My Model, Mother Teresa

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My Model, Mother Teresa Believe me, other than being Catholic, I have very little in common with the great Mother Teresa. I like to follow her example in a very small way, not that I always succeed, by giving to those who ask. Mother Teresa was great for many reasons. One of the reasons was her imitation of Jesus. She gave to the poor, not asking them why they were poor or was it their fault somehow. She just gave, addressed a person’s need in the moment. When I say that Mother Teresa is my role model, I mean specifically in terms of giving to those who ask (and as a model of sanctity.) Living in New York, many ask. While I don’t always give, I try to give a dollar or so. It is easier with my regulars–the homeless I see all the time–since there is familiarity. I also have a pro-life veteran friend, who is homeless by choice (he has money from the government but is leading a life of suffering to atone for the sin of abortion. Great guy.) When it is a healthy looking person, or someone who looks like they could work, it is harder to give since my inner conservative tells me to not support laziness. I get out of bed and go to work every day; why should not he? But then I think of Mother Teresa; she just helped, didn’t ask questions. I noticed that thinking this way has led to greater generosity on my part. But it is still not enough. I give money to my parish and have a third of my pay taken by the government to give to bureaucrats and lobbyists. If I had more of my money, I could give more to the poor. For Mother Teresa had it right: help everyone. But she did it as a private person. She was not forcing people to give to her to distribute to others; she did not demand a check from the government. We would do a lot better to help those in need if people didn’t feel like they already did their part by paying their exorbitant
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