Shortly after Mother Teresa of Calcutta won the Nobel Peace Prize, the
Secretary General of the United Nations called Mother Teresa the most
powerful woman in the world. I could argue that she was the most
influential person of the 20th century. Her influence has carried into this
century.

Christians saw in her the powerful love and grace of God. Followers of
all religions admired her special love for the poorest of the poor
throughout the world.

In honor of this extraordinary woman, we named our first house for girls
in her honor, Casa Teresa (Teresa House) and had a medallion minted to
commemorate the occasion.

The “heads” side includes the candle, heart, and cross logo of the Mother
Teresa Center, and the tails side features one of Mother Teresa’s most
famous quotes (and my own mother’s favorite): “We can do no great things,
only small things with great love.”

If you wish to learn more about this extraordinary woman, Wikipedia gives
a fair overview, and I would suggest two books as starters for study:

1) Malcolm Muggeridge’s “Something Beautiful for God,” is the book that
made the world aware of her work decades ago.

2) Joseph Langford’s “Mother Teresa’s Secret Fire”, is the book which
explains her “call within a call.” This “call within a call” moved her to leave the
safety and security of the convent to minister to the sickest and poorest
people in slums of Calcutta.

Mike Garry
President
Paul Lammermeier Foundation
May 19, 2012