During
this month of September, the Church in Peninsular Malaysia invites us to focus
on the theme, “Sharing God’s Mercy to
the Needy”. We cannot remain silent or expect certain organisations to
minister to the needy. In this month we need a special relationship with them through
sharing the mercy to the sick and the dying who are in need of real agape love.
It is also a time for us to share God’s blessings with these less fortunate
people.
Everyone
knows Blessed Mother Teresa of Kolkata. She has inspired us with her simple and
humble services, which touched the hearts of millions of people of all faiths.
Her face had radiated God’s tender and merciful love through her loving
actions. She went to Kolkata, India to share the “merciful face
of the Father and to give to the world the Good News of the Father’s mercy and
tenderness.” She responded wholeheartedly to the cry of Jesus on the cross, “I
Thirst,” (Jn 19:28) expressing the depth of God’s longing for all mankind by
her life of holiness and humble works of love to the poorest of the poor.
On
September 4th, 2016, Pope Francis will canonize her as a saint of
the Roman Catholic Church. A Eucharistic celebration will be celebrated for the
newly canonized St Teresa in St Peter’s Square, Vatican City at 10 am
(Malaysian Time 4 pm). In this Jubilee Year of Mercy, the Holy Father has made
Blessed Mother Teresa of Kolkata as an icon of the Father’s Mercy. The Church
hopes that her words and examples may make an inspiration to our young people, students,
teachers and parents to emulate her qualities especially her service to the
poorest of the poor beginning in our families and communities.
A Catholic
Nun and a missionary Mother Teresa was born in 1910, in Skopje, Macedonia. She
taught in India for 17 years before she experienced “call within a call” to
devote herself to the care of the sick and poor in September 1946.
Mother Teresa was the founder of the Order of the Missionaries
of Charity, dedicated to helping the poor. She received the Nobel Peace Prize
for the humanitarian and corporal works of mercy. Through her kindness,
generosity and unfailing commitment, she devoted herself to a life of devotion
to Christ for 69 years of service assisting “the unwanted, the
unloved, the uncared for.” She died in September 5, 1997 at the age of 87
and St Pope John Paul II beatified her in October 2003. She never rested from her work
during her lifetime and she assured us that she would continue her corporal
works of mercy from heaven in another form.
I have dedicated one
of our formation rooms under her name, Saint Teresa of Kolkata. Today, let’s
get down on our knees and ask Saint Teresa of Kolkata to intercede for us so that “Carrier of God’s
Tender and Merciful Love” inspires every member of our family and our parish
community.
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