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A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Fr Dermot Preston

Good morning.

It was the rainy season in 1946 and Sister Agnes was travelling by train to Darjeeling. She was 37 years old and had been a school-teacher for almost 20 years.

On that train journey, her life changed. It wasn鈥檛 that anything spectacular happened; but, as she gazed-out at the passing world of West Bengal, she had a quiet insight: it dawned on her that what she was doing with her life was good 鈥� but what she needed to do was better.

She described the insight as 鈥榓 call within a call鈥欌�� God wanted something more from her. She later wrote 鈥淗e wanted me to be poor with the poor and love him in the distressing disguise of the poorest of the poor.鈥�

That single train journey marks an axis moment in the 20th century: the 鈥楧ay of Inspiration鈥� was the point when Sister Agnes became Mother Teresa.

We all have life-trajectories; we walk the pilgrim road, sometimes with others, occasionally alone, and we make choices as we go.

Some people find that the daily challenge is the choice between right and wrong.

But others, like Sr Agnes, are on a road where they have already made a fundamental life-choice and, if not marching, they are at least stumbling in the direction of God and the common good.

Their daily choices determine not so much the direction of travel, but the angle of travel 鈥� and the challenge for such people is to catch a glimpse of when the soul is quietly settling for 鈥榯he okay鈥� rather than reaching for the better.

Lord, allow me to be open to the inspiration of your Spirit, that today, on the feast day of Saint Agnes, I might not settle for the good, but may strive for the best.

Amen.

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