If you want to know what motivated Mother Teresa and her radical life of self-giving, it all comes down to this specific Bible passage from the Gospels.
Often in the lives of the saints, there will be a particular Bible passage that strikes a chord and ends up being the primary motivation behind their missionary endeavors.
St. Francis of Assisi, for example, was inspired by the words of Jesus to his disciples, "Take nothing for your journey, no staff, nor bag, nor bread, nor money; and do not have two tunics" (Luke 9:3). This led him to live a life of complete poverty, having no possessions in his ministry.
Mother Teresa was inspired by a different Bible passage, one we have all heard before.
Seeing Jesus in the poor and suffering
St. John Paul II commented on the primary Bible passage that motivated Mother Teresa in his homily for her beatification in 2003:
"As you did to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me" (Mt 25: 40). This Gospel passage, so crucial in understanding Mother Teresa's service to the poor, was the basis of her faith-filled conviction that in touching the broken bodies of the poor she was touching the body of Christ.
Mother Teresa set out to seek the poorest of the poor in the world, not because she wanted to become a well-known humanitarian, but because she saw Christ in the poor and suffering.
Whenever she bathed the body of an individual who was dying in the streets, she was bathing Jesus Christ himself.
St. John Paul II confirmed this motivation that Mother Teresa possessed in her missionary apostolate:
It was to Jesus himself, hidden under the distressing disguise of the poorest of the poor, that her service was directed. Mother Teresa highlights the deepest meaning of service - an act of love done to the hungry, thirsty, strangers, naked, sick, prisoners (cf. Mt 25:34-36) is done to Jesus himself.
Mother Teresa did not serve the poor because she received a "spiritual high," or because she "felt better about herself," after doing so. Her primary motivation was that she was serving Jesus Christ.
This should be a reminder to us that whenever we serve other people, even if they are our family members, we are serving Jesus Christ himself. We can express our love of Jesus simply by serving those around us.
Mother Teresa's example is a shining beacon that challenges us to not only listen to God's word, but to live it out in our daily lives.
