INDIA Calcutta remembers Mother Teresa, 25 years after her death

Archbishop D’Souza celebrated Mass with the Missionaries of Charity. “In recent years the challenges and poverty have grown, but the answer has always been the primacy of charity”. Today a new center was inaugurated on Park Street, to welcome children who live on the street and cannot attend to school.

Calcutta () – Today, on her liturgical feast day, the 25th anniversary of the death of Mother Teresa, which occurred on September 5, 1997, was commemorated in Calcutta. As announced by the superior, Sr. Maria Jose, the sisters remembered their foundress with a day dedicated entirely to serving the poor, following the style of Mother Teresa. Like every day, the Missionaries of Charity stopped first at the celebration of the Eucharist. On this occasion, the celebration in the chapel of the Mother House was presided over by the Archbishop of Calcutta, Msgr. Thomas D’Souza. At the end of the celebration, the prelate and the sisters prayed at the tomb of Mother Teresa.

Has anything changed for the Missionaries of Charity since 1997?” Bishop D’Souza asked in his homily. “The answer is no. The guiding principle continues to be the primacy of charity. In our archdiocese, and especially in the city of Calcutta, his unconditional and free service to the poorest continues in Kalighat or Premdaan, Shantidaan or Dayadaan, Jeevandaan or Shishubhavan, as well as in the houses of the brothers of the Missionaries of Charity in Nabojivan in Howrah, or in the Gandhi Ashram in Titagarh, and those of contemplative fathers and sisters. The same model is present throughout the world. Challenges and poverty have increased, but the answer has always been the primacy of charity or love.”

The archbishop also drew attention to the coincidence with Teacher’s Day, which is celebrated today in India. “Saint Teresa of Calcutta was also a teacher,” he recalled, “and the words that come from the loving heart of a Mother have touched and transformed the hearts and lives of people from all walks of life, especially the poor.”

“On this day -concluded D’Souza- let us give thanks to God who is love, who sent his only begotten Son into the world, who taught us to love one another. We thank Jesus for his loving presence in the Eucharist, who gives us the strength to live this love at the service of the poor. We thank the Holy Spirit for his constant guidance and inspiration that makes us live the primacy of charity. We thank Saint Teresa of Calcutta for her unique example of love to the end, for the poor and the rejected by our society. We thank Sr. María José and her Missionaries of Charity for keeping the fire of charity burning through service to the poorest.”

Archbishop D’Souza also placed a garland of flowers on the statue of Saint Teresa of Calcutta that stands in the archbishop’s courtyard. Just today, in Calcutta, the Missionaries of Charity have launched a new center on Park Street to welcome children who live on the streets and cannot go to school. “We will offer them a bath, a change of clothes, a glass of milk, cookies and we will teach them to draw and write,” they explained.