September 5th - Feast day of St Teresa of Calcutta

Loyola Press in the USA is a Jesuit Ministry and has a series of reflections called "Moments of Mercy" available via email and online during the Year of Mercy. You can sign up for the reflections HERE. Given the special feast day today, we decided to share the reflection today from Loyola Press and encourage you to sign up for their "Moments of Mercy"

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As you reflect on the life of St. Teresa of Calcutta, in what ways do you find yourself touching the wounds of Christ?

Scripture “And I will take you for my wife forever; I will take you for my wife in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love, and in mercy.” Hosea 2:19   Reflection In his meditation on July 3, 2013, Pope Francis reflected on the encounter of St. Thomas the Apostle with the risen Jesus. Jesus invited Thomas to place his hands into Jesus’ wounds. In reaction to Jesus’ invitation, Thomas fell onto his knees in devotion to Jesus, “My Lord and my God.” (John 20:28) Pope Francis went on to reflect: How can I find the wounds of Jesus today? I cannot see them as Thomas saw them. I find them in doing works of mercy, in giving to the body—to the body and to the soul, but I stress the body—of your injured brethren, for they are hungry, thirsty, naked, humiliated, slaves, in prison, in hospital. These are the wounds of Jesus in our day. Pope Francis says that merely giving resources to charity is not sufficient. “We must touch the wounds of Jesus, caress them. We must heal the wounds of Jesus with tenderness. We must literally kiss the wounds of Jesus.” (Daily Meditation, July 3, 2013) Mother Teresa of Calcutta (1910–1997) was one of the most visible Catholic missionaries tending to the wounds of Jesus in the twentieth century. Born in what is now Skopje, Macedonia on August 29, 1910, she was the youngest in her family. She lost her father at the age of eight, but was raised by a mother of profound faith and received her religious formation in a strong Jesuit parish of the Sacred Heart. From her earliest days she sensed a vocation to be a missionary to the world, especially to those who are poor. At the age of 18 she joined the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary, known as the Sisters of Loretto. She was sent to Calcutta, India, and for 20 years she dedicated her life to her community and students. In 1948, during a train ride to her annual retreat in Darjeeling, India, Sister Teresa received her “call within a call” from Jesus to establish a religious community dedicated to ministering to the poorest of the poor. This call was accompanied by deep experiences of consolation and inspiration. She left her community in 1948, studied with the Medical Missionary Sisters of Patna to train for her future, and moved into the streets of Calcutta. Sister Teresa started to care for the poor one by one, helping an old man sick on the road and nursing a woman dying of hunger and tuberculosis. She began each day celebrating at Mass and meditating in communion with Jesus and the Eucharist. Her new congregation, the Missionaries of Charity, was officially established in 1950 by the Archdiocese of Calcutta. The quiet work of Mother Teresa and the Missionaries of Charity came to the attention of the world through Malcolm Muggeridge’s 1969 film Something Beautiful for God, which became a book in 1972. Mother Teresa became a worldwide ambassador for the poor, receiving the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979. Along with her personal witness, the Missionaries of Charity became a worldwide community. By 1997, the Missionaries of Charity had nearly 4,000 members and had established 610 foundations in 123 countries of the world. When Mother Teresa died on September 5, 1997, she was admired and revered worldwide. Mother Teresa lived a public life of extraordinary service as a witness of Christian love. When Come Be My Light: The Private Writings of the Saint of Calcutta by Mother Teresa was published in 2007, the world came to know another side of Mother Teresa: she experienced a deep, painful, and abiding sense of separation from God. She longed for a return to the time of consolation that led to her new vocation. Mother Teresa struggled with the temptation of believing that she had been rejected by God, as described in the Vatican biography: The “painful night” of her soul, which began around the time she started her work for the poor and continued to the end of her life, led Mother Teresa to an ever more profound union with God. Through the darkness she mystically participated in the thirst of Jesus, in His painful and burning longing for love, and she shared in the interior desolation of the poor. Today, on September 4, 2016, Mother Teresa of Calcutta is declared a saint by Pope Francis. Image by Manfredo Ferrari under CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Pope Francis Some people once asked Mother Teresa of Calcutta what needed to change in the Church, and which wall should they start with? They asked her, where is the starting point? And she replied, you and I are the starting point! This woman showed determination! She knew where to start. And today I make her words my own and I say to you: shall we begin? Where? With you and me! Each one of you, once again in silence, ask yourself: if I must begin with myself, where exactly do I start? Each one of you, open his or her heart, so that Jesus may tell you where to start. Address of Pope Francis at the Waterfront of Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro, 27 July 2013   Mercy in Action ► Read “Mother Teresa and Doing Something Beautiful for God” by James Martin, SJ, excerpted from My Life with the Saints (10th Anniversary Edition). ► Reflect on how you can do something beautiful for God through practicing the works of mercy.    Prayer Intercede for us, St. Teresa, that we may discover the wounds of Christ in the wounds of the world. May we act with justice and judgment, loyalty, and compassion.

Canonisation of Mother Teresa of Calcutta

"For the honour of the Blessed Trinity, the exaltation of the Catholic faith and the increase of the Christian life, by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, and of the holy Apostles Peter and Paul, and our own, after due deliberation and frequent prayer for divine assistance, and having sought the counsel of many of our brother bishops, we declare and define Blessed Teresa of Calcutta be saint and we enroll her among the saints, decreeing that she is to be venerated as such by the whole Church. In the name of the Holy Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit."

 

Capping a process that stretched on for almost 20 years, Pope Francis on Sunday formally declared Mother Teresa, the “nun of the gutters” who was a champion for the poor, the dying and the unborn, the newest saint of the Catholic Church.

 

Pope Francis, however, acknowledged the obvious on Sunday, saying that despite the fact she now has a formal title as St. Teresa of Calcutta, to the world she’ll always remain “Mother Teresa.”

 

After the declaration of canonisation by Pope Francis, the relics of the saint were brought to the altar. The reliquary containing the relic of Mother Teresa, a vile of her blood, is in the shape of a Cross framed in gold, the back of which is made from a Lebanon cedar, known as an emblem of nobility and beauty.

 

The back of the cross is also made of wood coming from areas marked by great suffering, as well as a piece of wood from the kneeler of a confessional as a symbol of forgiveness.

 

On the front..., the cross is framed by a heart consisting of two parts, blue and white to represent the sari of Mother Teresa and her sisters, as well as devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

 

The left side of the cross, which is blue, is curved and bent to represent Mother Teresa's own curved form bent in prayer, while the right side, white, is a softer form and contains Mother Teresa's famous words "I Thirst," written in gold in her original handwriting.

 

The two sides of the heart are detached from each other, but are united by a circular line symbolizing the dynamic of Mother Teresa's mission, which was initiated by Christ and brought to completion in him.

 

The reliquary actually holding the relic of Mother Teresa is shaped like a drop of water, which is enough to quench the thirst of those who still cry out for the water of love, and for those who suffer due to the senseless pain of solitude.

 

 

 

• Crux - coverage of Mother Teresa
• Whispers in the Loggia - "May She Be Your Model of Holiness!" – With The World Watching, Mother Teresa Declared Saint
• Catholic Herald - coverage of Mother Teresa
• Salt + Light - Homily of His Holiness Pope Francis Holy Mass and Rite of Canonization of Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta
• Salt + Light - The Face of Mercy in Calcutta’s Gutters: Mother Teresa to be proclaimed a Saint
• CNA - This journalist first told the world about Mother Teresa 
• CNA - Mother Teresa has officially been declared a saint!
• CNA - Pope Francis: Mother Teresa shows us our 'vocation to charity'
• Saint of the Darkness—The Full Interview 
• St. Teresa of Calcutta How this humble woman opened her heart to the poor and, as a result, changed the world
• iBenedictines - The Three Teresas and The Secret of Sanctity
• 6 Things to read to get to know Mother Teresa - A word of warning -- she's dangerously compelling

28th August 2016 - Canonisation of Mother Teresa of Calcutta

With sincere apologies from your blog editor on the delay in posting this weeks programmes blog post.

On this weeks programme John, Anne, Lorraine and Shane discuss the life and history of Mother Teresa of Calcutta and her up coming canonisation on September 4th. We have our regular reflection on this weeks Sunday gospel as well as our saints for the week and other bits and pieces.

This weeks full programme podcast is available HERE.

Canonisation of Mother Teresa of Calcutta

On this weeks programme, SS102fm team explore and discuss the life of Mother Teresa of Calcutta and her forth coming canonisation on September 4th.

Pope Francis will declare Blessed Teresa of Kolkata a saint at the Vatican Sept. 4. The date was announced March 15 during an "ordinary public consistory," a meeting of the pope, cardinals and promoters of sainthood causes that formally ends the sainthood process.

Mother Teresa was widely known as a living saint as she ministered to the sick and the dying in some of the poorest neighborhoods in the world. Although some people criticized her for not also challenging the injustices that kept so many people so poor and abandoned, her simple service touched the hearts of millions of people of all faiths.

Born to an ethnic Albanian family in Skopje, in what is now part of Macedonia, she went to India in 1929 as a Sister of Loreto and became an Indian citizen in 1947. She founded the Missionaries of Charity in 1950.

Shortly after she died in 1997, St. John Paul II waived the usual five-year waiting period and allowed the opening of the process to declare her sainthood. She was beatified in 2003.

After her beatification, Missionary of Charity Father Brian Kolodiejchuk, the postulator of her sainthood cause, published a book of her letters, "Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light." The letters illustrated how, for decades, she experienced what is described as a "dark night of the soul" in Christian spirituality; she felt that God had abandoned her. While the letters shocked some people, others saw them as proof of her steadfast faith in God, which was not based on feelings or signs that he was with her.

The date chosen for her canonization is the eve of the 19th anniversary of her death and the date previously established at the Vatican for the conclusion of the Year of Mercy pilgrimage of people like her who are engaged in works of mercy.



You can listen to the part of the programme about Mother Teresa of Calcutta excerpted from the main podcast of the programme HERE.

 

In her second appearance on Irish television Mother Teresa of Calcutta talks to Nodlaig McCarthy about her life and work. The first broadcast aired on September 15, 1974

 

 

 

Official website of the Missionary of Charity for the canonisation of Mother Teresa 

American Catholic.org website about Mother Teresa 

Mother Teresa and Doing Something beautiful for God

Schedule of Events for the canonisation

 

Gospel - Luke 14:1, 7-14

 

 
Reflections on this weeks gospel:

Word on Fire
Centre for Liturgy
Sunday Reflections
English Dominicans

Liturgical odds & ends

Liturgy of the Hours - psalter week 2, 22nd week in ordinary time

Saints of the Week

August 29th - The Passion of St John the Baptist
August 30th - St Fiacre
August 31st - St Aidan of Lindisfarne
September 1st - St Abigal the Matriarch
September 2nd - Blessed Antonio Franco (First Friday)
September 3rd - Pope Saint Gregory the Great



Mother Teresa, four others, to be canonized - Vatican Radio

From Vatican Radio:

At a public Consistory held on Tuesday, Pope Francis gave his approval for the canonization of five new saints.

Listen to the Vatican Radio report HERE.

The Public Ordinary Consistory for the Canonisation of Blesseds began with the celebration of Terce (Midmorning Prayer), presided over by Pope Francis in the Consistory Hall at the Apostolic Palace.

Following the liturgical prayer, the Holy Father announced the upcoming canonization of five new saints, including Blessed Mother Teresa of Kolkata (née Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu), whose work among the “poorest of the poor” won her worldwide acclaim. Hundreds of Missionaries of Charity, members of the religious order founded by Mother Teresa, are expected to be in Rome for her canonization, set for 4 September 2016.

From Poland, Blessed Stanisłaus of Jesus and Mary (né Jan Papczynski) was a member of the Piarist Order. After leaving the Piarists, Bd Stanisłaus founded the Marians of the Immaculate Conception.

Blessed Maria Elizabeth Hesselblad of Sweden, a convert from Lutheranism, founded a new branch of Bridgettine sisters, dedicated to working and praying for the unity of Scandinavian Christians with the Church. She will be the first Swedish saint in more than 600 years.

The two northern Europeans will be canonized together on Sunday, 5 June, of this year.

The Holy Father also announced the canonization of Blessed José Gabriel del Rosario, from Pope Francis’ native Argentina, known as the “gaucho priest.” Like the famous Argentinian cattlemen, he travelled on a mule throughout the vast territory of his parish in order to be close to the members of his flock.

He will be canonized on 16 October 2016, along with Blessed José Luis Sánchez del Río of Mexico. Blessed José was just fourteen-years-old when he was martyred by the Mexican government during the Cristeros War, after refusing to deny his Faith.

Mother Teresa’s canonization date expected on March 15 - Vatican Radio

Pope Francis will hold an ordinary public consistory of cardinals in the Vatican March 15, during which he will sign the decree for the canonization of Blessed Mother Teresa of Kolkata and four others.  The dates and venue  of their sainthood ceremony are expected to be declared at the consistory.  Pope Francis had officially cleared Blessed Mother Teresa for sainthood on Dec. 17, 2015, recognizing the miraculous healing through her intercession of a Brazilian man with multiple brain abscesses.   Mother Teresa was conferred the title Blessed in Rome, Italy, on October 19, 2003, after Pope St. John Paul II recognized  the miraculous healing of an Indian woman with a tumour in her abdomen.

Born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu‎ of Albanian parents on ‎August 26, 1910, in Skopje, in what ‎is ‎Macedonia today, Mother Teresa died in Kolkata, formerly Calcutta, on September 5, ‎‎1997.  ‎Affectionately known as the "saint of the gutter" for her unconditional ‎love ‎for the poor, abandoned and the marginalized, she earned several international honours, including ‎the ‎Nobel Peace Prize in 1979.

Mother Teresa of Calcutta will be canonized in the coming months

Mother Teresa to be canonised? - UPDATED

UPDATE:
 
It's official!
 

Blessed Teresa of Calcutta to be made a Saint

- Vatican Radio

Blessed Teresa of Calcutta is to be made a Saint. Pope Francis on Thursday authorized the Congregation for the Causes of Saints to promulgate a decree regarding a miracle attributed to the intercession of Blessed Teresa (nee Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu).

Blessed Teresa, known around the world as Mother Teresa was born August 26, 1910 and died September 5, 1997. She was foundress of the Congregation of the Missionaries of Charity and the Missionaries of Charity.

 

While we wait for the bollettino to drop at 12 noon Rome time, various reports are online (relying on  a report in the Avvenire newspaper of the Italian Catholic Bishop's Conference) reporting that Pope Francis has approved the recognition of a second miracle attributed to the intercession of Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta. No coverage yet from Vatican Radio. News.va or VIS so we will have to wait for the official confirmation.

Current reports:

TIME -  Mother Teresa to Be Made a Saint, Report Says 
America magazine - Pope Francis Opens the Door to Canonization of Mother Teresa of Calcutta 
Crux -  Mother Teresa could be canonized in September 
The Guardian - Mother Teresa to become saint after Pope recognises 'miracle' - report 
BBC -  Pope Francis recognises second Mother Teresa 'miracle'
Sky News - Mother Teresa To Be Saint As Miracle Approved
Irish Times - Mother Teresa of Calcutta to be made Catholic saint

Rome Reports - 15 years since the death of Mother Teresa of Calcutta

RTE Religious Programming

For those who might be interested some programming from RTE:

Dom Mark Patrick Hederman
- The Irish Times

New Years Eve, Marian Finucane interviewed Dom Mark Patrick Hederman, Abbot of Glenstal Abbot. As always Dom Mark has some extremely thought provoking insights. Link to interview podcast here.

RTE is celebrating its 50th anniversary as the national television broadcaster and they are currently trawling through the archives. One of the programmes shown was a gentle, respectful yet informative interview with Mother Teresa of Calcutta which was repeated on 4th January 2012. Link to interview on the RTE Player here.

Please bear in mind that the RTE Player may not work in countries outside of the Republic of Ireland and that programmes on the RTE Player are usually only available for 30 days after broadcast.