Mother Theresa once said that we should never let others come to us without us leaving them better. This is easier said than done. People can catch us in inopportune times, in times of busyness, when we’re least likely to forgive them for a misstep and most likely to snap because of some interruption. They find us in poor moods, when the circumstances of our days have clouded our better judgment and encouraged us to respond curtly, and even in anger. If we’re not careful, we even begin to see others as obstacles rather than allies, as burdens instead of potential friends. Still, there is a profound wisdom in the practice of mercy. The simple act of ignoring a slight-- or, even better, of responding with warmth to the awkward moments in others’ lives when their faults are laid bare before us—teaches us more about grace than any treatise, sermon, or exposition ever could; and when we pay close enough attention to it in others, it forces us also to stop and begin to consider those around us with greater care. In short, the act of grace causes us to treat people as people.
Although we have several examples of heroes in our day, one of the best known is of a woman named Agnes Gonxhe Bojaxhiu (“Gonja Bojaju”), who devoted her life to sustaining the “poor, sick, orphaned, and dying.” Her venue was Calcutta, India, where she served as a teacher until she began to take notice of the poverty there. Seeking to do something about it, she began an organization that consisted of just thirteen members at its inception. Called the “Missionaries of Charity,” the organization would eventually burgeon into well over 5,000 members worldwide, running approximately 600 missions, schools and shelters in 120 countries; and caring for the orphaned, blind, aged, disabled, and poor. As her personal work expanded, she traveled to countries like Lebanon, where she rescued 37 children from a hospital by pressing for peace between Israel and Palestine; to Ethiopia, where she traveled to help the hungry; to Chernobyl, Russia, to assist victims of the nuclear meltdown there; and to
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