July 4

I believe it was Saint Vincent de Paul who used to say to those who wanted to join his congregation: “Never forget, my children, that the poor are our masters. That is why we should love them and serve them, with utter respect, and do what they bid us.”

Do you not believe that it can happen, on the other hand, that we treat the poor like they are a garbage bag in which we throw everything we have no use for? Food we do not like or that is going bad—we throw it there. Perishable goods past their expiration date, and which might harm us, go in the garbage bag: in other words, go to the poor.

An article of clothing that is not in style anymore, that we do not want to wear again, goes to the poor. This does not show any respect for the dignity of the poor; this is not to consider them our masters, like Saint Vincent de Paul taught his religious, but to consider them less than our equals.

Mother Teresa: In My Own Words, p 42