International Day of Charity

Fifty-four Missionaries of Charity are in Rome this week for the Catholic Church’s Jubilee of Young People, where they are approaching young people one by one to invite them to spend time with Christ in all-day Eucharistic adoration and to learn about the mission and message of their founder, St. Teresa of Calcutta. | Credit: Courtney Mares/CNA Just steps away from the exuberant crowds of Gen Z pilgrims chanting and taking selfies in St. Peter’s Square, religious sisters in white saris with blue stripes kneel barefoot in silent adoration before the Blessed Sacrament. More than 50 sisters of Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity are in Rome this week for the Catholic Church’s Jubilee of Youth offering a striking contrast to the vibrant festival atmosphere filling the Vatican’s streets. Their mission: “To give them Jesus,” said one 25-year-old sister from Spain, who declined to be quoted by name in accordance with the congregation’s rules. The sisters, known for their vow of extreme po...

  Exactly one year ago, on the evening of 5 September, Mother Teresa died in Calcutta. Her memory lives on in the hearts of us all, throughout the Church and the world. What marvellous work this little woman from a humble family was able to accomplish with the strength of her faith in God and her love of neighbour! In truth, Mother Teresa was God's gift to the poorest of the poor; at the same time, precisely through her extraordinary love for the lowliest, she was and remains an exceptional gift for the Church and the world. Her total self-giving to God, reconfirmed each day in prayer, was translated into total self-giving to her neighhbour. In Mother Teresa's smile, words and deeds, Jesus again walked the streets of the world as the Good Samaritan, and he continues to do so in the Missionaries of Charity, who form the great family she founded. Let us thank the daughters and sons of Mother Teresa for their radical Gospel commitment and let us pray for them all, that they will ...