There are others, of course, many of them martyrs killed for the message they were sent to deliver. The State University of New York at Stony Brook, As I Cast My First Presidential Vote, I Thought Of All My Parents Sacrificed For Me To Be Able To, I'm Celebrating Biden's Victory Today, But There's Plenty Of Work To Be Done Tomorrow, Joe Biden Has Defeated Donald Trump And Will Be The Next President Of The United States. There just won't be any "feast" in her honor on the Church's calendar-not until she's made a saint, that is. So were Francis of Assisi and Therese of Lisieux. Mother Teresa, also known as Teresa of Calcutta, was born on August 26, 1910, and was named Gonxha Agnes. Joe Biden will be the 46th president of the United States. Because He became human, we can aspire to the divine. If you login and register your print subscription number with your account, you’ll have unlimited access to the website. poor, hungry, sick, dying, and outcasts of society. Why did everybody from the President of the United States to your neighbor next door call her a “living saint” when she was alive? Some saints, a relative handful in the last 2,003 years, are sent with a message that transcends their particular moment and culture. The full 15 page PDF packet is available for our subscribers to use at home, in school or with church groups. But a great spiritual master, a poet laureate of the soul—these things she wasn’t. Let's start accepting that "women's work" can be anything. Doctors implant pacemaker. This was her most sublime message to our times: God didn't share in our humanity so that a chosen few could be raised to the altars by the Pope at St. Peter's. We ask readers to log in so that we can recognize you as a registered user and give you unrestricted access to our website. Just a few short years after her death in 1997, she was quickly beatified by Pope John Paul II. Mother Teresa didn’t believe that anyone should die alone, so in 1952, she opened the first Home for the Dying. This miracle involved the A big part of my job right now is leading OSU's celebration of America Recycles Day on Sunday, November 15! Saints aren’t born and they aren’t made. 2015: Is cleared for canonization after Pope Francis declares that the cure of a Brazilian man suffering from brain abscesses was miraculous. She gave us another chance to see Jesus. Years ago, if someone told me my first time voting in an election would be so important, I would think they were lying. Our editors have collected the best articles to help you dive deeper into the life of this fascinating modern saint. Jesus showed us not only the face of God, but the true face of the human person, the glorious place that men and women hold in God’s creation. had been completely cured of his disease. We all have these moments and that is the time that Christ comes to us in a distressing disguise. We had just never heard it put that way before.It wasn't just words, either. How she did it. There are others, of course, many of them martyrs killed for the message they were sent to deliver.Blessed Teresa of Calcutta also will be numbered among these special saints. Sign up for Beliefnet's Saint of the Day newsletter. To understand what makes Mother Teresa a saint, to understand her meaning and importance in the Church and for our times, requires entering deep into the Catholic psyche and imagination. Is that enough to make you a saint—to lead a simple, prayerful life and do good unto others? Inevitably, when you pose the question this way you wind up with a sort of “reductionist” approach to sainthood, as if becoming a saint is like getting a gold watch for a lifetime of loyal Catholic service. It felt even better sharing my first-time voter experience with my dad. In the three months I have been working here so far, I have toured recycle centers, water treatment plants, and given a few tours of my own around campus highlighting its sustainable features. You can find plenty of people doing what she did-taking care of the sick and the dying, finding homes for abandoned children, defending the poor, the unwanted, and the unborn. She tried to do all … Because He became human, we can aspire to the divine. He has global ambitions. Clare Regelbrugge, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Sign in to comment to your favorite stories, participate in your community and interact with your friends. Ask about Mother Teresa (1910-1997) and people from around the world will know exactly who you are talking about. As the Holy Father says in his apostolic letter “Novo Millennio Ineunte”: “Holiness, a message that convinces without the need for words, is the living reflection of the face of Christ.” At the deepest level, it was Mother Teresa’s holiness that attracted people to her, and it was his face that they admired in her. With Sunday's canonization of Mother Teresa, Pope Francis honored the tiny nun who cared for the "poorest of the poor" as the epitome of his call for mercy. I have never felt so connected to nature, and I get paid for it! if you are trying to comment, you must log in or set up a new account. What's so special about Mother Teresa? None of the shuttle diplomacy of a Bridget of Sweden or a Catherine of Siena.Her contemporary, Padre Pio, declared a saint a couple years back, was a stigmatic, one whose hands and feet bear Christ-like wounds. As of 2014, Mother Teresa is still awaiting sainthood, although the public has been calling for her canonization since shortly after her death. And in that they speak to believers of all ages. That's why He made you, that's the purpose He had in mind when you were in your mother's womb. Many of the women were her old students from St. Mary’s There just won’t be any “feast” in her honor on the Church’s calendar—not until she’s made a saint, that is. Subscribe to our magazine to support our editorial mission, or follow us on social for commentary and more. She tried to do all for Jesus.In this she made herself transparent. We could see Jesus.But she wanted us to see something more. Fact Check: What Power Does the President Really Have Over State Governors? This essay originally appeared on Beliefnet in 2003. It's embarrassing but, in my opinion, his growth towards valuing civic responsibility is admirable. angry, she held our her other hand and humbly said, “I will keep that for me, They’re sent. Reprinted from Beliefnet.com with permission. Ask about Mother Teresa (1910-1997) and people from around the world will know exactly who you are talking about. Jennifer Kustanovich, SUNY Stony Brook5. Technically, the pope will be declaring Mother Teresa to be a “Blessed,” not a Saint. After her departure, she would never see her mother or sister again. In 1969, the Summer of Love, he launched an herbal tea company, Celestial Seasonings, Inc., that caught the first wave of the all-natural, go-organic, health craze and rode it all the way to the bank.By 1985, he had sold his company for $40 million and was desperately seeking meaning, his mid-life crisis manifesting itself in charitable outfits with names like "Earth Wise" and the "Jesusonian Foundation." They’re raised up at critical moments in history, when a great truth of the Gospel is in danger of being hijacked by heretics or plowed under by Christian indifference and forgetfulness. If we go with the official Catholic catechism definition of a saint, we’d say it’s because she “practiced heroic virtue”—that she lived by faith, hope, and love, that she was prudent, just, temperate, fortitudinous, or brave. Check out some of the. 2020 marked my first opportunity to vote in a presidential election. They're raised up at critical moments in history, when a great truth of the Gospel is in danger of being hijacked by heretics or plowed under by Christian indifference and forgetfulness.These saints function something like the chorus in an ancient Greek play-giving us God's commentary on events as they unfold in the Church or on the world stage.They speak God's truth to the powers and principalities of their day. What’s so special about Mother Teresa?