Introduction: Below the surface of Paul’s ironical remark there is a great problem: The problem of nature and grace, of human and divine truth. There is no conflict between human wisdom and divine truth. There may be a conflict of wisdom that excludes God and wants only to bolster human pride in a philosophy that does not take the orientation of its statements from the Word of God. These philosophers do not bother that God is not convinced by their argument. God has given man the intellect to think with, and to think correctly. Grace - and the Word of God - does not destroy nature, it accepts nature and perfects it. The greater the gifts of nature, the more can God’s grace perfect. God has accepted human nature and perfections when he became man in Christ. "We belong to Christ and Christ to God".
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In the gospel, Peter faced a situation of a carpenter-preacher telling him, a professional fisherman, where to fish. There is a tinge of protest when Peter said they had worked hard all night long and caught nothing. But he was also submissive enough to do what Jesus told him to. Peter was open enough to do as Jesus instructed maybe because he had earlier heard Jesus preaching from his boat. There was something spiritual in what Jesus said that echoed in the depths of his being that he decided to do what Jesus told him. And it was a decision that led to a revelation.
For Peter it was a revelation of divine wisdom, and that was proven by the great catch of fish. And as the 1st reading tells us, if we think we are wise in the ordinary sense of the word, then we would probably have missed the moments of revelation of divine wisdom. Even though we may be competent enough to know what we are doing, let us also be like Peter and to be open to what Jesus wants to reveal to us. Wisdom is to know that we don't know everything, and that many a time our ways are not God's ways. May we be humble enough to keep learning what Jesus is teaching us.
Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta
Reflection: Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta was born Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu in Skopje, present-day North Macedonia. When Gonxhe was eight, her father died suddenly, plunging the family into financial difficulties. At the age of twelve, Gonxhe felt a divine calling to serve the poor. Upon turning eighteen, she left home, never to see her mother or sister again, and entered the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Ireland, known as the Loreto Nuns, with the desire to serve in India.
On September 10, 1946, when Mother Teresa was thirty-six, she was traveling by train roughly 400 miles from Calcutta to the mother house in Darjeeling for an annual retreat and time of rest. It was during this trip that something mystical occurred. Although she kept the details of that experience private, she later recounted, “I heard the call to give up all and to follow Him into the slums—to serve Him in the poorest of the poor…I knew it was His will and that I had to follow Him. There was no doubt that it was going to be His work.”
Finally, on January 6, 1948, the archbishop gave her permission to proceed. He later wrote to the Loreto superior, “I am deeply convinced that by withholding my consent, I would hamper the realization, through her, of the will of God.” After receiving permission from the Loreto Superior, as well as from the Holy See, Mother Teresa began her new mission on August 17, 1948, almost two years after her “Inspiration Day.”
On December 21, 1948, after completing medical training, Mother Teresa began her life as a Missionary of Charity in the slums of Calcutta. Calcutta had been heavily affected by World War II, famine, and ongoing riots. Countless people were homeless, poor, uneducated, and suffering intensely. After securing a place to live, Mother Teresa began caring for the poor. She dressed their wounds, showed compassion for the suffering, listened to their stories, provided them with food, and treated them as if they were Jesus. This was a novel approach in India where poverty was sometimes viewed as a result of bad karma. In March 1949, one of her former students joined her in the work.
By the following year, her companions numbered twelve. On October 7, 1950, with the approval of the Holy See, the Missionaries of Charity were formally established in the Archdiocese of Calcutta. In addition to the usual three vows, the Missionaries of Charity took a fourth vow “to devote themselves with abnegation to the care of the poor and needy who, crushed by want and destitution, live in conditions unworthy of human dignity.”
By the early 1960s, the number of sisters continued to grow, and houses were established in various parts of India. Shortly thereafter, the Missionaries expanded their reach to Venezuela, Rome, and Tanzania. In 1963, the Missionaries of Charity Brothers was established. A contemplative branch of the sisters was founded in 1976, followed by the Contemplative Brothers in 1979, and the Missionaries of Charity Fathers in 1984. In 1962, Mother Teresa received the Padma Shri Award from the Republic of India, and in 1979, she was honored with the Nobel Peace Prize, which she accepted “in the name of the hungry, of the naked, of the homeless, of the crippled, of the blind, of the leprous, of all those people who feel unwanted, unloved, uncared, thrown away of the society, people who have become a burden to the society, and are ashamed by everybody.”
By the time of her death in 1997, the Missionaries of Charity numbered about 4,000, across 610 foundations in 123 countries. Two years after her death, Pope John Paul II opened her cause for canonization. He beatified her in 2003, and she was canonized by Pope Francis in 2016.
Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta was one of the greatest saints in all of history. After her death, those closest to her shared many of her private letters that tell an incredible story. From the time she began her work with the poor and suffering, she started to experience an inner darkness, a complete loss of the sense of God’s presence. This interior darkness mirrors the spiritual writings of the greatest mystics, such as Saints John of the Cross and Teresa of Ávila. God stripped her of every interior consolation so that her charity would be absolutely pure and devoid of all selfish motivation, resulting in pure selfless giving, fueled by unshakable faith, and driven by divine hope. She was truly a mystic in the deepest sense, an icon of the satiation of Christ’s Thirst.
Prayer: Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta, the Thirst of Christ so permeated your soul that you experienced His longing within the depths of your being. This Thirst drove you to charity, endlessly searching for every way possible to bring satiation to our Lord in the distressing disguise of the poor and suffering. Please pray for me, that I will be freed of every selfish motivation in life so that I can give myself to others, freely and wholeheartedly, as an instrument of the Most Merciful Heart of Jesus. Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta, pray for me. Jesus, I trust in You.
