It was 9.30 pm on September 5th 1997.
The whole world listened in pain and tears. A mother revered by all the
world died at Nirmal Hridaya. The hearts of those who heard the news were
filled with grief. They had lost a mother who had revealed to all the helpless,
the abandoned and oppressed, who approached her, the length and breadth,
depth and height of the love of Jesus. Vachanolsavam pays its homage to
Mother Teresa who was recognised as a saint even while she was alive.
Mother Teresa built her heaven on this
earth itself. She also told us how to build it. "God loves you. So too
should you love your fellowmen." This is the same command that Jesus gave
his disciples: "Love one another as I have loved you" (Jn13:34). As we
pay our homage to Mother who fulfilled this command to the letter, let
us pray that we too may be able to fulfill it meticulously.
It was Agnes Gonxha born
on August 27th, 1910 to Nicola Bojaxhu and Drona Bojaxhu in the town of
Skopje in Yugoslavia, who later became Mother Teresa. The parents were
staunch believers in the Christian faith. Drona, the mother, was one who
spent her life in prayer, fasting and works of mercy. It was the power
of the love and faith of her mother that made Mother Teresa the mother
of destitutes.
At the age of 18, Agnes
became a member of the community of Loretto sisters in Dublin. Her aim
was to serve the poor. In 1928 she was sent to the convent at Darjeeling
for her novitiate. She received the name of Teresa. She began teaching
in the Loretto convent High School and subsequently became its Principal.
The life of squalor and
suffering of the people of the Motijheel slum adjacent to the school began
creating waves of sympathy in Sr Teresa's heart. The great desire to help
somehow took deep root within her. In 1946, during a train journey to Darjeeling,
this inner impulse took the form of a clear call from God. Sr Teresa recognized
it as such - the call to leave the convent and to be one of the slum-dwellers
and serve them. It was a command from God. But the Calcutta of those days
was not a suitable place for a young nun to work independently. Therefore,
she had to wait for two years more to secure the permission of the Congregation.
Thus in 1948, at the age of thirty eight, Sr Teresa became for the slum-dwellers
a saintly mother, Mother Teresa.
While she ventured on this
arduous mission with the love of Jesus burning in her heart what she had
with her was just five rupees. But God was with her. Her activities began
growing in magnitude. New members joined her company, the first one being
her own student, Subashini Das. In 1950, the 'Missionaries of Charity"
received recognition as a religious congregation from Pope Pius XII. The
sisters of the Missionaries of Charity are, today, all over the world.
In the shade of God's providenece, these sisters give selfless service
to several thousands of people. Let us pray that they, inspired by the
mother's life, love and compassion, may be strengthened to continue to
convey the length, breadth, height and depth of the love of Jesus to hundreds
of thousands of people!
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