Mother Teresa: the 'face of God's mercy' in our lifetime

By Archbishop Thomas Wenski - The Archdiocese of Miami

Archbishop Thomas Wenski preached this homily during a Mass Sept. 4 at St. Mary Cathedral, to mark the canonization that same day in Rome of Mother Teresa of Kolkata (Calcutta).

Today we thank God for the canonization of Mother Teresa, founder of the Missionaries of Charity. Of course, this canonization takes place during this extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy � and this is no mere coincidence, for Mother Teresa was in our lifetime the “face of God’s mercy.” Responding to “a call within a call,” this religious sister founded a new community, the Missionaries of Charity, who would work with the poorest of the poor. She and her sisters have modeled for us a Church close to the poor, a Church who is mother to the poor, a Church that lives in the joy of serving the poor. Mercy was for Mother Teresa a way of life, made up of love, kindness, forgiveness and compassion towards all.

The former auxiliary bishop of Miami, Bishop Roman (of happy and venerable memory) would, in giving a catechetical lesson, tell the story of a young boy who, when asked what a “saint” was, responded: a saint is a window in a church.

In fact, stained glass windows often do depict images of saints. And so, Bishop Roman would explain how saints are indeed like stained glass windows, for just as stained glass windows let the sun’s light into a church, the saints let in the light of the gospel into our world. So Bishop Roman would say to the boy that he was right and he deserved a “caramelo.”

Certainly, transparency is a mark of holiness � window panes are transparent; but a stained glass window, even while letting in the light of sun, will absorb some of the light so as to produce different colors. Saints are transparent � the gospel shines through them; but the saints “absorbed” the gospel and produce a mosaic not of vivid colors but of holiness. Holiness does not diminish the personality of the saint; holiness perfects it.

In today's Gospel, Jesus is utterly honest with his disciples. He says if anyone comes to him and does not “hate” mother or father, sister or brother, husband or wife, or even his own self, he cannot be his disciple. “Hate” is a strong expression. Now Scripture scholars would tell us that Jesus doesn’t want us to hate anyone and that this expression is figure of speech commonly used by the Jews, an exaggeration to make a point. And that is correct; but the point he wants to make is no less radical, no less demanding. Jesus is telling us that we are not to prefer anyone or anything to God. He wants the disciples and he want us to understand that discipleship means having no security other than their total commitment to Jesus Christ.

The cost of discipleship is very dear. To gain all, one must be willing to give all. That is the point of the brief parables about building a tower or setting off to battle a foe. In each case, the builder and the king must “first sit down and consider.” This “sitting down and considering” is part of every saint’s DNA, it’s what we call prayer � it is in prayer where we find the resources to build our towers or wage our battles.

Mother Teresa herself would say, "Try to feel the need for prayer often during the day and take the trouble to pray. Prayer makes the heart large enough until it can contain God's gift of Himself.” Yet prayer �as the life of Mother Teresa shows with great translucency � does not distance oneself from the cares of the world or the needs of one’s neighbor. Prayer is a lifting up of one’s heart and mind to God but doing so doesn’t mean one ignores one’s neighbor � as Pope Francis says, “to ignore man’s suffering is to ignore God.” “True worship,” Pope Francis adds, “does not exist if it is not translated into service of one’s neighbor.”

Mother Teresa would urge us to recognize Christ in our neighbor � even when he appears in various disguises � sometimes disagreeable ones. People, Mother would say, are unreasonable, illogical and self-centered. Love them anyway.

Mother Teresa was a real woman who took great risks, who had a real belief that Jesus called her to do what she was doing and she went ahead and did it without hesitation. Some people were scandalized that she did not shun publicans and sinners � like Jesus she met with them and often recruited their assistance; others criticized her because she did not adopt the sophisticated approaches to poverty of a modern NGO, or because she was not a crusader against social injustice and structural sin in the style of many self-styled campions of the downtrodden. She took on the battles she knew she could win. “If you can’t feed a hundred people, then feed one,” she would say.

The vocation of the Missionaries of Charity was not their work, the vocation of the Missionaries of Charity was the love of Jesus. Again, to quote Mother Teresa, “I see Jesus in every human being. I say to myself this is hungry Jesus, I must feed him. This is sick Jesus. This one has leprosy or gangrene. I must wash and tend to him. I serve because I love Jesus.”

Many of you might know that Mother Teresa prayed and spoke in this cathedral � I remember her first visit more than 40 years ago. I was still in the seminary and had not heard of her until just before being invited to hear her speak here at St. Mary’s. She was to come back to Miami a few more times, and she came back with her Sisters, who have stayed and still serve the poorest of the poor in our community.

And of course, besides Mother Teresa, Pope John Paul II also prayed and spoke here in this cathedral during his visit on September 11, 1987. And so, when in the preface of the Mass we say we join our voices with the angels and saints in heaven to praise God, it is good to remember that at least two of those saints had raised their voices in praise of God here where we stand today. And if we invoke the intercession of the saints, it is to ask them to pray for us so that one day we may praise God where they stand today. So this morning, we can say: St. Pope John Paul II, pray for us. St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta, pray for us.