Dear CATCA members,
Peace be with you! I write this message in connection with the recent canonization of Mother Teresa of Kolkata, which took place at
St. Peter’s Square, Vatican on Sunday, September 4, 2016. Holy Father Pope Francis, while declaring Mother Teresa as the newest Saint of the Catholic Church, remarked: “Today she has become St. Teresa of Kolkata; but she was and will always be a Mother.” In this manner, Pope Francis wanted to draw our attention to the motherly compassion and mercy that Saint Teresa practiced all throughout her life and mission in Kolkata, India.
It is compassion that inspired the young beautiful Albanian girl Agnes Gonxha Bonjaxhiu (born on 26 August 1910) to become a nun and came to India in 1928 and serve as a teacher in Kolkata. It is again compassion and mercy which impelled her to leave the four walls of her convent in 1948 and work among the poor and the underprivileged. The congregation of the Missionaries of Charity which she founded in 1950 carries on her legacy of compassionate service to the poor and the dying even today all over the world. During her life she was called “the Saint of the Gutters,” and her death on September 5, 1997, brought tears from the eyes of even the fundamentalist Hindus. Her compassion touched even the hard-hearted in the form of forgiveness. We are all called to imitate the compassion and mercy that Saint Teresa embodied during her life and in her service.
It would be an exaggeration to say that Saint Teresa was always unwavering in faith. In fact, her private diaries reveal that she at times struggled in her faith-life. So there were people who doubted Saint Teresa’s holiness on account of these struggles. To these, I must say, doubts and struggles are not signs of sinfulness, but of spiritual growth. Saint Teresa is a reason for hope for all of us. We, who struggle in our spiritual life, have no reason to despair. Let us hold on to God and never give up, just as Saint Theresa did. We too can become what God wants us be!
Having said that, I am happy to announce that there is an opportunity to celebrate the Canonization of Saint Teresa with a Solemn Mass of Thanksgiving on Sunday, September 11, 2016.
Time: 12:00 Noon
Venue: Upper Church of the Basilica of National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception
Main Celebrant & Homilist: Donald Cardinal Wuerl, Archbishop of Washington
Come and Share in the Blessings of God through the intercession of St. Teresa of Kolkata!
I will be there to concelebrate!
A gentle reminder:
Do not forget to join in the IACA Pilgrimage on Saturday, September 10, 2016 too!
In Prayers,
Father Antony Dhas Prakasam SAC
Spiritual Director, CATCA