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

We Couldn't Understand the Peace - RTE Radio 1 - Documentary on One

Refugees at Dundalk railway station - RTE archive

The sight of refugees in Europe from 2015 recalled for some people that we had a refugee crisis in Ireland within living memory.   In the first few summers of The Troubles in Northern Ireland, 1969-1972, refugees from Catholic areas came over the border to escape the tension surrounding the Orange celebrations of The Twelfth.  The numbers peaked at 10,000 in 1972.  But, by 1972, the refugees were no longer being housed by the Army in camps, instead they were being put up by local authorities and educational institutions.

One such institution was Glenstal Abbey - a Benedictine monastery in 500 acres of farmland in East Limerick.  The monastery also houses a boys’ private secondary school. On July 11th, 1972, the monks received a call telling them that 172 women and children were on the way and to get ready. The monks had the assistance of the local Civil Defence. Mostly women and children arrived because the men stayed behind to protect their homes from Protestant mobs.

While Glenstal was ideal for hosting a large group - having dormitories and refectories, this was not the kind of large group the monks were used to.  There were many babies and the monks had to get used to nappies hanging in Glenstal.  The children were also full of energy and had been traumatised having lived through three years of The Troubles.  One of their favourite pastimes was to throw stones.

The monks and the Civil Defence decided that distraction was the best way to manage the new visitors.  They organised activities for the children in the daytime and musical entertainment for everyone in the evening. There was tension. While the refugees were fleeing the fighting, they were also enjoying a holiday and some of the Civil Defence volunteers felt that they were being used - some of the women wanted to be dropped down to the local pub in the Civil Defence ambulance.

After a few weeks, all the refugees had returned home.  They left the monks to return to their ordered life but feeling bereft - they missed the liveliness and presence of women and children in Glenstal.
The refugees returned to 30 more years of tension and chaos.   One refugee, Gemma, who was 4 at the time says that Glenstal was the last time she remembers her mother being really happy.  When they returned home, Gemma’s brother was killed by the British Army and Gemma’s mother spent the rest of her life campaigning over the issue of her son’s death.

You can listen to the podcast of the Documentary on One HERE.