Kohima, September 4 (MExN): The Diocese of Kohima today celebrated the canonization of Mother Teresa at Holy Cross Hall in Dimapur. The celebration coincided with the canonization of Mother Teresa at St. Peter’s Square, Rome, on September 4.
Most Rev Dr. James Thoppil, Bishop of Kohima, presided over the celebration with 41 priests concelebrating Holy Eucharist.
In his homily, Bishop James Thoppil said September 4, 2016 will go down in the annals of “our” nation of the Church as red letter day with Pope Francis canonizing Mother Teresa of Kolkata as a saint for “our” veneration, imitation and intercession, said a press release from the Bishop’s Secretary, Fr. Thomas Toretkiu.
She will now be called “Saint Mother Teresa of Kolkata”, adding another title to her already existing 20 titles, such as the Angel of Mercy, Saint of the Gutters, the Icon of Peace, the Smiling nun, etc, the Bishop pointed out. The canonization of Mother Teresa, Rev Dr. Thoppil stated, invites us to look to her as a Christian hero, an outstanding model of the Christian life.
“We can say in truth that since Mahatma Gandhi, India has not produced a person of such stature and global recognition as Mother Teresa of Kolkata, who, though small in stature stands out globally as a giant of a person in her service of humanity, especially to the least and the last, the abandoned and lost. Her elevation to the sainthood has a much wider impact and influence for better, on a global society that is steeped in varied forms of evil, human degradation and depravity in every sphere of human life,” he added.
The Bishop further said the theme of the canonization, “Carrier of God’s Tender and Merciful Love”, was chosen to place Mother Teresa, with her example and message, directly and clearly in the context of the Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy. Mother Teresa spoke of love, gave love, lived love and taught us to sow seeds of love, he acknowledged. “Mother Teresa insisted that ‘love cannot remain still. It has to get into action and that action is service’,” he said. This service, he added, is “what we traditionally call spiritual and corporal works of mercy, which we are called upon to do in this Jubilee Year of Mercy.”
Stating that the Church wishes to present Mother Teresa as an icon of the Father’s mercy, he hoped that her words and example will urge all of us to become generous servants and to reflect the “face” of God’s mercy to those around us. “As Mother Teresa’s face radiated God’s tender and merciful love, so too may we become reflections of His tender mercy through our loving actions.” The Bishop maintained that Mother Teresa has handed over the baton to “us” to continue the Gospel way of being a Good Samaritan to the poor and the abandoned who embody Jesus. Mother Teresa, he recollected, used to tell this to those who wanted to do what she did, “What I can do, you cannot; what you can do, I cannot; but together we can do something beautiful for God.” It is doing the ordinary things with extraordinary love, he stated.
Before the Holy Eucharistic celebration, Rev. Sr. Ancicilia, Missionary of Charity (MC) welcomed all to the celebration and gave a short introduction of Mother Teresa. Then, the bishop unveiled the portrait of Mother Teresa and Rev. Sr. Godelaine MC, Superior, Dimapur and Garnish lighted the candle before the picture representing the Missionaries of Charity and the poor of the poor respectively. Rev. Sr. Mamata, MC, and Fr. Philip Magh, Assistant Priest proposed vote of thanks on behalf of the Mother Teresa sisters and the parish community. Fr. Philip said that Fr. Thomas, the parish priest will take part in the celebration in Rome as the diocesan representative. The Bishop also blessed the medals and pictures of Saint Mother Teresa that were distributed to all. Rev. Fr. C.J. Jaison anchored the programme and prepared a brief life story of Mother Teresa with clippings of her visit to Nagaland in 1984.
The celebration was attended by thousands of faithful, including large number of sisters of Mother Teresa, Elias and Johnny, the President and Secretary of Catholic Association of Nagaland (CAN) along with other office bearers, Angela Vilanuo, President of Nagaland Catholic Women Association (NCWA) and her colleagues, Regina Razousinuo, President, Nagaland Catholic Youth Movement (NCYM) and other office bearers, many dignitaries and invited guests, many sisters of different religious congregation and catholic faithful from the various parishes in Nagaland and particularly from the three parishes in Dimapur.
