Readings
I - Wis. 9: 13-18
II - Phil. 9-10, 12-17
FEAST OF SAINT THERESA OF KOLKATA
Today the Church joyfully and proudly celebrates the feast of Mother and Saint Theresa of Kolkata. Mother Theresa was a generous soul, served as the messenger of God and ambassador of His love to lighten and brighten up the lives of so many poor, neglected and the abandoned of the Kolkata streets. She was a simple person with tremendous faith in God and passionate in the works of Charity as an expression of her love ardent love for the Lord. When an American Journalist who had come for an interview found her cleansing the wounds of the leper and bandaging the same remarked, “I wouldn’t touch that man for a million dollars”. Mother Theresa lovingly said, “For a million dollars, I wouldn’t touch him either. I would do it for Jesus”.
Anjeze Gonxhe Bojaxhiu, the original name of Mother Theresa, was born in 1910 in Albania. She joined the Loreto sisters when she was eighteen years. She came to Darjeeling, India in 1929 to complete her novitiate. She took the religious name Theresa in honour of St. Theresa of Child Jesus. She was serving as headmistress of a school in Kolkata. Moved by the poverty and plight of the poor and the abandoned, she left the Loreto and started serving the destitute becoming a poor among the poor. She brought light and sunshine in the lives of people who dwelled in dark, abandoned by all in the world.
Mother Theresa, the champion of the humanist was awarded with a Nobel Prize in 1979 for her untiring work in the alleviation of poverty and the plight of the humanity especially the neglected sections of the society. She refused the honour banquet and requested the expenditure for the same $ 1,92,000 to be used for the poor in India. She founded her congregation ‘The order of the Missionaries of Charity” in 1948, to carry on her work of charity all over in India and in the world. In the crazy world of money, power, pomp and glory, let us dare to turn to Mother Theresa for a simplicity of heart and profound love for God in our simple works of charity done in great faith. May our mind and heart resonate with the prayer, “St. Theresa, Pray for us”.
Today in India, we also celebrate the Teachers’ Day. Revere teachers for their selfless sacrifice and utmost dedication in the task of forming young minds for a better society by empowering them through education. Remember all your teachers, thank God for them and offer special prayers for them for in their services vests the future of the nation.
