Mother Teresa: A Call to Mercy

As the Church prepares for the canonization of Mother Teresa on Sunday, September 4, we are reminded that it is no coincidence that her canonization occurs during this Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy.  In his introduction to the book he edited, A Call to Mercy: Hearts to Love, Hands to Serve, Brian Kolodiejchuk, MC -- the postulator of Mother Teresa's cause for sainthood -- writes:

"Interestingly, mercy is not a word that Mother Teresa employed frequently in her spoken or written word. . . . The canonization of Mother Teresa is most appropriate during this Jubilee of Mercy because she epitomized so well what it means to accept Pope Francis's invitation to the Church:  that we 'enter more deeply into the heart of the Gospel where the poor have a special experience of God's mercy' (Misericordiae Vultus, 15). In meeting her, the poor indeed had the opportunity to meet God's mercy.  They met a person who loved, who cared, who had compassion and the ability to understand their pain and their sufferings.  In her wrinkled face, the poor -- and all those who met her -- had a chance to 'see' the tender and compassionate face of the Father's love for us.  They knew that she understood them, that she was one with them" (xiii-xvi).

This week, we will provide excerpts of previously unpublished material contained in this book (published on August 16, 2016), whose chapters are arranged according to the corporal and spiritual works of mercy.  For more information on the canonization and the book, go to the site of the Mother Teresa of Calcutta Center (click here).