Mother Teresa And Universalism

Community Calendar

Adults needed to serve as volunteer leaders of 4-H clubs (five or more members, ages 8-19). Policies and procedures to ensure that 4-H programs take place in a positive and safe environment. All individuals must successfully complete the Penn State Cooperative Extension’s screening process for volunteers before volunteer work can begin. Info:963.6842.

The Scranton Rescue Mission, 8 West Olive Street, offers a Community Service and meals every Fri., Sat., Sun. and Mon. at 5:25 p.m. Free haircuts first and second Sat. of the month during Bible Study. Every Sunday evening following the evening service, the mission distributes non-perishable food and clothes. Anyone in need of spiritual help, food or clothing can contact www.scrantonrescuemission.com or 570.357.6677.

USDA Rural Development offers a subsidized government program designed to assist low income, credit worthy families and individuals in purchasing existing or building new homes in rural areas. Info: Wyoming Area Office at 570. 836.5111 Ext. 4. For more information on the programs offered by USDA Rural Development, contact the Pennsylvania State Office at 717.237.2299 or visit its website at www.rurdev.usda.gov/pa .

Rural Development has a program available to assist homeowners with repairs to their dwellings. Anyone seeking more information on this program may contact the Wyoming Area Office at One Hollowcrest Complex, Tunkhannock, PA 18657, 570. 836.5111 Ext. 4, e-mail Beatrice Elliott, Rural Development Loan Specialist at Beatrice.Elliott@pa.usda.gov or visit http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/pa/ .

, Meet in front of the Endless Mountains Nature Center Lodge at Camp Lackawanna, Tunkhannock. 1 to 4 p.m. Wear sneakers or hiking boots, dress in layers and bring a water bottle or purchase one at the EMNC store. Cancelled, if inclement weather. Recommended for adults and children in first grade and above. Children must be accompanied by an adult. Free to all. Info: 863.3835.

Continues to June 26. One hundred percent of ticket sales to be donated to the work of the American Lung Association. Cost: $35 for a booklet which includes a weekly ticket booklet to the Dick’s Sporting Goods Open held at En-Joie Golf Course in Endicott, N.Y. Tickets: www.dsgopentfc.com , click on the Purchase Now button and during the ordering process make sure to select The American Lung Association from the drop-down menu of options. Info: American Lung Association 570.823.2212.

Mother Teresa, Revisited « First Unitarian Universalist Church of ...

PRAYER:

Let us listen to some words of Jesus and see if we can hear within them the voice of a life-giving spirit. What good does it do you, he asked, if you gain the whole world and lose your soul?

Our soul. Our center. That place inside where we need to feel the presence of a life lived with integrity and courage, in the service of high ideals that bless the lives of ourselves and others.

That’s also what Jesus thought of as the narrow path that few would ever want to take, because it isn’t very attractive or seductive. Yet it asks us, as these words from Jesus ask us, to measure our lives in a different currency than the world fawns over. The currency that matters is how we respond to the sacred worth of ourselves and others – whether we try to develop these gifts life has offered.

The reward, Jesus thought, is the deep feeling that we are serving life, and life is returning the favor. The other meaning is that if we can not find that inner feeling of worth, we may not be serving the right gods at all,

Surely these things are right – not because Jesus said them, but because they resonate at such deep levels within people in all times and places.

Let us listen to the words that tell us life is to be honored and empowered, and that our reward for serving life in this way is that we will grow a soul that offers us comfort and love that can not be taken away.

Just this could transform our lives – just this. Amen.

SERMON: Mother Teresa, Revisited

This is the story of a woman who wanted to serve God by helping people. She did it, felt the presence of God, and was happy. But then something odd and I think tragic happened. She answered a new call, which took her in a different direction. She followed this new call for 49 years, becoming one of the most famous women in the world, raising hundreds of millions of dollars, winning a Nobel Prize and the adoration of nearly the whole world. But she lost her soul in doing it, because she was no longer serving a God who could make her or anyone else whole. That’s my understanding of what happened to this sainted woman, after reading the controversial and disturbing new book called , just published a few months ago, and containing for the first time some of her private writings.

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