A WORD FROM THE PASTOR

Mother Teresa’s Mission of Generosity

What makes the saints so remarkable is that they are brilliant reflections of God's extraordinary generosity. St. Teresa of Calcutta (Mother Teresa) was an eloquent example of this. When she visited the many convents that she had founded, even though she was the Superior General of the Order, she had a habit of getting up early on the last day of her visit (early being 4:00 am or so), and washing the convent's bathrooms before the rest of the nuns woke up.

Fr Sebastian Vahakala, a priest connected to her Order, explains how he learned Christian generosity from her: "One day I was working at the home for the dying in Kalighat, Calcutta. The Corporation Ambulance brought in a man. I looked at him and recognized him straightaway, as he had been to our home several times. I told Mother Teresa that there was no sense in taking him in again, as he would go out when he might feel a little better [he was taking advantage of their generosity].

Mother Teresa looked at me and said: ‘Fr Sebastian, does this man need your help now or not? It does not matter that he was here yesterday or not, or that he is going to come back again tomorrow. We do not have yesterday anymore, nor do we have tomorrow yet; all that we have is today to love God and serve the poor.'" That's just a little glimpse of the kind of supernatural generosity that continuously overflows from God's heart, towards each and every one of us.

From today's reading of the Gospel of Matthew, we learn that God does not call everybody at the same time. Some are called early in life as the early laborers were called, having received their Baptism as infants. Some were called as teenagers. Some were called during their married life and others, much later in life. And some are like the laborers who were called around five o'clock; their conversion took place at the last hour, like the thief on the cross. What is common in receiving God’s grace in each of these stages of life? It’s God’s generosity.

A life of generosity is required in today’s world. God calls each one of us to be a generous people.