it begin? Right at home. God bless you.”

She reminds us that we are called to become carriers of God’s love to all people we meet. There is no higher calling.