“By blood, I am Albanian. By citizenship, an Indian. By faith, I am a Catholic nun. As to my calling, I belong to the world. As to my heart, I belong entirely to the Heart of Jesus.”
Mother Teresa was born on 26th August 1910 in Skopje. She was baptized at age five and a half and confirmed in 1916. Mother Teresa’s mother, Drane Bojaxhiu, raised her, instilling good behaviors and character after her father’s death, Nikola Bojaxhiu. Mother Teresa’s vocation was significantly influenced by her mother, who made the decision to become a missionary when she turned eighteen. She joined the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary in 1928 and later went to Calcutta, India, in 1929. She became a teacher in Calcutta, training girls in school. She lived her life;
A person of profound prayer and deep love for her religious sisters and students, Mother Teresa’s twenty years in Loreto were filled with profound happiness. Noted for her charity, unselfishness and courage, her capacity for hard work and a natural talent for organization, she lived out her consecration to Jesus, in the midst of her companions, with fidelity and joy.
This makes her a renowned person worldwide, having lived her life embracing charity. Mother Teresa’s life of giving and sharing will go down in history as one considered a life for others. There is a need to understand the value of giving and appreciate other people’s way of living. Mother Teresa is one of her kind, and she is a good example of living an exemplary life. She found happiness in giving, which others should use to understand that happiness occurs when a person fulfills their heart’s desires, and this can happen in giving. Mother Teresa lived a life of prayer, which should empower Christians and value praying. Prayers bring human beings close to God as they communicate and give thanks for the life they are living. Mother Teresa considered prayer as part of connecting her with God to appreciate her life and what she was doing for humanity. Prayer gives a person power and the knowledge to pursue a particular issue in life, as Mother Teresa proved. Inspiration that Mother Teresa had ensured she became the light of Jesus to help do righteous things and live a holy life. There is no lie that Mother Teresa lived a life that many should emulate, focusing on the good deeds she did for humanity.
Mother Teresa used to visit families in slums and cared for “the unwanted, the unloved, the uncared for.”Her former students supported her missionary work to care for people who could be termed as the “outcast” or unwanted people in society. Mother Teresa served the poor, both spiritually and physically, regardless of religious affiliation that the poor people had. For Mother Teresa, humanity should be cared for, and religious differences should not be a barrier to doing good deeds in life. The service of Mother Teresa was beyond borders as people of different nationalities and faiths joined hands in her work of charity to help those who required help. People who wished to support her missionary work joined the Corpus Christi Movement for Priests, where they would join hands and help the poor.
The heroism of Mother Teresa didn’t go unnoticed as she was awarded various awards to appreciate her charity work. In 1962, Mother Teresa was rewarded with the Indian Padmashri Award and later won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979. The honorary awards are the true meaning of what Mother Teresa did for humanity, embracing the value of humankind. The poor people had a voice in Mother Teresa and were appreciated for how they were. Love and value for human dignity were the driving powers of Mother Teresa’s charity work; everyone was valued and their dignity recognized. The poor and the Church were always in Mother Teresa’s mind, forming an integral part of her life. Mother Teresa’s Sisters were around 4000 members by 1997, distributed in 123 countries. She died on 5th September 1997, and India gave her a state funeral. The compassion she showcased to the poor will always be remembered as her tomb witnesses visitors from various faiths and socioeconomic levels. Pope John Paul II allowed the opening of the Cause of Canonization for Mother Teresa to recognize her “heroic virtues and miracles.” Mother Teresa is an icon of peace and charity, and she showcased the need to value humanity and dignity to help live a happy life. Mother Teresa is an example that people can live harmoniously and provide a dignified life for others by being there to assist and help others.
Ethics is necessary for one’s life as they form an integral part of a person’s character. Honesty is basically a unit that people should embrace to ensure they have ethical character in their life. Through honesty, people can live harmoniously, regardless of their affiliation in faith or social setting. This is relatable to Mother Teresa’s life. Honesty ensured she lived an ethical life, showcasing her good character in service to people. Ethics and actions should be at par, and each person’s behaviors are a reflection of who they really are. Many times, people are caught red-handed with evidence of having committed a crime, but they lie about not having done the bad action. For instance, Bill Clinton denied having sexually engaged with Monica Lewinsky and went to the public, denying the act. Honest is the best policy for people to emulate and live a happy life, as Mother Teresa proved when she was a missionary in India. She never lied to herself or the people and did what she deemed right, and she was rewarded for it. Today Mother Teresa is celebrated as one of the renowned missionaries who gave her everything to care for the poor. Coming to terms with life and accepting that she was born to serve made her live a happy life. She was a trained teacher and nun, which put her in a position to help showcase an ethical life. Mother Teresa is a living example of an ethical life, where her behavior and actions were relatable. She showcased a life full of godliness and followed Christ’s teachings of being the light to the poor. Looking back at Mother Teresa’s life, one sees a well-lived life with ethical behavior, where she embraced human dignity. The value of dignity could help make the right decisions to fight the conflict that is inbuilt into people’s minds;
The most common form of such conflict occurs between the want self and the should self. The want self describes the side of you that’s emotional, affective, impulsive, and hot-headed. In contrast, your should self is rational, cognitive, thoughtful, and cool-headed. The should self encompasses our ethical intentions and the belief that we should be have according to our ethical values and principles. By contrast, the want self reflects our actual behavior, typically characterized by self-interest and a relative disregard for ethical considerations.
Going by this explanation, there is a need to attain equilibrium to ensure people make the best decisions in life. Differentiating the want self and the should self should be a priority for people to ensure they live happy lives. Through the understanding of the want and should self, Mother Teresa was able to showcase a charity life. By understanding what she wanted in life, she showcased a dignified life. Come to think of it like Mother Teresa had a purpose in life, which she lived doing what she loved. Being a Christian didn’t make her discriminate against people from other religions, but she focused on the broad will of helping people regardless of their religious affiliation. Mother Teresa had the self-interest of helping at heart, and her life is an example to be emulated. She decided to help others as different circumstances had made them to be poor. It’s by fighting the battle between want and should that people get to make the right decisions. Should embrace prediction and recollection to ensure a person behaves ethically while want makes a person decide on the behavior to portray. The human mind often prioritizes the want and the thoughts that should disappear. Therefore, there is a need to always be in a position to make the right decisions. Works of charity require a person to make the right decisions at the right time and consider various factors to ensure they find the right cause for engaging in charity. The example of donating to the American Cancer Society Daffodil Days by buying a daffodil is a good example of ethical behavior. From the example, more than 80% made predictions about buying a daffodil, but only 50% of the participants went ahead to buy the daffodil. The want and should decision played part in the survey, as people had the conflict in their mind, which later saw them make the decision based on what they deemed appropriate. Mother Teresa appeared to understand the conflict well, opted for the should decisions, and committed herself to charity work.
In addition, businesses apply morals through the self-interest discussed in the paragraph above. According to Cloutier (2021);
Smith famously intuited that it is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest. Out of self-interest, those merchants produce good goods – or else their customers will leave and buy from a competitor. Thus, markets align the interests of producers and consumers to produce high-quality goods that people actually want.
This explains why businesses observe ethics, as they can steal from the buyer by measuring the wrong weight or overcharging them. But due to self-interest and understanding that providing high-quality goods to customers will ensure they return later, sellers decide to offer better services. Imagine if the buyers decided to sell poor goods or overcharge customers simply because they could, the world would not be a better place. Embracing honesty and work ethics ensures people coexist harmoniously. Taking this context in the heroism of Mother Teresa, it’s true that she embraced honesty and self-interest. She understood the value of her life by helping the poor. The self-interest she had is proof that she gave her all in life. Like in business, Mother Teresa opted to give high-quality services to the poor by engaging in charity work and teaching girls in school. Serving the common good as it’s required by The Vocation of the Business Leader is what Mother Teresa showcased by giving services wholeheartedly. People should not take advantage of others to gain economic value. In Mother Teresa’s life, people should learn how to live and help others. Image of Mother Teresa decided to ask for fees for the work she did for other people, but she never asked to be paid and only did what she deemed best for her and society. By following Christ’s inspiration of being the light, Mother Teresa took the opportunity to help and embraced it wholeheartedly. People should help others and be there in their time of need to ensure others have a reason to live as they feel appreciated and loved. The love of the poor that Mother Teresa showcased gave them a purpose in life, and if they felt like giving up, they were encouraged by the good acts of Mother Teresa. It changes a lot of things to have someone to share with life issues and know that someone is concerned with others’ lives. In the same way businesses don’t decide to be dishonest to customers, as they could purchase similar commodities from a competitor, people should have self-interest at heart and help others when needed. Mother Teresa set the bar and did it, which is proof that it’s practically possible to help other people and live an exemplary life. It has been done before; hence people should embrace the idea and be that light, help that other people require.
Globalization has introduced living challenges for working families in the United States, hence the need to help each other when needed. Parents are disadvantaged, making them enroll in corporate social responsibility. American society is experiencing destabilized family relationships as a result of economic transformation. The abolishment of welfare capitalism by corporations saw an introduction of a system where people work for longer hours but have irrelevant job security. The conditions render the unions, family, and the state as shock absorbers to ensure workers don’t experience “economic turmoil.” It’s through the ethical understanding that people can live harmoniously without undergoing the turmoil brought about by globalization. Many people are entangled in the low-income curve and, hence unable to provide for family needs. Using Mother Teresa’s example, it’s through similar circumstances that people should come together to help each other. Financial complications make people experience challenging health, and require check-ups, hence being the person to help others communicate and share their health problems is necessary. Mother Teresa became the voice for the voiceless, helping the poor realize that they are not alone but worth living. The same ideology should be introduced in the United States during the financial complications’ times to ensure they live a healthy life that is worth it. State governments and corporations should be lenient and offer better wages to help workers live healthy lives and be in a position to help the less fortunate. Families should be supportive in the new economy and challenging times and ensure they are present when needed to ensure people get people to share their thoughts and help them when in problems. This similar helping out the less fortunate people in the society should be provided to other groups, including refugees. The theological-ethical concept should be embraced to ensure refugee rights and immigration rights are protected. Strangers should be provided with their rights and showcase generosity and love to others. Refugees should not be looked at as they are not worth it, as their circumstances cause them to be refugees and not by choice. Therefore, people should show human dignity and ensure that refugees are protected, and their rights assured even when they are not in their own countries. Ethics demands that human beings protect the environment and natural resources. People should avoid showcasing environmental racism, which discriminates against marginalized groups in society, where they are made to bear the challenges of environmental hazards. People of color and the poor are disproportionately affected in the United States. Using Mother Teresa’s example, people should be fair enough to ensure every person’s rights are protected regardless of color or socioeconomic status.
Mother Teresa’s life is worth following to attain the common good wishes that I have in life. As a Christian, I intend to follow in Mother Teresa’s footsteps to help people in society. I have grown up seeing less fortunate people struggle to make it in life, especially in health matters. Investing in healthcare is a priority that the government should embrace and ensure everyone can access affordable and reliable quality care. I intend to use my position to ensure there is a program that targets low-income families to access better healthcare and avoid the struggles that come with poverty. Also, Mother Teresa is proof that human dignity is worth it, and I will begin by supporting the mental health of people around me. As discussed in the paragraph above, the difficult economic time makes people work for longer hours and lack job security. Also, mental health could be affected by being overwhelmed by work and tough working conditions. Sharing information has proven to be a therapy to help those needing mental healthcare. Mother Teresa is proof that helping doesn’t require having enormous wealth or resources but being present when needed by people. I will talk with people about their lives in therapy-like sessions to see how I can help them deal with mental health problems. The heroism that Mother Teresa presented is worth emulating and people should try and live it to ensure the world is better place to live and where everybody feels wanted and happy to live.
Bibliography
Bazerman Max H., & Tenbrunsel Ann E. Chapter 4: Why You Aren’t as Ethical as You Think You Are. Princeton University Press, 61-76.
Cloutier David. How Consumers and Firms Can Seek Good Goods. Georgetown University Press, (2021), 141-162.
Massingale, B. Chapter 12: An Ethical Reflection upon “Environmental Racism.” (1997) 234-250.
Mother Teresa of Calcutta (1910-1997). The biography of Mother Teresa comes from the Vatican website.
O’Connor, Marleen A. Corporate Social Responsibility for Work/Family Balance. St. John’s Law Review, 79:1193 (2016).
Reed Esther . Refugee Rights and State Sovereignty: Theological Perspectives on the Ethics of Territorial Borders. Journal of the Society of Christian Ethics, 30:2 (2010). 59-78.
write