CRS in India

Memories of Mother Teresa

The life and legacy of Mother Teresa is fondly remembered by many at Catholic Relief Services at the tenth anniversary of her death on September 5.

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'Her Spirit Lives On'

Four years ago, I had the honor of being present with my family in Rome for the beatification of Mother Teresa. It was a privileged moment when the universal Church recognized the founder of the Missionaries of Charity for a life lived in service to the poorest of the poor, and for the example she left to us all.

On this 10th anniversary of her passing, I would like to take this opportunity to express my deepest gratitude for the many years of friendship and collaboration we shared with Mother Teresa. Her spirit lives on in the partnership we share with the Missionaries of Charity in virtually every country in which we both work.

Mother Teresa's vision of loving service and her affirmation of the unassailable dignity and sanctity of the human person touched the most destitute and vulnerable people of our world. In his encyclical Deus Caritas Est, Pope Benedict XVI undoubtedly had Mother Teresa in mind when he wrote:

"Those who work for the Church's charitable organizations must be distinguished by the fact that they do not merely meet the needs of the moment, but they dedicate themselves to others with heartfelt concern, enabling them to experience the richness of their humanity."

Mother Teresa's memory continues to inspire all of us committed to serving those in need to act with care, respect and humility.

— Ken Hackett, CRS President

'The Warmth of Her Hands'

I had the fortune to be a CRS country director in India, the last during Mother Teresa's time. I met Mother on a number of occasions including once when she made a visit to my apartment and met a number of people I invited in order to garner donations for the Missionaries of Charity. Whenever I met Mother, I was struck by the warmth of her hands. They radiated a certain soothing heat. Once I was praying at the Mother House in Calcutta with others. It was over 100 degrees, I was dripping wet. Suddenly I felt a cool breeze in the room, unthinkable in the stickiness of the Calcutta heat. I looked up and Mother had taken her place to pray, sending a cooling wind to all others in the room.

I had the experience of participating in the planning and execution of Mother's funeral. It was a difficult time for us all to wake and bury Mother, but her time had come. They say that over a million people passed by Mother's casket during the week she was lying in state. I witnessed a line every day that week at least a mile long. People stood for hours in the pouring rain to pay one last homage to her mission and work, to ask for one last blessing. We had to protect her body with a glass bubble for fear that too many people would touch her as they passed.

The Indian government provided a state funeral. Twelve thousand people were packed into the Calcutta stadium, primarily Hindu and Muslims, to pay homage to Mother and her work. One thing that struck me about being around the sisters for a time and subsequently seeing their work in other countries is that in fact you have over 3,000 Missionaries of Charity just like Mother Teresa. They are totally dedicated to serving the poorest, they pray for hours a day. They get a ticket home to see family every 10 years. When they move, they move with two boxes of possessions. When Christ said to the apostles, give everything up and follow me, in reality few followed, with the exception of over 3,000 Missionaries of Charity led by Mother Teresa, the modern saint.

— Bill Canny, CRS Haiti Country Representative

'God's Likeness in Each Person'

I fortunately had a number of opportunities to meet with Mother and to appreciate her practicality, simplicity and perseverance. Whether I was escorting our board members, Cardinal Schulte and Bishop Robert Mulvee, or just by myself, her manner was always direct and personal. She saw God's likeness in each person.

I recall that in a period of heavy flooding in Bengal in 1991 or so, she collaborated with us to assist victims in Bangladesh. The CRS Calcutta office, led by Father Ken Vavrina, provided emergency items for needy families, and her sisters boxed them up into parcels. We had difficulty transporting them from India to Bangladesh because roads were impassable. We seemed stuck. Mother got an idea. Planes can go over the whole mess. She and Father Ken visited the Air India regional director for Eastern India and informed him that she was offering him a direct opportunity to serve God. She needed one of his planes. In the end he agreed. The parcels were put into the plane. The next step was a bit more difficult - they needed visas for Bangladesh to accompany the plane. While Mother was able to obtain a visa right away, the officials balked at Father Ken. Mother got obstinate and refused to leave the office until Father Ken got a visa as well. They waited and waited. Mother fell asleep on a bench in the waiting room. Finally Father Ken got his visa and the trip went ahead.

Her convent was simple. As simple as the centers for those she served. Outside the chapel that the sisters used, in the middle of her main convent, was an open well from which water was drawn to wash their clothes. Each sister had two habits. One was to wear while the other was washed and put out to air-dry. It is very simple and very holy living.

— Don Rogers, Team Leader, CRS Africa Public Resource Group and former CRS India Country Representative

'Kind Affection and Compassion'

The overwhelming poverty in Ethiopia is hard to ignore. Nearly 100,000 beggars roam the streets of Addis Ababa in hopes of receiving a coin, many people live on less than $1 a day, and few services are available for those in need. In fact, many Ethiopians live without access to clean water, sanitation facilities, adequate food, education or health care. Helping to relieve this heavy burden of poverty is the Missionaries of Charity, brought to Ethiopia by Mother Teresa in 1973.

Through 17 homes located in urban centers throughout the country, MOC reaches out to the most destitute and underserved in Ethiopia. MOC sisters live among the poor, providing compassionate and dignified assistance to terminal AIDS patients, HIV and AIDS orphans, malnourished street children and other marginalized groups. CRS Ethiopia first partnered with MOC in the mid-1980s. Currently, we are providing nutritional support in each of MOC's 17 homes, helping to improve the health of 40,000 people through Title II food rations funded by the USAID Food for Peace program.

For many in the MOC homes, the centers offer loving care and a warm bed before they die — a far better option than dying wet and alone on a cold city street. Others, especially physically or mentally challenged children abandoned by their families, are brought to the homes by police or other government agencies unable to provide needed care. Still more are brought to the centers by the sisters when they learn of people too weak to travel and with nowhere else to go.

The sisters minister to each person with kind affection and compassion. Witnessing their gentle care in the face of the world's worst ailments and human suffering is deeply moving. One time, overwhelmed by what I was seeing, I asked Sister Sneha, a small but powerfully spiritual sister, how she did her work in the midst of such disturbing poverty and disease. She explained that she "sees the Christ in everyone she helps" instead of the frail human most of us see. After many subsequent visits, I find it no easier to see the misery that many are living with daily. It's a comfort to know, however, that the MOC sisters are providing so many forgotten people with dignity and a chance of survival.

— David Orth-Moore, CRS Ethiopia Country Representative