Skip to main content

Love Quote by Mother Teresa

"Joy is a net of love by which you can catch souls"

About this Quote

Joy, here, is weaponized in the gentlest way: not as a private mood but as a public instrument. Mother Teresa frames it as a "net of love" - a deliberately domestic, almost humble image that still carries strategy. Nets are made, tended, thrown. They are tools for gathering, and they imply purpose. Joy becomes the visible weave of love, something others can actually feel on contact, not merely admire from a distance.

The subtext is missionary realism. In a world suspicious of piety and numb from suffering, arguments rarely convert; presence might. "Catch souls" is the blunt theological tell: this isn't self-care, it's salvation-work. Yet the path she proposes isn't fear or doctrine but affect - the kind of approachable warmth that lowers defenses. The line smuggles evangelism into the language of tenderness, making spiritual ambition sound like hospitality.

Context matters because Mother Teresa's public authority was built on radical proximity to the poor. She wasn't speaking from a pulpit so much as from the front lines of human neglect, where joy can look either like denial or like defiance. By insisting on joy, she recasts it as a form of solidarity: not ignoring misery, but refusing to let misery dictate the emotional climate.

There's also a subtle power dynamic. To "catch" is to capture, even if lovingly. The quote works because it balances that edge with softness, inviting admiration for the method while quietly asserting the aim: souls are the real prize.

Quote Details

TopicJoy
SourceHelp us find the source
CiteCite this Quote

Citation Formats

APA Style (7th ed.)
Teresa, Mother. (2026, January 17). Joy is a net of love by which you can catch souls. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/joy-is-a-net-of-love-by-which-you-can-catch-souls-24930/

Chicago Style
Teresa, Mother. "Joy is a net of love by which you can catch souls." FixQuotes. January 17, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/joy-is-a-net-of-love-by-which-you-can-catch-souls-24930/.

MLA Style (9th ed.)
"Joy is a net of love by which you can catch souls." FixQuotes, 17 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/joy-is-a-net-of-love-by-which-you-can-catch-souls-24930/. Accessed 4 Feb. 2026.

More Quotes by Mother Add to List
Joy Is a Net of Love - Mother Teresa
Click to enlarge Portrait | Landscape

About the Author

Mother Teresa

Mother Teresa (August 26, 1910 - September 5, 1997) was a Leader from Albania.

34 more quotes available

View Profile

Similar Quotes

Richard Wagner, Composer
Richard Wagner
Douglas Horton, Clergyman
Guillaume Apollinaire, Novelist