26th August 2016 Kolkata the City of Joy witnessed two
events. The first took place at 6 am at
the Mother House where in the presence of a large contingent of Press
Photographers, a Holy Eucharist was celebrated to commemorate the Birthday of
Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta, who is going to be canonized in Rome on 4th
September 2016 as Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta.
In his homily, the Archbishop said the Mass
was offered to commemorate the 107th Birthday of Mother Teresa and
also to pray for children, especially for Mamta and Shilpi who were going to
Italy for adoption. His homily was on Wisdom
and Foolishness based on the parable of 5 wise virgins. He said wisdom consisted not in proclaiming
the Gospel of Jesus Christ in lofty words but in telling the world of the power
of Jesus crucified.
He mentioned of Pope Francis’ visit to World War II
Concentration Camp in Poland where the
Germans in their smallness of mind put to death more than one million Jews - that
was foolishness. His Grace said that we
must thank the Lord for having given us the gift of life and the Mother. Her life was a mission to proclaim the Good
News of Jesus who said “I am the way, the Truth and the Light.” Renunciation, asceticism and sacrifice were
the hallmarks of Mother Teresa who emulating Jesus on the Cross, dedicated her
life in the service of others. All of us are called to share our lives for
others whether we are priests, religious or people having families. That is God’s wisdom of life for us. That is
why mother chose the name Missionaries of Charity - for love involves charity, sharing
and sacrifice. He mentioned an anecdote
where the Mother gave a short speech in Bengali. There was pin-drop silence in the large
gathering and all listened with rapt attention.
One priest whispered “We say the same thing but nobody listens! “
Mother’s life was a message. In
passing, the Archbishop said that it was his birthday too. What a pleasant coincidence!
The second event was at the Archbishop’s House in the evening, where in a closed ceremony, West Bengal
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, unveiled a 5.2 feet tall bronze statue of
Blessed Mother Teresa, along with the birthday boy Archbishop Thomas D’Souza
and sister
Lysa, Assistant General of Missionaries of
Charity. The statue has been donated by industrialist and philanthropist, Mr
Namit Bajoria who is the Designate Honorary Consul of Republic of Macedonia in
Kolkata. It was a rare event because the statue was erected just beside that of St John Paul II who
on 19th October 2003 had declared the Mother “Blessed Mother Teresa
of Calcutta” when he was the Pope. What a turn of events for the Mother who
destined by God travelled miles from her
birth place Macedonia (Skopje) to do her missionary work in the dingy slums of Motijheel, Kolkata. Even before she is being canonized as “St
Teresa of Calcutta” on 4th September 2016, to the world she is
already famous as the “Saint of the Gutters”.
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