Angel of mercy gets crown of sainthood

Mother Teresa becomes St Teresa today

The canonization of Mother Teresa at St Peter’s Basilica in Rome by the Holy Father Pope Francis is being held on September 4, 2016, amid global jubilation and exaltation. ‘The fame of universal holiness’ was thoroughly established in the case of Saint Mother Teresa even during her life time.

The uniqueness of Mother Teresa is that she translated God’s divine command to us to love our neighbour with a fascinating and irresistible human passion and devotion. Her boundless affection for the poor and the needy is universally extolled as an illustrious revolution both in the social and spiritual realms. The Mother became an angel of mercy to the sick, especially, touching and transforming millions of lives.

To appreciate Mother Teresa’s uniqueness, we have to clearly understand the basis of her selflessness, sacrifice and service. She proclaims very firmly that her power and strength have come from Jesus Christ whom she fervently believes as Lord and God, implicitly obeying his call. Jesus, in his Sermon on the Mount, throws a revolutionary challenge at humanity.

He rejects the will, the way, the works, the values and the whims of the world poisoned by human ego and self-seeking. He asks us to deny self, to die to self and to take up the cross and follow him. He wants us to love and serve especially the poor, the sick, the lonely, the orphaned, the abandoned and the unwanted, the destitute and the dying. He wants us to be holy as our Heavenly Father is holy. Jesus has also said that we are God’s children. Mother Teresa has, like the earlier illustrious St Francis of Assisi, literally and fully lived the teaching of Jesus.

Nehru’s Visit
With this total dedication to Jesus, she first directed visitors to her home to the chapel Home. The Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, V K Krishna Menon and the Swiss Ambassador were one day attending the inauguration of Mother Teresa’s new children’s Home in Delhi. The Mother told them. “Let us first go and salute the Master of the House,” meaning Lord Jesus. Then she led them into the chapel where she knelt down in prayer. Nehru made a pranam with folded hands.

Mother Teresa’s spiritually and humility were overwhelmingly luminous. Vijayalakshmi Pandit, the sister of Jawaharlal Nehru, gave a very touching account of the presentation of Padma Shri award to Mother Teresa. “The sari-clad nun, a picture of humility walked up to the dais. She took the award as though she was taking a sick child or a dying man in her arms. The hall went mad. There were tears in the eyes of the President. Later, when we were going home, I asked my brother, ‘Wasn’t that a moving thing?’ He (Nehru) said, ‘I don’t know how you felt, but I had great difficulty in restraining my tears.”

Portrait in Parliament
As a fitting tribute to Mother Teresa, the Catholic Bishops Conference of India has urged the Central government to honour her by keeping a portrait of hers in the Central Hall/Central Library of the Parliament. About her life and work, Mother Teresa says, “we are not here for the work. We are here for Jesus. All we do is for Him. We are first of all religious, we are not social workers, not teachers, not nurses or doctors, we are religious sisters. We serve Jesus in the poor.

We nurse Him, feed Him, clothe Him, visit Him, (and) comfort Him in the poor, the abandoned, the sick, the orphans, the dying. All that we do, our prayer, our work, our suffering is for Jesus. Our life has no other reason or motivation. This is a point many people do not understand. I serve Jesus twenty–four hours a day. Whatever I do is for him. And he gives me strength. Always the Lord comes first.” Continuing, she said, “Without Jesus, our life would be meaningless and incomprehensible. Jesus explains our life.”

Mother Teresa’s greatness is such that no greatness is really great for her. Her greatness has grown within. It has shot up into a towering height inside her selflessness. She is one of those rare and incomparable people who by emptying their being of self have attained a profound nothingness. She had both spiritual and secular greatness in an extraordinary measure. Spiritually, she was a stalwart, superb and indomitable. She is a saint.

Then her worldly greatness was very visible. Every great award courted her, including the highest Indian honour, Bharat Ratna, and the global Nobel Prize. Honorary degrees flooded her. According to one writer, “She was the most powerful woman in the world, with an access to monarchs, presidents and Prime Ministers through a direct personal phone call.” Tending the poor and the dying in the streets and slums, Mother Teresa became a synonym for charity.

Mother Teresa had a profound respect for the poor. “The poor are great people! We must love them.” Thus, Mother Teresa, far from merely serving them, identifies them with God. She and her sisters seek them and get them to their Charity Homes all over the world. In the midst of the love and care they get, the inmates die in peace trust in God. One such dying person has said, “I will die like an angel.”

According to Mother Teresa, this is the greatest development in the lives of the people who are considered human debris to be able to die in peace and hope, freed of bitterness, frustration, and fear.” Having admirably accomplished her mission on earth, the Mother now excels in heaven, as an example and inspiration to all humanity.

By Dr B F Showrayya