“While Iam in the world, Iam the Light of the world,”Jesus said. Someyearsago I heard the story of the‘lamp lit’foran old forgotten man through the ministry of the Missionaries of Charity. Illuminating the possibilities of that Light within the lives of individuals struggling to find hope. . . . .Whilevisiting her Sisters inAustralia Mother Teresa began to help out in their ministryto the neglected, the impoverished. Missionaries of Charityreach out in avery unique way by cleaning a person’s home, doing their laundry, washing the dishes,and putting things back in order within the humbleabode of the neglected individual. Actively participating in the outreach ministryto the neglected alongside the Sisters, MotherTeresa discovered an old person living in a dwelling that they thought wasabandoned. She found the small dwelling place in a "terrible state of untidinessand neglect.”With no familyto speak of the person was totally forgotten, ignored by neighbors,and had no visitors.When MotherTeresaasked if she could clean up his dwelling place, the individual resisted at first but eventually allowed her.As she began cleaning the dark, dirtyarea MotherTeresa uncovered a beautiful lamp covered with thick dustand dirtas if it had been discarded. Sheasked,“Do you not light this lamp?”The old person replied, "For whom? Nobodycomes to visit me.I don't need to light the lamp.”(Within her ministry MotherTeresathe deepest poverty was not just physical, but that of being unwanted, unloved. More often than not in well to do countries.) She persisted, promising the elderly person that if he lights the lamp the Sisters willvisit regularly. He finallyagreed, though he had little faith such would happen.True to her promise the Sisters did visit regularly,and the elderly person kept the lamp lit. They kept his dwelling place clean bythe light of the lamp,and re-affirmed his dignitythrough their consistentvisits, breaking the pattern of darknessand loneliness.As MotherTeresa moved onto ministries in other countries, the neglected lives of so many others entered her dailylifeand intentions. Nearlytwo years later she received a message from that elderly person, relayed through the thoughtfulness of her Sisters. She had nearlyforgotten about the person. In the brief hand written note to MotherTeresa,“Tell myfriend that the light she lit in mylife continues to shine still.” In her writing, MotherTeresacommented,“I thought it wasasmall thing.We often neglect small things.” Though the physical light within the neglected person’s dwelling broughtaboutachange in the atmosphere, it was the Light, spiritually, that provided hopeand ignited a dignitythat was once diminished. One of MotherTeresa’s daily prayers is “Radiating Christ”byJohn Henry Newmann: Dear Jesus, help me to spread your fragrance everywhere I go. . .Shine through meand be so in me that everysoul I come in contact with mayfeel Your presence in mysoul.Let them look up and see no longer me but onlyYou. . .a Light to others. . .Let me preach You without preaching, not by words, but by myexample. William Shakespeare recognized our human tendencies when he remarked,“Ourveryeyes are sometimes, like our judgments, blind.Two extraordinarycharacters in life, Helen Keller and MarkTwain—opposites on the spectrum —highlight the difference our Christian faith can make, recognizing ourvalues in light of our humility. Rising above her disabilities, Helen would remark,“The chief handicap of the blind is not blindness, but theattitude of seeing people towards them.”Setting aside his usual satire, MarkTwain quips,“Kindness is the language which the deaf can hearand the blind can see.”Confronted bythe Pharisees in our gospel reading, Jesus was essentiallytelling them— and reminding us in our busylives—"TrulyI tellyou, whateveryou did for one of the least of these brothersand sisters of mine,you did for me.”(MT 25:40) God Bless, Fr. Tim FYI:“Tis, to liveabove with the Saints we love, Ah, that is the purest glory. To live below with the Saints we know,Ah, that isanother story.”