[阿］特蕾沙修女/Mother Teresw
穷人是很了不起的。一天傍晚，外出时，我们从街上带回四个人，其中一个生命垂危。我对一个姐妹说：“我来照顾她，你们去照顾其他三个。”我竭尽所能地帮助她，把她放到床上，只见她露出美丽的笑容，抓住我的手，说了句“谢谢您”，然后便离开了人世。看着她，我不禁扪心自问：假如是我，我会怎样呢答案再简单不过了，我会让更多人关注我，会说自己又冷又饿，奄奄一息，痛苦不堪，等等。可她赠予了我更多——那就是感激之爱，她是带着一抹微笑离开人世的。我们在排水道找到的那个男子也是如此，当时，他的身体几乎被虫子吞噬，因此我们把他带了回来。“我像动物一样在街上活着，却能如天使般死去——备受关爱与呵护。”他语出惊人，我觉察到了他的伟大。没有责怪，没有诅咒，没有抱怨，如同天使——我不禁感叹，我们的人民这般伟大。正因如此，我们对耶稣的圣言坚信不疑——我饥肠辘辘，赤身裸体，无家可归。没有人要我，没有人爱我，没有人关心我，然而你给予了我一切。
我感到，我们的社会工作还做得很不够。也许在世人眼中，我们是社会工作者，事实上，我们只能称为精神世界的修行者。因为，我们每时每刻都在触摸基督的圣体。我想，在这个大家庭里，我们要远离战争、团结一致、互助互爱、和平共处。唯有这样，一切邪恶才会消亡。
作为和平奖的获得者，我准备用所得奖金为那些无家可归的人建立家园。我深信，家是爱的发源地。如果穷人在我们的帮助下，有了自己的家园，那么爱便会广为传播。同时，我们将通过这种宽容博大的爱，把平安和福音带给穷人——我们家乡的穷人，我们国家的穷人，以及全世界的穷人。为了达到这个目的，姐妹们，我们必须日日祈祷，将自己与基督融为一体。
这样，我们才能互相体谅，分享苦难。因为与基督融为一体就意味着体谅他人，与人分享；因为今天的世界仍存在如此多的苦难……当我把一个饥饿的人从街上带回，施与他一盘饭、一片面包，让他果腹，我就很满足了。
假如一个人露宿街头，没有他人的关心和呵护，惊恐忧虑，为社会所弃——这样的贫困让人痛彻心肺，无法忍受。因此，让我们彼此相见时，给予微笑吧，因为微笑是爱的开端，一旦我们开始互相关爱，自然就会乐于奉献。
The poor are very wonderful people.One evening we went out and we picked up four people from the street.And one of them was in a most terrible condition，and I told the sisters，“You take care of the other three.I will take care of this one who looked worse.”So I did for her all that my love can do.I put her in bed，and there was such a beautiful smile on her face.She took hold of my hand as she said just the words“thank you”and she died.I could not help but examinemy conscience before her and I asked what would I say if I was in her place.And my answer was very simple.I would have tried to draw a little attention to myself.I would have said I am hungry，that I am dying，I am cold，I am in pain，or something，but she gave me much more—she gave me her grateful love.And she died with a smile on her face.As did that man whom we picked up from the drain，half eaten with worms，and we brought him to the home.“I have rived like an animal in the street，but I am going to die like an angel，loved and cared for.”And it was so wonderful to see the greatness of that man who could speak like that，who could die like that without blaming anybody，without cursing anybody，without comparing anything.Like an angel—this is the greatness of our people.And that is why we believe what Jesus had said：I was hungry，I was naked，I was homeless，I was unwanted，unloved，uncared for，and you did it to me.
I believe that we are not real social workers.We may be doing social work in the eyes of the people，but we are really contemplativesin the heart of the world.For we are touching the body of Christ twenty-four hours…And I think that in our family we don’t need bombs and guns，to destroy，to bring peace，just gettogether，love one another，bring that peace，that joy，that strength of presence of each other in the home.And we will be able to overcomeall the evil that is in the world.
And with this prize that I have received as a Prize of Peace，I am going to try to make the home for many people who have no home.Because I believe that love begins at home，and if we can create a home for the poor I think that more and more love will spread.And we will be able through this understanding love to bring peace and the good news to the poor.The poor in our own family first，in our country and in the world.To be able to do this，our Sisters，our lives have to be woven with prayer.They have to be woven with Christ to be able to understand，to be able to share.Because to be woven with Christ is to be able to understand，to be able to share.Because today there is so much suffering…And When I pick up a person from the street，hungry，I give him a plate of rice，a piece of bread，I have satisfied.I have removed that hunger.
But a person who is shut out，who feels unwanted，unloved，terrified，the person who has been thrown out from society—that poverty is so full of hurt and so unbearable…And so let us always meet each other with a smile，for the smile is the beginning of love，and once we begin to love each other naturally we want to do something.
