Mother Teresa of Calcutta — Missionaries of Charity founder and Nobel Peace laureate, whose ministry among the poor of many nations embodied the inclusive love that this vision depicts as humanity's final destination.

From the writers we read together

Mother Teresa

Missionaries of Charity; Calcutta, 1910–1997

John's vision of the final multitude is staggering in its breadth—no one could count them. They come from every nation, tribe, people, and language, dressed in white and holding palm branches. The palm-branch image echoes the festival of Tabernacles: God dwelling with His people, harvest home, the exile over. This is where history is going.

Mother Teresa saw every person she served as belonging to this multitude—each dirty, dying body a future white-robed worshiper. Her capacity to love across every human boundary came from this eschatological vision. Today, look at the people around you—especially those unlike you—and see them as candidates for the great multitude. Salvation belongs to God; distribution belongs to His people.