“The Letters” is a dramatic and powerful movie which should inspire every single viewer! It is the story of Mother Teresa, via some letters she wrote over the years to a certain priest. The cast includes Max Von Sydow as the priest, Celeste Van Exem. Juliet Stevenson is absolutely wonderful as Mother Teresa, hitting every note just right in her performance, which is a nuanced performance ranging between humility and servanthood to grit and relentless faith.
Mother Teresa teaches in a convent but believes God has called her to minister to the poor in the slums of Calcutta, India. Amazingly, door after door opens for her to accomplish the goal despite several obstacles. Rejected by some at first, she tells them, “I may not be wanted here but I am needed.” She lives a life of prayer and she begins to even win the Hindus over when she ministers to their needs which includes delivering a breached baby. She gives them food, teaches the children to read and write, and even bathes them. She establishes a hospice center so that those dying in the streets can have some dignity in their final hours and be surrounded by faces that care for them.
The story concludes with her receiving the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway, on October 27, 1979. Even then she accepts it to focus attention on the poor and away from her. This touching movie features some intense moments, including blood seen on her clothes after delivering a baby and a man with sores and foaming at the mouth so we are awarding it the Faith Friendly Seal for ages twelve plus. “The Letters” is an inspirational film which could be utilized as a powerful teaching tool, beginning with 12 people in 1950 the ministry has turned into more than 4,000 nuns today who run “Mission of Charity” centers to care for the needy and hurting.
