The Utopian Vision of Mother Teresa Essay

It was September the 10th, 1964 and World war 2 had only just come to a conclusion. Mother Teresa sat on a piping hot train, on a hot summers day in Calcutta. She tried taking up as little space as possible to avoid being crowded which she was to a great extent and deeply swelter. She was on a train from Calcutta to the Himalayan foothills for a retreat. On this train ride Christ spoke to Mother Teresa. She referred to this as 'her second calling' and in her words it was 'a vocation to give up, even at Loreto where I was very happy, to go out into the streets to serve'. "I want Indian Nuns, Missionaries of Charity, who would be my fire of love amongst the poor, the sick, the dying and the little children," she heard Christ say to her on the train in those very words. "You are I know the most incapable person - weak and sinful but just because you are that'- I want to use you for my glory. Wilt thou refuse?". A sensation of happiness rushed through her, even though she had been called weak she was honoured. She was very quick to share her vision with her supporters, friends and members of the Loreto sisters that she worked with. She was questioned about her call, and all the intentions and aims she had for doing it.

Mother Teresa believes “we think sometimes that poverty is only being hungry, naked and homeless. The poverty of being unwanted, unloved and uncared for is the greatest poverty” (Teresa). Many people do not know what poverty and homelessness actually mean, or what it feels like. Personal beliefs mislead humanity into believing something that possibly is erroneous. People are under the impression that the homeless are the worst people, but in reality they are much more behind their sad faces.

We think sometimes that poverty is only being hungry, naked and homeless. The poverty of being unwanted, unloved and uncared for is the greatest poverty. We must start in our own homes to remedy this kind of poverty. ~Saint Mother Teresa. Saint Teresa of Calcutta is trying to make known that there are many different kinds of poverty. Many people, when they think about poverty, think about the naked, or the hungry. Poverty is a much larger problem that impacts many more people of all ages. The poverty of not being loved, not being wanted, creates many more problems, that include domestic abuse, homelessness, and helplessness. Poverty in all its forms, existed in the Victorian Era and continues today.

Poverty is a word that slips nicely off the tongue but for many lack definition. Poverty is a state of deprivation of the fundamental human necessities including the provision of adequate food, safe drinking water, sanitation facilities, health, shelter, education and information. Poverty is the root cause of high rates of child morbidity and mortality. Poverty has and always will be detrimental to the world if action is not taken. Albeit, action having been taken, these actions have never truly touched the public consensus on an emotional and psychological level. As a result, millions are still suffering from an environment that damages their well being mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually. Some things you can fix, others you simply cannot and sadly, the damages of poverty (once done) you cannot. It hampers their very survival

Many saints and other people have decided to assist poor people without the Church's discretion from around the world that are usually not assisted. Some went to great lengths, but Mother Teresa went to India to serve all in any way. When Mother Teresa saw Calcutta as a nun, she knew that she could help the Indians in Calcutta. Loving to give her all for the needy Indians for her was easy. Mother Teresa helped all Indians in Calcutta who were in need.

This lead her to follow God’s will, and become a teacher at St Mary’s school, and later become the principle of this school. At the school Mother Teresa, taught history, english and a couple of other subjects to teach the children at the schools. She loved the kids as if they were her own, and equally. Mother Teresa’s second calling was the call to care for the people in the slums of Calcutta, but to do so she needed permission from her superiors, as at this stage Mother Teresa was the principle at St Mary’s. In the following year, Mother Teresa began her work which obeyed God’s call fro her to look after the poor, sick and dying in the streets. Through many difficulties, Mother Teresa obeyed and followed the work which God led her to do, her lives work, and influenced her into making these decisions. The vow of obedience, influence Mother Teresa greatly, in following orders from superiors, and God himself. As said by Mother Teresa, “…by faith, I am catholic. As to my calling, I belong to the world…”, her calling brought her closer to the world, and the calling itself influenced the work which Mother Teresa is known of doing.

Utopia was a radical idea that was introduced to the world and the word has been well debated through the centuries. The word ‘utopia’ originated from either two Greek words: u-topia, meaning no-place, or eutopia, meaning good place. “The city of today is a dying thing because its planning is not in the proportion of geometrical one fourth. The result of a true geometrical lay-out is repetition; The result of repetition is a standard. The perfect form.”(Le Corbusier) Le Corbusier is the most

Humans have grasped at the concept of "Utopia" for millennia. In his editorial for the September 1983 issue of Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, editor Isaac Asimov provided a concise history of utopian literature. According to Asimov, the history of utopian literature began with religious tales of past golden ages or future paradises. (Asimov gives the examples of the Genesis story of creation and expulsion from the Garden of Eden as an example of the first and the eleventh chapter of Isaiah, which contains the famous line "the lion shall lay down with the calf," as an example of the second.) Utopian literature was first presented in a more scientifically designed (as opposed to Edenic or messianic) form by Plato, with The

Mother Teresa Calcutta lived in a time of famine for her country. She left her convent and decided to create a religious community of her own. She helped as many people as much as she could, with no regard for her own health. She even helped people with terrible diseases, like

One main question is being did she apply altruistic way too much in her life that she didn’t care much about her? Mother Teresa was “deeply involved” (____) with the churches. As stated before she dedicated herself to the people in need for example “alleviating the girls in poverty though education,” (____) she opened her doors to care for people that were infected with HIV/AID, this list can keep on going but this are just a few example. People describes Mother Teresa as “generous dispenser of divine mercy” (____) which means that she did what she could to help the community. This got to the point that she was called “Saint Teresa” (____), after she died she remained in the spotlight of the whole

In doing this she gave love and respect to the poor individuals who needed it. Mother Teresa slowly expanded the educational work throughout the world, at one point running nine elementary schools in Calcutta. They also opened a home for orphans and abandoned children in India. Mother Teresa is, therefore, a wonderful example of a person giving respect and she is also a person this entire community can admire, as she truly did live a life that respected and honoured Christ. Like Christ, she showed respect for all people, no matter what their story was, and always maintained their dignity and gave them respect. Conservatives within the Catholic Church use Mother Teresa as a symbol of traditional religious values that they felt lacking in their churches. Mother Teresa is an amazing inspiration and universally respected to people all over the world, even after her death, her legacy still carries on to this day. Orphanages, schools, and shelters have been placed in honour of her selfless acts. Mother Teresa witnessed her nuns ministering to Jesus and realised the difference that she had made among others. People everywhere, regardless of race, gender, and age can be a part of something special just as Mother Teresa was. Whether it is something small such as donating clothes, or volunteering at a soup kitchen, or something big such as traveling to a third world country to do

Mother Teresa was fascinated with missionaries from an early age, and by age 12 she knew that she would commit herself to a religious vocation. Mother Teresa was a Roman Catholic nun who devoted her life to serving the poor and destitute around the world. She spent many years in Calcutta, India where she founded the Missionaries of Charity, a religious congregation devoted to helping those in great need. Mother Teresa’s values of inspiration, forgiveness of others, and helpfulness impacted society by ensuring a powerful and positive legacy that will surely live on for generations, creating a religious congregation called The Missionaries of Charity, and for her work among the poor and dying of India. Mother Teresa ensured a powerful and positive legacy that will

The effects of poverty rains down on our society like a disease with no plausible cure. Around the world there is hunger, deplorable housing, lack of work, inadequate medical care and more. The faces of neglect are seen everywhere. The results of growing up in poverty can be seen by turning on our televisions and viewing the news. Constant reports of murder, robbery, suicide, and child abuse are evidence of hopelessness, desperation, and broken souls.

Many describe poverty as an economic deprivation, or lack of income. However, this alone does not incorporate the different social, cultural and political aspects of this unfortunate reality. Poverty is not only a deprivation of economic or material resources but a violation of human dignity. The general scarcity, lack, or the state of one without a specific amount of material possessions or money. It is a versatile concept that may be defined as either absolute or relative. Time and again, poverty is a call to action, for the poor and the wealthy alike, it is a call to change the world so that many more may have enough to eat, adequate shelter, access to education and health, protection from violence, and a voice in what happens in their communities.

There are many people in this world that we consider great humanitarians. Mother Teresa was a unique individual that stood out of the crowd because of her involvement in helping the sick, poor and dying. She spent everyday of her adulthood caring for people that were in need by setting up the Missionary of Charity along with many homes for the people she cared for. Mother Teresa won many awards throughout her lifetime for her dedication to care for people in need. It is no wonder that Mother Teresa won a Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 and is considered a saint.