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From Archbishop Donoghue
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50th Anniversary of the Missionaries of
Charity |
Vigil Mass, 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time Dear Friends in Christ, and especially Dear Sisters and Missionaries of Charity, What good fortune we enjoy today, not only to celebrate the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, but also, the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Missionaries of Charity. It is simple enough to say that the world has been a better place, for the founding of the order, and this is certainly true. But it is even more meaningful to say, and this we all know as personal witnesses, that the Church in North Georgia, the Church in Atlanta, has been given a great blessing, when Mother Teresa brought her sisters among us, establishing Grace House, not only as a refuge for the very special women who are served here, but as a beacon of charity, a light of love, shining brightly before the eyes of all the Faithful of the Archdiocese. We also cannot let this day go by, without remembering that it is just over three years now, since our beloved Mother was taken home to heaven, after a life of unmatched work and self-giving, for the sake of the poor, for the sake of the Church, and for the sake of the women she came to call her own family - you, the Sisters she welcomed into her own work, and to whom she gave the name of messengers of love, missionaries of charity. How pleased, and in a realm where pride can no longer be sinful - how proud Mother Teresa must be to see what is still being done by her sisters - and how equally engaged must she be, in seeing to it that the work goes on fully inspired by the Holy Spirit, fully fueled by the grace of God, and strongly protected by the intercession of the Queen of Heaven, Mary, our Blessed Lady. The only difference is that now, instead of directly pushing us to do better, Mother Teresa’s force comes to us, diffused in the providence of God, as a part of His unending blessings upon us, and joined to the intercession of Mary, and all the Saints in heaven. In thinking about the Order, in thinking about our beloved Mother Teresa and all who have contributed to the work of the Order, I could not help but seeing the meaning for such a miracle in the world, in the words of our Lord, which come from the Gospel of this Sunday’s Mass: Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it. These words, on the surface, are not easy to understand. We are given to thinking that children are innocent, without guile, sweet and cherubic - but anyone who has been a parent, or anyone who has been a member of a growing family, knows that this is not always the case. Children are not immune to the failings of human nature - they can be mean, precipitous, and even cunning to a certain degree - their innocence is found, not in a pre-ordained perfection, but rather, in the limited-ness of their experience, the narrowness, if you will, of their world. Of all the simply human children born into this world, only one has grown into maturity without a concomitant development of the capacity for sin, that being our Lady, Mary, the Mother of Jesus. And that was not due to her own innocence, but to a singular gift of God. So, what are we to glean from these words of our Lord, telling us clearly, that if we wish to enter His Kingdom, then we must accept it like a child? I think the answer is to be found not so much in an analysis of the goodness or badness of children, but rather, in certain traits that characterize the very young. Things like - enthusiasm, joy, openness, simplicity, and perhaps most of all - dependence - dependence on the charity of others for their well-being and for their protection. It is towards these capacities of children, that I think the Lord is directing us, when He wishes to point out the way that leads to the Kingdom’s gate, to the door into the eternal peace which God has in store for those who love Him. For we must have and keep the enthusiasm which a child shows when confronted with the new and previously unknown - we must be enthusiastic about the needs of those who require our help, with every new knock on the door; - we must have and keep the simple joy that marks the face of a child when it sees the face of its mother or father enter the room, to be with them, where before they were alone - the joy that must be in our faces, when the door opens and that new person in need enters the realm of our care; - we must have and keep the simplicity of the child who focuses only upon what must be done at the moment - hunger assuaged, thirst alleviated, pain softened, hope enkindled, distress soothed - the simplicity that sees the problem of the one in trouble, and that reaches without hesitation for the solution, for the cure; - and we must have and keep alive in ourselves, the dependence that children show in their youth - the need they have for the care and the protection and the direction of the parent, the guardian, the friend; a dependence on God for our inspiration, for our direction, for the making up of the difference between what we hope for and what our powers are actually capable of accomplishing. Because of her Immaculate Conception, these characteristics were preserved in our Lady more intensely than anyone else in human existence. And in reviewing the events of our Lord’s life as connected to His mother’s, especially as we follow, and live, the discipline of reciting the Holy Rosary, we are able to see into our own souls - to see when the failings of being un-childlike threaten to bring us down, to see when the surrendering of our hearts and minds to feelings and tendencies too complicated, too sophisticated, to guileful, start to swing shut the door to the kingdom, and blot out the vision of our peace. What a gift is the Holy Rosary, and the Blessed Mother who has given it to us - and what an enhancement to our own joy to be able to remember this gift on this very special day. And so, dear sisters, and friends, on this happy occasion of the anniversary of the Missionaries of Charity, on this Feast of the Holy Rosary, and as we recall the life and death of that great minister of charity, our beloved Mother Teresa, let us also pray, not to be children again, but for the strength and wisdom to cultivate - with all the reason, the sense, and yes, if you will, the guile which God has reflected into our being from His own - to cultivate the sweeter sensibilities of children - the wonderful openness that will help us, every day, as if our souls were just born, to embrace anew the Kingdom of God, and to take up again, the blessed Cross of our Savior, which leads us down the true and right path, to the open gates ahead. + |