‘Mother Teresa’s Business Card’ … at World Youth Day

BISHOP
KEVIN J.
SWEENEY

I do not remember the first time that I saw or heard about Mother Teresa’s “Business Card.” I think it was sometime in my college years. I do recall that at some point, in my first parish assignment as a priest (1997–2003), I had a box of her business cards printed so that I could hand them out — especially to young people. Although I often think of St. Teresa of Calcutta and ask her intercession in prayer, at some point, her “business card” had slipped from my memory. At a Catechetical Session during World Youth Day (WYD), in the context of a talk on prayer, Bishop Robert Barron reminded me — and shared with thousands of young pilgrims and chaperones, the beautiful lesson that St. Mother Teresa wished to teach as she handed people her “Business Card.”

As you can see from the image accompanying this article, Mother Teresa did, in fact, have a “business card,” but it did not have an address (email or postal), a telephone number, nor a “fax number” (if you remember “fax numbers”). It was the size of a business card, which she handed out to many, with these words:

I am not sure whether or not the “original” had her name on it or not. In addition, some (early) versions have only the first four lines, ending with “the fruit of Love is service.” Personally, I think the fifth line is a very valuable and important “addition.”

The Catechetical Session led by Bishop Barron during World Youth Day was on Friday, Aug. 4, the Feast of St. John Vianney, the “Cure of Ars” and patron saint of parish priests. Bishop Barron shared the words on Mother Teresa’s business card during a talk on prayer in the context of a Holy Hour while confessions were being heard. The theme for that day was “Prayer, Adoration, and Mercy.” Bishop Barron’s talk and that Friday morning’s Catechetical Session, in which hundreds if not thousands celebrated the Sacrament of Reconciliation, leading to a beautiful Mass, was emblematic of the whole experience of World Youth Day 2023. If I had to summarize the overall experience of WYD 2023 in one word, the word would be “Prayerful.”

I was very happy to learn that Bishop Barron’s talk on prayer is available on YouTube; you can find it with beautiful video and clear audio here.

If you listen to his talk, you will also see (on the YouTube website) that there are two other excellent World Youth Day videos produced by Bishop Barron’s Word on Fire team. One, called “The Road to Mission in Christ,” is a talk he gave at the gathering of pilgrims, sponsored by the USCCB, in which he offers a meditation on the Road to Emmaus (Lk 24:13–35) in preparation for a Eucharistic Procession and Holy Hour. The other is an 11-minute overview of the whole World Youth Day experience and is called “Hearing God’s Whisper.” 

World Youth Day was prayerful in so many ways, beginning with the example of Pope Francis, his inspiring talks and homilies, and the moving contributions of Bishop Barron and many others. There was beautiful, uplifting music that helped us all to lift our hearts and voices in prayer. There were testimonies and petitions offered by youth and young adults from all over the world in countless languages that touched the hearts of all. There were beautiful churches in Lisbon and, for many, there was the opportunity to visit the Shrine at Fatima, which drew us closer to our Blessed Mother, helping us to hear her instruction to “Do whatever He tells you” (Jn 2:5). With all that, perhaps the most prayerful, profound, and inspiring part of World Youth Day was the silence. On two occasions, the USCCB gathering on Wednesday and the outdoor Vigil (with 800,000 in attendance) on Saturday evening, it was most striking. At those moments, the Blessed Sacrament was exposed, adoration began, and there was silence — a profound, prayerful, faith-filled silence that united all in union with Jesus. These are the moments when the faith of the young people was “shining” like a beautiful light — no one needed to tell any of them to “be quiet.” They “got it.” They understood. They adored the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. They prayed.

The experience of World Youth Day 2023 filled me with a great sense of Hope and encouragement. For all the challenges that we have as a Church, and those challenges are real and varied, those of us who were able to attend World Youth Day and, hopefully, many, many more who were “watching from home,” we saw a vibrant, enthusiastic, prayerful “young Church.” I hope that, with the help of Bishop Barron and others, “Mother Teresa’s Business Card” might regain some of its popularity. I hope that many, like myself, will be reminded of its important spiritual lesson, and many others will learn about it for the first time, helping us all to find that “unum est necessarium,” “only one thing is necessary,” described by Bishop Barron in his talk on prayer recalling the Lord’s words to Martha.

It begins with silence. If we take the time, that silence will lead to prayer, which will strengthen our faith, leading to Love, which leads to service, which leads to Peace — the Peace of Jesus, which only He, not the world, can give (Jn 14:27).