“Saints inspire us, they are made saints so that we can look up to them as role models, figures who show us how to live out our discipleship, how to use the gifts God has given us,” said Cardinal John Dew, the Archbishop of Wellington in his homily on Saturday.
He was preaching at a Mass to celebrate the canonisation of St Teresa of Kolkata.
“The world has been inspired by Mother Teresa’s work, her energy and commitment to care for the poor.”
Dew noted that it is seventy years on 10th September 1946, that the woman we now know as Saint Teresa of Calcutta, was on a train:
“She was going back to her teaching job in Darjeeling, when she heard ‘a call within a call’
“She was already a professed Loreto sister, but on that train 70 years ago today she heard God calling her to do something to take care of the poorest of the poor.”
Writing about that incident many years later Mother Teresa wrote “The message was quite clear, it was an order – He wanted me to love him in the distressing disguise of the poorest of the poor.”
“She didn’t do it to become a saint, it was her response to the call of Jesus to live His Gospel. This meant giving up her life as a Loreto sister and founding the Missionaries of Charity.”
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News category: New Zealand.