The first thing Mother Teresa did every morning
7 Video Views·Feb 1, 2023
When my younger sister called me up out of the blue,
wanting to have a spiritual life
after years of not wanting anything
to do with the Catholic Church,
she said, what do I do?
And I said, well, I want you to do one thing for 10 days.
Every morning when you get up,
I want you to say, good morning, Jesus.
I learned that from Mother Teresa 33 years ago.
She suggested to me that I do that
because she did that every morning.
And I noticed a change in my life
just by saying that out loud in the morning
before I went down for prayers,
before I showered and shaved and got ready for the day.
I already had begun my day by reminding myself
the truth of the relationship that matters most to me,
which is my relationship with Jesus.
So I told my sister, I want you to do this for 10 days.
So two days went by, she called, I went to take her call.
And three days went by, she called, I went to take her call.
So she stopped calling me and the 10th day she called
and she said, I can't believe how something so simple
is already having an effect on me.
Reasserting the truth of the relationship
that matters most to us,
that's the best way to start the day.
And then the other things will flow from that.
The substance of the spiritual life
is to be alone, speaking heart to heart to God.
Remember, we're building habits
that should last the whole of your life.
So let's start simple and let's build habits
that are natural.
I say the same five things every morning
and that's what I encourage people to do
when they're starting out.
Simple, easy tasks that will become habits naturally.
If you're trying to fit Jesus in,
if you're trying to squeeze Jesus in as an agenda item,
probably eventually you'll get worn out with that.
But if the Lord fits naturally into the rhythm
and pattern of a person's day,
then the spiritual life, well, like I like to say,
is simple, it becomes simple.
What we really need to do is to look at our lives
and find the things that will naturally fit
into the pattern and rhythm of our lives.