杏MAP导航

By Robin Gomes

Admirers, devotees and beneficiaries of Mother Teresa of Calcutta around the world are recalling the saint, her life and her works on Tuesday, the second anniversary of her canonization by 杏MAP导航 Francis in Rome.   The 杏MAP导航 officially declared her St. Teresa of Calcutta on September 4, 2016. 

The 杏MAP导航 had made Mother Teresa one of the major reference points of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy that he declared from 8 December 2015 to 20 November 2016.  The day of her canonization, September 4, was designated as the Jubilee for Workers of Mercy and Volunteers.

After officially declaring Mother Teresa a saint at the canonization Mass, the 杏MAP导航 delivered a homily focusing where he focused on her works of mercy.

Speaking in Italian, the 杏MAP导航 said that 鈥渉er mission to the urban and existential peripheries remains for us today an eloquent witness to God鈥檚 closeness to the poorest of the poor.鈥� 鈥� Today,鈥� he said, 鈥淚 pass on this emblematic figure of womanhood and of consecrated life to the whole world of volunteers: may she be your model of holiness!....  The Holy Father wished the tireless worker of mercy help us increasingly to understand that our only criterion for action is gratuitous love, free from every ideology and all obligations, offered freely to everyone without distinction of language, culture, race or religion.

Albania to India

Born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu鈥� of Albanian parents on 鈥嶢ugust 26, 1910, in Skopje, in what 鈥巌s 鈥嶮acedonia today, Mother Teresa came to eastern India鈥檚 Kolkata city, formerly Calcutta, in 1929, as a missionary sister of Loreto.   Later, in what she described as a call within a call, she founded her Missionaries of Charity congregation in 1950. 

Mother Teresa, who became an Indian citizen, earned 124 national as well as international honours for her works of mercy, including 鈥巘he 鈥�Nobel Peace Prize in 1979.   She died on September 5, 鈥庘��1997 at the age of 87 and 鈥嶴t. 鈥嶫ohn 鈥嶱aul II declared her Blessed in the Vatican, on October 19, 2003.  鈥�

Inspiration

The feast of St. Teresa of Calcutta is marked on September 5, the day she died 19 years ago.  Mother Teresa has many words of wisdom that people even today draw inspiration from.  One such gem is 鈥渢he Gospel in your hand鈥�.   

According to Mother Teresa, we have the words of Jesus in the 5 fingers of our hand -  鈥淵ou did it to me鈥�, which, she said, sum up the entire Gospel. 

UN鈥檚 recognition

In honour of Mother Teresa, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution on 17 December 2012, to designate 5 September, the day of her passing away, as the International Day of Charity to focus on the role of charity and charitable organizations and individuals in alleviating human suffering.