Heart of Joy

This book has been one of my daily prayer books for close to ten years. The quotes are beautiful, powerful and short -- just right for the purpose of meditating on one per day.However, the thoughts are not in logical sequence. For example, quotes on humility and confession are spread over a few chapters and the rationale/need for humility is not put upfront first, followed by the attributes of humility and how one can practice it.

Mother Teresa returns to us and she lives in the words she wrote...but even more in the Words she lived....that is what this book is all about and what her life was all about... You do not just speak of God's love in Jesus, about loving the neighbor, you live it with a fullness of life that brings deep and abiding satisfaction. A kind of satisfaction that cannot be bought...but in this book this can be found. Here is where the heart is found... in giving it away. Thanks again to Mother Teresa for continuing to remind us of what brings the Greatest Joy of Heart or life.

About eight months ago, I found this book and I have read it each day since then. I have found in this book, in the brief selections chosen for each day of the year, the heart of the gospel message - love, obedience, surrender. What Mother Teresa has written was for the Sisters of Charity who worked with her, but it is a message for everyone. I have read other books with selections from Mother Teresa, but this book, with its daily meditation format and its focus, has been the one that has most spoken to me. I think that I will be reading it for the rest of my life.

This short 149-page book excels at capturing the thoughts of this living saint on such themes as generosity, the love of God, care for others, hunger for God and the privilege of living for Christ. Captured from her teachings and lecturers to her workers and followers, this wonder gem of a book will put you at Mother's feet. Used as a devotional it will only incites you to the service of others and deepen your worship of God. For in her own words "Faith is love in action".

To read this meditation book at one sitting would be a grave injustice to the author, and probably give anyone who wasn't already a saint some kind of spiritual indigestion. Just a few lines, to read in the morning and consider the rest of the day, is the way to proceed here. Unlike the children's Christmas calendars, which run out of days, and surprises hidden behind paper windows, this book will give you a new treasure every day of the year. Don't wait until January first to start to read it. Start on any day, and don't peek at the next day. Then every day can be full of the delight and anticipation of Advent, all year long. Jesus, the Word to Be Spoken, is compiled by a Brother of the Word, which is the contemplative branch of the Missionaries of Charity for men, founded in 1977. The bonus is a copy of their Rule (Constitution), at the back of the book. These meditations follow the liturgical calendar, so the days of Lent, Easter, Advent and Christmas have appropriate thoughts and prayers. One more caution: Mother Teresa had several ambitions, and one of them was to help people become saints. So you've been warned. Don't be too surprised if you read this and start doing things you never expected to be doing.