Mother Teresa of Calcutta who is popularly known as the ‘Mother of the Destitute’ is raised to the public veneration in the holy altar on the fourth of this month. In the life of Mother Theresa, we come across and experience the depth of motherly care and concern.

In the book of prophet Micah God says: “He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6: 8). The one who acts with mercy is the one who walks with God. Pope Francis says that the definition ‘God is love’ can be redefined as ‘God is mercy’. It is through the acts of charity that the divine element of a person is being expressed.

Mother Teresa was specially chosen by God to extend his hands of mercy to the whole world. The perilous situations of the people that she encountered during a journey, prompted her to throw herself amidst the poor and the needy. When the people approached her with various needs, she was able to find the face of Jesus, her Divine Master in each one of them and to work selflessly for them. When she stepped to the street trusting fully in the providence of God her capital was only five rupees. But the one who multiplied the five loaves of bread sufficiently enough to satisfy the hunger of five thousand, multiplied her small deposit as the capital to do good for thousands of people.

Through the book of Micah, God asks us to do what is just and to be merciful to everyone. Justice is giving each one’s due, whereas mercy is the attitude and readiness to share with others what belong to us. In other words it is a call to step in to the pains and difficulties of others.

May the life and example of Mother Teresa who transformed her life as the definition of divine mercy help us to act with compassion and mercy in our daily life.

Rev. Fr Joseph Mundolickal CST