A Review of Mother Teresa’s “No Greater Love”
By Marcy Stenstrom
With a gift card to Barnes & Noble, I was looking for something of interest in the bargain section. I came across a book by Mother Teresa entitled, “No Greater Love”. Since I wanted to learn more about this great woman who so selflessly gave her life through service to others, this turned out to be a good deal and has inspired me to be more prayerful and serving.
The book is a compilation of Mother Teresa’s personal relationship with Jesus and short stories about her ministries. Nothing in this collection points inward to herself. Instead she shares her wisdom and examples of how we can all find Jesus within our neighbor, our brothers and sisters, and even those whom we think cannot have any goodness in them. It’s all broken down into 11 sections that recall Mother Teresa’s thoughts on prayer, giving, work and service, children and family, and suffering and death to name a few. There is also a section about the Missionaries of Charity which is what she called herself and her co-workers. These groups are still at work in Calcutta, India and many other cities in the world serving the poorest of the poor. In the book’s conclusion, there is a section that is arranged like a question and answer interview with Mother Teresa where we learn more about her work and her faith followed by a short biography of her life.
A few years ago, “The Purpose Driven Life” by Rick Warren was a very popular self-help-Christian book meant to be a 40-day meditation to change your life and get you back on the road to Christ. I couldn’t get into that book no matter how hard I tried because I felt that I already had a relationship with Christ and was not searching for Jesus or my faith. For me, “No Greater Love” is the original purpose driven life instruction manual. I read just a page and half of each section at a time and meditated on Mother Teresa’s inspiring words. It made me examine my own life and how I serve others (or my lack of service). Although it made me feel selfish and
materialistic at times, it also made me reflect on my own service to others. It confirms that people are more important than things and prayer and faith are more important than any chore, work, or hobby that consumes my time. I don’t think you’ll find it at the bookstore anymore but you can look for it online at varying affordable prices. If you don’t know much about Mother Teresa or her service and prayerfulness to others, this is a great book. It is short and very straightforward.
When Mother Teresa passed away in 1997, I thought that it was not a coincidence that her death occurred shortly after the car accident that took the life of Princess Diana. The media focused so heavily on the Princess that Mother was barely noticed. And after reading “No Greater Love”, I believe this was exactly how she wanted it.