Mother Teresa
Mother Teresa, the angel of love and mercy, is specially remembered and honoured during the month of October as we await her beatification (declaring her �blessed�). As a young Albanian, Agnes (later Mother Teresa) cherished a dream to dedicate her life to Jesus in the service of the poorest of the poor in India. With that noble idea in mind, she arrived in India in January 1929.
She witnessed the dire poverty and suffering evident in and around Calcutta (now Kolkatta) and felt the urge to do something to alleviate the misery. For the fulfillment of that mission, she visited the poor in the slums, those who had no one to care for, the abandoned and the homeless. She accepted the life style of the poor and founded the Missionaries of Charity to continue her noble mission.
Mother Teresa was a woman with a vision � to serve God in the poorest of the poor. Though she did not know how it would be done, she surrendered herself to God in deep faith. Leaving behind her family, her culture, her country and all that she had been familiar with, she made a foreign land (India) her home. Out on the streets, with no shelter and security, she treated the sick and the dying lovingly unconcerned about their name, caste and religion. "It is Christ you tend to in the poor" she explained.
Her intense desire to serve the poor, her sense of mission and untiring dynamism, and her unwavering faith prompted people to call her a �living saint� while she was alive. And today, with joy we await her beatification, which in fact, is the reward for her faith in God, her commitment and love.
