Blessed Teresa of Calcutta
Homily during Mass in our Cathedral on October 19, 2003 celebrating Blessed Mother Teresa
By Most Rev. Carl F. Mengeling

Our joyful and thankful celebration of Blessed Mother Teresa is a celebration of the Holy One - Jesus, the source of all holiness. Blessed Mother Teresa is a contemporary witness to all basic truth - the entire mission of Jesus and his Church is HOLINESS, the making of Saints.

The true greatness that inspires us and that even the world admires in Blessed Mother Teresa is precisely her likeness to the Holy One. Like Jesus, she gave her life as the servant and slave of all. How graced we have been that she lived in our time. I remember a Confirmation at which I spoke to over 60 8th and 9th grade Confirmands about saints. You know that they have the option of using their baptismal name or of choosing another saint’s name. Afterwards, as many came forward for photos, one of the newly confirmed remarked: "Wouldn’t is be great to really see a saint? I would love to hear the voice of a saint." My dear friends, for the past fifty years YOU and I and the world has SEEN and HEARD a saint. It began 50 years ago.

In 1950 her ‘Missionaries of Charity’ was approved by Pope Pius XII. In addition to the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, they accepted a fourth, ‘to devote themselves out of abnegation to the care of the poor and needy, who crushed by want and destitution, live in conditions unworthy of human dignity’.

In 1952 the first home for the ‘poorest of the poor’ was opened in India. Today, 50 years later in 2003, the Church and billions in our world concur with joy and thanksgiving with Pope John Paul II who a few hours ago proclaimed her ‘BLESSED’.

With our own eyes we have constantly seen her photos, film, video, and live TV. We have been awed by her luminous likeness to Jesus. We have heard her voice proclaiming love based on truth. Yes, her holiness is in the eyes of the beholders - us in the ears of the listeners. We have encountered her faith and vision, her generous and endless service, her heroic sanctity in faithful discipleship to Jesus, the servant of all.

These words of John Paul II and Blessed Mother Teresa are inspiration and encouragement for us. When he learned of her death on September 5, 1997, a tearful Pope John Paul II said:

"With courage she defended life. She served every human being by always promoting dignity and respect. She embraced the hearts of the dying, of abandoned children, of men and women crushed by the weight of suffering and solitude. She is an unforgettable witness to a love of concrete and ceaseless service to the poorest and most down-and-out brother and sisters."

On December 10, 1979, Mother Teresa received the Nobel Peace Prize. Here are some excerpts from her powerful words. She accepted the prize (money), "in the name of the hungry, of the naked, of the homeless, of the blind, of the lepers, of all those who feel unwanted, unloved, uncared for throughout society."

Her opening words declare her identity and mission.

"By blood and origin, I am an Albanian. My citizenship is Indian. I am a Catholic nun. As to my calling, I belong to the whole world. As to my heart, I belong entirely to the heart of Jesus."

Her notions about ‘poor’ were very broad. She understood them as:

"the hungry, not only for food, but also for the Word of God; the thirsty, not only for water, but also for justice and love; the naked, not only for clothes, but for human dignity; the homeless, not only for shelter made of bricks, but for hearts that understand and reach out to them."

The last words of Mother Teresa are a testament of faith in our Risen Lord Jesus. Sister Nirmala Joshi, who succeeded Mother Teresa as Superior of the Missionaries of Charity recalls the last hours:

"Just hours before her death, Mother Teresa spoke about the Little Flower, St. Therese. She has just been declared a ‘Doctor of the Church’ by Pope John Paul II. Her last words are: "Can you imagine, for doing little things with great love, the Church is making her a Doctor, like St. Augustine and the big St. Teresa! It is just like Jesus said in the Gospel to the one who was seated in the lowest place: "Friend, come up higher."