She had chosen her new name after Theresa of Lisieux, the Little Flower. She was sent to Calcutta in , where she taught geography and catechism at St. There she learned Hindi and Bengali, as she taught in the school that served orphans and poor children as well as more affluent boarding students. On her daily trips to the Loreto school she observed the bone-crushing poverty and squalor of the city.
Dead bodies were collected from the streets where the weakest had fallen victim to disease or starvation. It seared the heart of the nun who lived cloistered away in the safety and relative comfort of the convent.
Mother Teresa was on a train Sept. We know that she did that heroically. But what has come to light only recently in the investigation for her canonization is that she had a much more difficult time acting on this call than was known. She struggled first with her own uncertainty, and then with the Church, from which she had to receive permission for this unconventional ministry. The Postulator of the cause, Father Brian Kolodiejchuk of the Missionaries of Charity, has documented her story, based on interviews and correspondence with her spiritual advisor Father Van Exem and Archbishop Perier.
He spoke to her in an interior voice she sensed rather than heard. The words that resonated through her were these: You have become my spouse for My love. Will you refuse to do this for me? Refuse me not. One day at Holy Communion I heard the same voice very distinctly: I want Indian nuns, victims of my love, who would be Mary and Martha, who would be so very united to me as to radiate my love on souls. I want free nuns covered with my poverty of the Cross.
I want obedient nuns covered with my obedience of the cross. I want full of love nuns covered with the charity of the Cross. Wilt thou refuse to do this for me? In the hope that she could obtain permission to embark on this work among the poor, she wrote to Archbishop Perier in , citing these things God had put in her heart. The thought of eating, sleeping, living like the Indians filled me with fear.
I prayed long—I prayed so much… The more I prayed, the clearer grew the voice in my heart and so I prayed that He would do with me whatever He wanted. He asked again and again. Mother Teresa continued to pray, and she kept a journal of what God was impressing on her agitated soul.
On another day she recorded:. You have become my spouse for my Love. You have come to India for Me. The thirst you had for souls brought you so far.
Are you afraid to take one more step for your Spouse, for me, for souls? Is your generosity grown cold? Do not fear. I shall be with you always. You will suffer and you suffer now, but if you are my own little Spouse of the Crucified Jesus, you will have to bear these torments on your heart. Let me act. Trust me lovingly, trust me blindly.
The Lord punctured any potential pride by telling her You are, I know, the most incapable person, weak and sinful, but just because you are that, I want to use you for My glory. When Mother Teresa initially asked to be released from the convent to go onto the streets, she was denied permission and was told to say nothing and go back and pray, which she did obediently.
As she waited to act on this fire that was increasingly consuming her, the outlines of what she was to do became more clear.
She was to go with other Indian nuns to reach the unwashed children on the streets, bathe them, teach them to read, and feed them. She was to go to the sick and dying, wash and bind their wounds, and give them a place to die with dignity. She was to go to the forgotten ones, the lepers, and be a presence of love and light. She knew that she would need nuns equipped to move about in the city, and even began to make plans for them to learn to drive vehicles, which was outrageously unusual for any women, let alone nuns, in Calcutta in the s.
The contours of the ministry became clearer as she prayed, and thought, and planned. When she implored again, her superiors in the church doubted the authenticity of her call. Once again, she went back in obedience to pray further.
But still, the permission was not granted from the Church. Bring us to Jesus. I was kneeling near Our Lady who was facing them. They are mine.
Bring them to Jesus. Carry Jesus to them. Fear not…. Our Lord said, I have asked you. They have asked you and she, my mother, has asked you. What does a seminarian study? What is life like as a seminarian? Where would I attend seminary and how long would it take? How do I apply? The Priesthood Who Is the Priest? Priesthood Ordination Why Celibacy? How Do I Pray? Ebuka Mbanude Fr. Oscar Astigarraga Fr. Andrew Wakefield Fr.
Conrad Murphy Fr. Mother Teresa Vocations Society. A few examples of her statements on the priesthood are as follows: "See the greatness of the priestly vocation. Recite a vocation prayer each day. Jesus thirsting in the poor you will have with you always.
I want the Active Sisters and Brothers, the Contemplative Sisters and Brothers, and the Fathers to each one aid the other in satiating Jesus with their own special gift supporting, completing each other and this precious Grace as one Family, with one Aim and purpose.
Do not exclude the Co-Workers and Lay MCs from this this is their call as well, help them to know it. Mother Teresa of Calcutta. He spoke of His Thirst - not for water but for love, for sacrifice. Jesus is God; therefore, His love - His thirst - is infinite. Hillary Clinton, lifelong Methodist, did a good work. It reportedly lasted a handful of years, closing by The adoption home that Clinton and her advocates have justifiably touted as a genuine display of her Christian compassion has been out of operation for a long time.
Has Mrs. Clinton known that the home has been shut down, all the while boasting about it in books, statements, interviews, and no less than the keynote at the National Prayer Breakfast? Their partnership is a success story to be emulated. Why not strive to keep the home open? The Clintons know more wealthy liberals than any couple in America.
I have a sincere suggestion for Mrs. Clinton: What would Mother Teresa have done? This frail little woman got on her mangled hands and knees and fed and held the dying of Calcutta.
Why not rekindle the tenacity Mother Teresa had shown in wanting that home, and which Hillary Clinton seemed to share?
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