Mother Teresa, thirst reflected and satisfied
On the feast day of the saint of the marginalised, Fr Alberto Caccaro, a PIME missionary in Cambodia, remembers celebrating the Eucharist with the Missionaries of Charity in their house on the outskirts of Phnom Penh. When he distributes the Communion, he is happy that Jesus, “the Bread of Heaven”, comes to rest on the “visibly damaged hands” of people “that no one else would take in”.
Phnom Penh (AsiaNews) – Today is the liturgical feast of Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta. Her legacy remains alive in the work of the Missionaries of Charity, the religious institute she founded. What follows is the memories of Fr Alberto Caccaro, PIME missionary in Cambodia. Pictured: the Missionaries of Charity praying at the grave of Mother Teresa a few days ago, on the anniversary of her birth.
I often go to celebrate with the Missionaries of Charity, at one of their houses on the outskirts of Phnom Penh. Perhaps it is because of a relic of Mother Teresa, their foundress, kept in the house chapel or more simply because of the habit the Sisters wear, the now familiar white sari with blue stripes, or perhaps it is because of the throng of participants in the Mass, permanent guests of the house, the poor, abandoned and disabled that no one else would take in. The fact is that the presence of Mother Teresa, in there, is so evident that, every time I enter, I hear it and look for it.
Well, believe me, I promptly see her again: in the Sisters busy with morning cleaning, who at the sound of the bell hurry to prayer; I see her again in the guests who look elsewhere, but who could not be elsewhere and who will shortly receive the Body of Christ, understanding or not the meaning of that gift; I see her again in the sign "I thirst" next to the Crucifix, He who gave his life for that thirst and for those people.
They say that the white colour of the sari represents the truth while the blue of the stripes reflects the colour of Mary's eyes, her purity, the Heaven Our Lady carries inside and that no one can violate. In fact, as many know, the saint of Calcutta (Kolkata) did not only establish the missionary Sisters, but also other congregations, five to be exact, as many as the wounds of Jesus.
It seems that, indulging her irrepressible mystical nature, Mother Teresa wanted, one after the other, those five congregations, precisely to cure those five wounds. She began in 1950 with the Missionaries of Charity Sisters, then in 1963 she gave life to the Congregation of the Missionaries of Charity Brothers.
In 1976 it was the turn of the contemplative branch of the Sisters and then, a few years later, in 1979, the contemplative branch of the Brothers. To top it off, in 1984, came the Missionaries of Charity Fathers, this time priests, dedicated to the service of the poorest of the poor. Five congregations to cure the five wounds (of Jesus) still open on the bodies of the poorest.
When, in celebration, I distribute the Communion to those present, it makes me happy that Jesus goes to rest on hands visibly damaged by aggressive diseases that pull nerves, deform muscles, disarticulate movements, and make impossible any move beyond a simple "Amen!" in response to my "Body of Christ" pronounced in the act of offering them the Bread of Heaven. In that celebration of the Eucharist, I enter into the Sisters’ routine, always the same, and yet never repetitive.
At the end of the Mass, I recite the prayers of thanksgiving with them. I like one in particular, attributed to Cardinal John Henry Newman (1801-1890), and adapted by the nuns for community play.
The Sisters address Jesus with words of unprecedented depth. “Dear Jesus, help us to spread your fragrance everywhere we go. Flood our souls with your spirit and life. Penetrate and possess our whole being ... Let us preach you without preaching: not by words, but by our example, by the catching force, the sympathetic influence of what we do, the evident fullness of the love our hearts bear for you. Amen.”
I find, between the lines of this prayer, Cardinal Newman's personality, sensitive faith, love for Jesus, and I feel that, that captivating force, that contagious influence, that given evident fullness, are there for me and for many, thanks to the lives of these Sisters for whom I simply celebrate. Having them in front of me in the sacred space of the Eucharist embellishes my priesthood, brings it to a level that I would not be able to reach on my own.
Indeed, by celebrating, the same scene is repeated every time. It is a particular moment that makes the Eucharist always unique precisely because it is celebrated in that place, in that one chapel, with that writing on the wall next to the cross, "I thirst", to which I always turn my back while I lead the Eucharist.
If I were elsewhere, it would not be the same. Only there, every time I raise the chalice, after pronouncing the words of consecration over the wine, and in the moment of doxology when I pronounce the words “For Christ, with Christ, and in Christ. . .,” on the golden surface of the cup that I hold in my hands, raised just above my eyes, I see my face reflected, I see the cross just behind and I see the inscription "I thirst".
I see everything: the cup of His blood, my hands holding it, my face, His cross and His thirst reflected. For a moment, that "I thirst" becomes mine, becomes me, and I feel an invitation to drink from that chalice, which, alone, can give my thirst its meaning and answer.
It is a vision, impossible elsewhere, marked by an extreme simplicity, and yet so clear as to restore to that place, to those Sisters, to those guests, to my priesthood, to my thirst and theirs, to the Eucharist, their right meaning. And I say to myself, this is how it must be, to be as it should be!
I understand, likewise, why Mother Teresa often asked Our Lady not only to guard those five congregations, but even "hide them within the wounds of Jesus", imagining that each of them corresponds to a particular wound of Christ, in this order: “The Missionaries Brothers and Sisters correspond to the wounds of the hands, the Contemplative Brothers and Sisters to the wounds of the feet, and the Priests to the wound of the Heart of Jesus.” Super!”
Continuing to celebrate with them is a real honour for me.
* PIME missionary in Cambodia
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11/12/2018 15:22
12/07/2005
