Trust, Surrender, “I Thirst,” and the Little Way with Kris McGregor

About This Episode

In this episode of The Spiritual Journey for the Discerning Heart, Kris McGregor reflects on the last letter of St. Teresa of Calcutta to the Missionaries of Charity, dated September 5, 1997, the day Mother Teresa died.

At the end of her life, St. Teresa returns to the spiritual truths she had spent years teaching her sisters: remain close to Jesus and Mary, live with loving trust and total surrender, listen to the thirst of Christ, and recognize Jesus in the people placed before you.

Her words, “Be only all for Jesus through Mary,” open a reflection on what it means to give the whole of life to Christ. Prayer, work, relationships, disappointments, responsibilities, and even circumstances we would never have chosen can become places of surrender and grace.

St. Teresa points to Mary as the model of this trusting response. Mary receives the word of God without being shown everything that will follow from her yes. Her fiat becomes a reminder that God often gives enough grace for the next faithful step rather than revealing the whole road ahead.

At the center of St. Teresa’s spirituality is the cry of Jesus from the Cross: “I thirst.” She understood those words personally. Christ thirsts for souls and for our love. Standing with Mary beneath the Cross helps us hear that invitation and consider not only what we are asking of God, but what Jesus may be asking of us.

The letter closes with Mother Teresa’s joy over St. Thérèse of Lisieux being named a Doctor of the Church. She immediately recognizes the wisdom of the Little Way: holiness is often formed through ordinary duties, hidden sacrifices, patience, and small acts offered with great love.

St. Teresa of Calcutta and St. Thérèse lived very different vocations, but both remind us that sanctity is found in giving ourselves to God within the actual circumstances of daily life.

Discerning Hearts Reflection Question

1. St. Teresa of Calcutta asks her sisters to be “only all for Jesus through Mary.” Is there an area of your life that is particularly difficult to entrust completely to Christ?
2. Mary gave her yes without knowing everything that would follow. Where might the Lord be asking you for a faithful next step rather than an understanding of the entire road ahead?
3. St. Teresa invites us to hear Jesus say, “I thirst.” How does prayer change when the question becomes not only “What do I need from God?” but also “What does Jesus desire from me?”
4. St. Thérèse and St. Teresa both recognized the importance of small acts done with great love. What ordinary responsibility, relationship, or hidden sacrifice in your life might be an opportunity for holiness right now?

From the Office of Readings

(5 September 1997)

From the last letter of Mother Teresa to the Missionary of Charity Sisters

My dearest Children,

  This brings you Mother’s love, prayer, and blessing that each one of you may be only all for Jesus through Mary. I know that Mother says often – “Be only all for Jesus through Mary” – but that is because that is all Mother wants for you, all Mother wants from you. If in your heart you are only all for Jesus through Mary, and if you do everything only all for Jesus through Mary, you will be a true Missionary of Charity. Thank you for all the loving wishes you sent for the Society Feast.

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