Saint Teresa of Calcutta, a "pencil that wrote extraordinary poems"
Card. Pietro Parolin celebrates the Thanksgiving Mass for the canonization of Mother Teresa: "She saw in unborn children the 'poorest of the poor', because they depend totally on others. Bravely she defended unborn life, with the frankness of speech and linearity of action which is the bright sign of the presence of the Prophets and the Saints, who do not kneel to anyone except the Almighty."
Vatican City (AsiaNews) - Mother Teresa of Calcutta "liked to call herself 'a pencil in the hands of the Lord'. But what poems of love, of compassion, comfort and joy that little pencil has been able to write! Poems of love and tenderness for the poorest of the poor, to whom she dedicated her life", said the Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal. Pietro Parolin, during the Thanksgiving Mass this morning for the canonization of the founder of the Missionaries of Charity.
In front of a large crowd, on the anniversary of Mother's death, the prelate stressed that the new saint "has opened our eyes to the suffering. She embraced with a look of compassion, her whole being was touched and shaken by this encounter, that has - in a sense - pierced her heart, following the example of Jesus, who was moved by the suffering human, alone unable to help themselves".
She, icon of this special Jubilee of Mercy, had a secret: "She had a secret which we have just proclaimed loudly in the Gospel: 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did to the least of these my brethren, you did it to me. Mother Teresa discovered in the poor the face of Christ 'who became poor for us to enrich us with his poverty' and responded to his love without measure with an infinite love for the poor ".
Card. Parolin wanted to be remembered that Mother had understood that "one of the most excruciating forms of poverty is to know we are unloved, unwanted, despised. A kind of poverty is also present in countries and in the families that are not poor, even in persons belonging to categories that have the means and ability, but who experience the inner emptiness of having lost the meaning and direction of life or are violently struck by the desolation of broken ties, the hardness of loneliness, the feeling of being forgotten by all, or not being of need to anyone. This has led her to identify with the unborn child, threatened in their existence as 'the poorest of the poor'. Each of them in fact depends, more than any other human being, on the love and the care of the mother and the protection of society".
Consequently "she courageously defended the unborn, with the frankness of speech and linearity of action which is the bright sign of the presence of the Prophets and the Saints, who do not kneel to anyone except the Almighty, who are inwardly free because inwardly strong and do not bow before the fashions or the idols of the moment, but are reflected in the conscience enlightened by the sun of the Gospel ".
Remembering the words spoken after the receiving the Nobel - "I do not want you to give me your not superfluous, but to give until it hurts" – the Secretary of State described this "as a threshold, beyond which we enter the abyss that enveloped the life of the saint, in the heights and in those depths that are difficult to explore because they closely trace the suffering of Christ, her unconditional gift of love and the deepest wounds that she had to suffer. It is the unfathomable density of the Cross, this 'hurt' the good done for love of God, because of the friction it causes to all those who resist, because of the limitations of creatures, their sin and of death which is the cost".
When Mother Teresa passed from this earth to Heaven, September 5, 1997, "for a few long minutes Calcutta remained completely without light. On this earth, she was a clear sign that indicated the sky. On the day of her death Heaven wanted to offer a seal on her life and tell us that a new light had turned on us. Now, after the "official" recognition of her holiness, this light shines even more vividly. That this light, which is the everlasting light of the Gospel, continue to enlighten our earthly pilgrimage and the paths of our difficult world! Saint Teresa of Calcutta, pray for us! ".
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