What Would She Want? Monsignor Leo Maasburg | The Preface to Mother Teresa of Calcutta—A Personal Portrait: 50 Inspiring Stories Never Before Told
Mother Teresa is one of the truly great and influential personages of the twentieth century. She is, as even unbelievers and critics readily admit, an outstanding figure in the history of our times and in Church history. Above all, however, she was and remains a fascinating woman. I see this in the shining eyes of the many people who, as soon as they learn that I was privileged to work closely with Mother Teresa for several years, ask me to tell them something about her.
Why are modern people of the twenty-first century interested in a saintly woman of the twentieth century whom they themselves never met? In our hectic, fast-paced era that rushes from one fashion to the next, what can possibly be so interesting and inspiring about a religious Sister who, when a critic impertinently remarked that she was two hundred years behind in her theology, smiled and replied, "No, two thousand years!"
On the numerous trips on which I was able to accompany Mother Teresa during her later years, I experienced something of the radiance and fascination of her personality. For our media world, which craves celebrities of every sort, she was an extraordinary, irreplaceable, shining "star"—surrounded not by the rich and the beautiful but rather by the poorest of the poor, the deformed, the outcasts of society. She was a forceful, shrewd, charismatic and humble personality who did not try to dominate but wanted to serve, and she was an innovative character whose greatest visible success was the fact that, through her works and example, so many young women throughout the world cheerfully joined the ranks of Jesus' disciples and thereby found the meaning of their lives. Many men and women of all generations allowed themselves to be inspired by Mother Teresa's love for Jesus. She was a "star" who was a reluctant public figure yet used publicity quite effectively for her cause.
Mother Teresa never made herself the center of attention. But when she was put in the spotlight by others—after she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979—that was practically a perpetual state. She used the opportunity to point attention away from herself and toward Christ. From various quarters there was, and still is, a tug-of-war—motivated more by nationalism than by Catholicism—over who could claim Mother Teresa as his own. She herself would certainly not have wanted that, though she never denied her roots. One of Mother Teresa's rare statements about herself was: "By birth I am Albanian. I am an Indian citizen. I am a Catholic nun. In what I do, I belong to the whole world, but my heart belongs entirely to Jesus." That makes her position unmistakably clear.
Doesn't all this argue against writing a book about Mother Teresa? A book, furthermore, which makes no claim to be either scholarly or biographical, but rather draws on the experiences, memories and notes of the author? Or, to put the question differently, what would Mother Teresa want me to write in this book?
I suspect that she would give me the same answer as she did on that beautiful autumn day in Vienna, when I was a newly ordained priest. Never before had I given a retreat for anyone, much less for religious Sisters. Then Mother Teresa surprised me with a question: "Father, could you give the Sisters a retreat?"
Honored and at the same time uncertain, I asked when it would be.
She said, "Tomorrow."
And I, even more uncertain, replied, "But, Mother, I have never given a retreat! What should I talk about?"
Her reply came as though shot from a pistol: "Speak about Jesus! What else?"
When people asked her about her life and biographical details, Mother Teresa usually declined: "I don't really like to talk about myself, because when people speak or write about me, then they speak or write less about Jesus."
And so, I hope that this book shows Mother Teresa's work and personality in the correct light, and especially how, in everything she did, she always pointed toward Christ. I hope it shows her ultimate aim: to lead everyone to Jesus Christ.
Monsignor Leo Maasburg
Mother Teresa of Calcutta—A Personal Portrait: 50 Inspiring Stories Never Before Told
by Fr. Leo Maasburg
• Also available in Electronic Book Format
Mother Teresa's life sounds like a legend. The Albanian girl who entered an Irish order to go to India as a missionary and became an "Angel of the Poor" for countless people. She was greatly revered by Christians as well as Muslims, Hindus and unbelievers, as she brought the message of Christian love for one's neighbor from the slums of Calcutta to the whole world.
Fr. Leo Maasburg was there as her close companion for many years, traveling with her throughout the world and was witness to countless miracles and incredible little-known occurrences. In this personal portrait of the beloved nun, he presents fifty amazing stories about her that most people have never heard, wonderful and delightful stories about miracles, small and great, that he was privileged to experience at Mother Teresa's side. Stories of how, without a penny to her name, she started an orphanage in Spain, and at the same time saved a declining railroad company from ruin, and so many more.
They all tell of her limitless trust in God's love, of the way the power of faith can move mountains, and of hope that can never die. These stories reveal a humorous, gifted, wise and arresting woman who has a message of real hope for our time. It's the life story of one of the most important women of the 20th century as it's never been told before.
"Mother Teresa's daily life, as described by Msgr. Maasburg, can be put in two powerful words: holy daring. The mysterious language spoken between God and the saints is the firm belief that everything, absolutely everything, is a message of His love. Do I need to say more: tolle, lege."
- Alice von Hildebrand, Author, The Privilege of Being a Woman
"Msgr. Leo Maasburg gives us such great insight into this very human and very holy saint. Read this book!"
- Fr. Larry Richards, Author, Be a Man!
"With her "ammunition"-Miraculous Medals of the Blessed Virgin Mary she handed out-and determination to change the world one person at a time, Mother Teresa became an icon for charitable work in the latter part of the 20th century. Maasburg, an Austrian priest, came along for the ride as Mother Teresa's confessor and translator. His 50 stories ramble across several continents and through the decades, when this woman truly seemed to perform one miracle after another to get what she wanted and to build the Sisters of Charity into a worldwide organization. The stories of her ministry in the Soviet Union during the 1988 earthquakes in Armenia will be new to readers of the history of this amazing nun. "Mother Teresa was a missionary through and through who saw God's omnipotence and love of Jesus at work in everything and everyone," Maasburg writes. She stood down the popes of the church and even the Sandinista rebel leaders in Nicaragua as she built a religious family that consisted of five congregations and 592 houses. This is a book for readers who want an intimate portrait of a saint in the Catholic Church."
- Publishers Weekly
Fr. Leo Maasburg, born 1948 in Graz, Austria, studied law, political science, theology, canon law and missiology in Innsbruck, Oxford and Rome. In 1982, in Fatima, he was ordained a priest. He was a close friend of Mother Teresa for many years, as her spiritual advisor, translator, and her confessor. He travelled with her in India, Rome, and on many journeys ranging from Moscow, to Cuba to New York. Since 2005 he has been National Director of the Pontifical Missionary Societies in Austria.
"...a religious Sister who, when a critic impertinently remarked that she was two hundred years behind in her theology, smiled and replied, "No, two thousand years!"
That has got to be the best one line response to that old canard as I've ever heard. I don't think she would mind if I borrow it, do you?
Posted by: LJ | Sunday, October 23, 2011 at 03:16 PM