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International Day Of Charity Honors Mother Teresa, Urges Us To Spread Kindness And Love

International Day Of Charity Honors Mother Teresa, Urges Us To Spread Kindness And Love
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By 

Asian Voices Executive Editor, HuffPost

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NEW DELHI, INDIA: (FILES) This undated photo shows Mother Teresa. Mother Teresa will be beatified, 19 October 2003, in a ceremony in St Peter's Square, Vatican. The beatification ceremony is the penultimate step to being canonised a saint and has been the shortest in modern history. Following the beatification, a second miracle has to be verified by the Vatican before Mother Teresa can be proclaimed a saint. AFP PHOTO (Photo credit should read RAVEENDRAN/AFP/Getty Images)

The inaugural International Day of Charity aims to pay tribute to one of the greatest humanitarians in the history books: Mother Teresa.

The UN is urging people on Sept. 5 to donate, volunteer or spread acts of kindness on the first ever commemoration day of its kind, coinciding with the anniversary of the death of Mother Teresa.

"Charity sometimes gets dismissed, as if it is ineffective, inappropriate or even somehow demeaning to the recipient,” UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a message. “Let us recognize charity for what it is at heart: a noble enterprise aimed at bettering the human condition.”

Ban said the date was chosen to honor Mother Teresa, who won a Nobel Prize in 1979 for her on-the-ground work helping disadvantaged people across the globe, which continues to serve as inspiration today.

Mother Teresa, who died on September 5, 1997, started a slum school in India and founded her own order, "The Missionaries of Charity," among many other notable humanitarian efforts. Her lasting legacy leaves us with memorable quotes such as "Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.”

The UN urges people to take measures Thursday such as organizing a campaign related to a cause or sharing your good works using #charityday on social media.

Leaders from the United Nations Foundation, charity: water, WaterAid, the Foundation Center and other nonprofits are holding discussions on charity's role in alleviating poverty and creating equity and access to basic needs worldwide. Learn more here.

Tell us: How are you giving back today? Let us know in the comments below or by tweeting @HuffPostImpact with #charityday.

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Before You Go

Mother Teresa Quotes
Words Of Wisdom From Mother Teresa(01 of19)
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"Do ordinary things with extraordinary love."
Photo taken 20 October 1993 in Singapore of Mother Teresa blessing a child at the Gift of Love Home. (credit:ROSLAN RAHMAN/AFP/Getty Images/Goodreads.com)
Words Of Wisdom From Mother Teresa(02 of19)
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“God has created us to love and to be loved.”
In this file picture taken, 15 August 1982, Mother Teresa hugs a child in West Beirut. (credit:STR/AFP/Getty Images/Goodreads.com)
Words Of Wisdom From Mother Teresa(03 of19)
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“What I can do, you cannot. What you can do, I cannot. But together we can do something beautiful for God.”
(credit:RAVEENDRAN/AFP/Getty Images/Goodreads.com)
Words Of Wisdom From Mother Teresa(04 of19)
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“Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin.”
Nobel Peace Prize Mother Teresa speaks to the audience during the first day of the International colloquy called 'Liberties and Human rights' at the Hotel de Lassay in Paris 30 May 1985. (credit:MICHEL CLEMENT/AFP/Getty Images/Goodreads.com)
Words Of Wisdom From Mother Teresa(05 of19)
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"Like Jesus we belong to the world living not for ourselves but for others. The joy of the Lord is our strength."
Mother Teresa Blessing Sister Nirmala, the new head of the Missionaries of Charity, 14 March, at Mother Teresa's house in Calcutta. Sister Nirmala was elected to replace Mother Teresa 13 March. (credit:RAVEENDRAN/AFP/Getty Images/Goodreads.com)
Words Of Wisdom From Mother Teresa(06 of19)
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"Keep the joy of loving God in your heart and share this joy with all you meet especially your family. Be holy – let us pray."
Photo dated 03 February 1986 shows Mother Teresa and Pope John Paul II waving to well-wishers in Calcutta. Mother Teresa died of cardiac arrest 06 September in Calcutta at age 87. (credit:MICHEL SCOTTO/AFP/Getty Images/Goodreads.com)
Words Of Wisdom From Mother Teresa(07 of19)
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"Before you speak, it is necessary for you to listen, for God speaks in the silence of the heart."
Mother Teresa, the Roman Catholic nun who won the Nobel Peace Prize for her work with Calcutta's poor, speaks at a press conference in Washington, DC 13 June 1986 about her work with children, lepers and AIDS victims. She was the guest speaker at an international health awards luncheon. (credit:DON PREISLER/AFP/Getty Images/Goodreads.com)
Words Of Wisdom From Mother Teresa(08 of19)
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"Little things are indeed little, but to be faithful in little things is a great thing."
Mother Teresa of Calcutta (L), the humble nun known as the 'saint of the gutters', walks together with the brother Roger Schutz-Marsauche, founder and preacher of the community of Taize, during her pilgrimage to Taize 23 October 1983. (credit:LUC NOVOVITCH/AFP/Getty Images)
Words Of Wisdom From Mother Teresa(09 of19)
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“It's not how much we give but how much love we put into giving.”
Mother Teresa (R) gives her blessing to a child at the Gift of Love Home on October 20, 1993, in Singapore. The 1979 Nobel Peace Prize winner is on a stop-over while enroute to China where she will set up a home for Chinese handicapped children in Shanghai. (credit:OSLAN RAHMAN/AFP/Getty Images/Goodreads.com)
Words Of Wisdom From Mother Teresa(10 of19)
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“Peace begins with a smile."
Mother Teresa (L) smiles at Cardinal James Hickey (C), and First Lady of the US Hillary Clinton (R) during ceremonies 19 June to dedicate a new home for infant children in Washington, DC. The home, named for Mother Teresa, will provide a residence for children ages newborn to three years who are awaiting either adoption or placement with a foster family. (credit:JOYCE NALTCHAYAN/AFP/Getty Images/Goodreads.com)
Words Of Wisdom From Mother Teresa(11 of19)
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“Never worry about numbers. Help one person at a time and always start with the person nearest you.”
Mother Teresa holds the hands of Dom Helder Camara, archbishop of Recife during a reception held at the Elysee Presidential Palace in Paris 30 May 1985. (credit:PIERRE VERDY/AFP/Getty Images/Goodreads.com)
Words Of Wisdom From Mother Teresa(12 of19)
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“Love to be real, it must cost—it must hurt—it must empty us of self.”
A 15 May 1997 file photo shows Mother Teresa greeting wellwishers at the Missionaries of Charity for destitute children in New Delhi. (credit:RAVEENDRAN/AFP/Getty Images/Goodreads.com)
Words Of Wisdom From Mother Teresa(13 of19)
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"The fruit of silence is prayer, the fruit of prayer is faith, the fruit of faith is love, the fruit of love is service, the fruit of service is peace."
File picture showing Mother Theresa (L), Nobel Peace Price 1979, praying with Brother Roger Schultz, the founder of the ecumenical Taize community with a child on his knees in Taize, 23 October 1983. (credit:LUC NOVOVITCH/AFP/Getty Images/Goodreads.com)
Words Of Wisdom From Mother Teresa(14 of19)
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"Let us love one another as God loves each one of us."
In this file picture taken, 15 May 1997, Mother Teresa stands with nuns of the Missionaries of Charity For Destitute Children in New Delhi. (credit:RAVEENDRAN/AFP/Getty Images/Goodreads.com)
Words Of Wisdom From Mother Teresa(15 of19)
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"I’ve always said we should help a Hindu become a better Hindu, a Muslim become a better Muslim, a Catholic become a better Catholic."
Nobel Peace Prize Mother Teresa receives from Pope John Paul II the registration book of a car that the pontife received as gift from Milan people during an audience at the Vatican 30 May 1983. The Pope donated the car to Mother Teresa from the use of her benefit organization. (credit:AFP/Getty Images/Goodreads.com)
Words Of Wisdom From Mother Teresa(16 of19)
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“Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier. Be the living expression of God's kindness: kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile.”
A file photo dated 06 January 1996 shows Mother Teresa addressing a crowd in New Delhi. (credit:RAVEENDRAN/AFP/Getty Images/Goodreads.com)
Words Of Wisdom From Mother Teresa(17 of19)
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"Jesus made it very clear. 'Whatever you do to the least of my brethren, you do it to me. Give a glass of water, you give it to me. Receive a little child, you receive me.'"
Photo taken 1988 in Amsterdam of Roman Catholic nun Mother Teresa during a visit to the Netherlands. 1950 Mother Teresa created in India a religious order of nuns called the Missionaries of Charity. (credit:HERMAN PIETERSE/AFP/Getty Images/Goodreads.com)
Words Of Wisdom From Mother Teresa(18 of19)
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“In the silence of the heart God speaks. If you face God in prayer and silence, God will speak to you. Then you will know that you are nothing. It is only when you realize your nothingness, your emptiness, that God can fill you with Himself. Souls of prayer are souls of great silence.”
This file picture taken, 02 March 1993, shows Mother Teresa greeting the press upon her arrival at Hong Kong's Kai Tak International Airport. (credit:THOMAS CHENG/AFP/Getty Images/Goodreads.com)
Words Of Wisdom From Mother Teresa(19 of19)
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“Love is a fruit in season at all times and within reach of every hand.”

French Mayor of Paris Jacques Chirac speaks with Mother Teresa in a corridor of Paris' city hall 07 July 1985 after a meeting where Mother Teresa asked Jacques Chirac for premises in the capital in order to help the more deprived.

(credit:PASCAL GEORGES/AFP/Getty Images/Goodreads.com)
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