Testimonies

                                                      Why do you love  Mother Teresa

I have been a fervent admirer of Mother Teresa and her work since I was a teenager, and I have supported her order ever since.  In all of my travels, I have visited the Missionaries of Charity’s mission houses and worked with the local poor.

                                               

In 1988, Mother Teresa was scheduled to come to Hawai’i to attend a ceremony in honor of Father Damien of Moloka’i, now Saint Damien, but her ill health prevented her from making the long trip from India.  I was very disappointed when Mother had to cancel her visit.

In the spring of 1989, I had a dream that recurred many times.  In this dream, I was called to go to Calcutta to work with Mother Teresa, and I actually saw myself working alongside her.  I started believing that this dream was a message from God.  My desire to follow His call became so strong that, one night, I broke down in tears and prayed on my knees that Mother would live long enough for me to meet her in person.

I then started to make arrangements to go to India.  I had two young children at the time, and I knew I would need help caring for them.  My boss at the language school where I was teaching at the time told me he needed me at work and couldn’t let me travel during the summer (I was prepared to lose my job if I went).  In addition, I needed a visa, which can take a long time to obtain, as well as a serious of vaccinations, since I was planning on working in the slums.  It all seemed almost impossible to come by in the short time I had left.

However, I called the Motherhouse in Calcutta, and the sisters put me right through to Mother, who told me I could come and that she would be there during the time of my visit.

In preparation of my visit, I started going to morning mass at a Catholic church near my house, and I started learning about the Catholic faith.

                                                               

I prayed to God and asked him to help me with all of the above if He really wanted me to go on this mission, and everything fell into place.  My mother volunteered to come to Hawai’i to help with the children, my boss gave me his okay if I wouldn’t stay too long, I found a wonderful doctor of tropical medicine at Kaiser Permanente who took a great personal interest in getting me squared away to travel (and who provided me with lots of  medicines to take with me as donations), and my visa arrived within a week, which was pretty unheard of.  In addition, a Methodist church in Kailua provided me with suitcases, bed sheets and clothing for the poor, and the airlines I was to travel on gave me missionary status, so I could take all that extra baggage at no additional charge.

So, I found myself in Calcutta one day in August, anxious to meet Mother and to get started serving the needy.  I checked into the local YWCA, where most of the co-workers were staying when they visited Calcutta.  After settling into my room, I went to the Motherhouse on lower Circular Road, where I met Sister Agnes, MC, the first sister who ever joined Mother’s new order, and her right hand at that time.  Sister welcomed me warmly and issued me a small pass which allowed me to work at any of the Missionaries of Charity’s centers.  I also met Sister Andrea, MC, a doctor from Germany and sister #77, an MC council member, to whom I handed my donations and who gave me an oversight over the centers where I would work. [Sr. Andrea and I bonded immediately, and we have kept in touch until this day].  I was excited to be in Calcutta but devastated when I learned that Mother was not yet back from her trip overseas.

                                                                     

The following morning, I found myself at the Motherhouse at 5:20 to attend mass with the 300+ sisters living at the house.  It was wonderful!  After mass, Sister Bernhard, MC, sister #7, provided some of us co-workers with Chai and toast and an update on world news.  Then, I went to Shishu Bhavan, the primary MC orphanage in Calcutta, where I worked for 4 days.

After my time at Shishu Bhavan, I worked at Prem Dan, the large center for mentally and physically disabled adults, at the Kennedy Center, where unmarried mothers are taught domestic skills, such as sewing and caring for their babies, at a dispensary near Shealdah Train Station, and finally at Kalighat, the Home for Dying Destitutes.

I loved every single day in Calcutta; I enjoyed my time with the sisters, working for the poor, and I made friends with other young people from all over the world.  I was in good health, and the torrentuous monsoon rains that are common in August had not yet arrived.  However, I missed Mother, and none of the daily announcements that Mother would return “today” had come true (Mother had gone to visit one of her missions abroad but had ended up going from country to country, visiting a number of houses).  I started getting nervous, since the day of my departure from Calcutta was drawing near.  All of the sisters knew of my predicament, and I ended up having 300+ sisters praying for me every day that I would get to see Mother before I had to go back home.

Finally, the big day arrived, and the Motherhouse was filled with the cheerful bustling of preparations for Mother’s return.  Everybody was excited at the prospect of Mother’s homecoming!  Sister Andrea asked me if I would like to accompany her to the airport to pick up Mother, and I do not need to mention the nature of my reply…

                                                                     

Thus, some of the senior sisters and I left for the airport in one of the MC vans, and we awaited Mother’s arrival behind a barrier near the baggage claim.  It is hard to describe the moment I first laid eyes on Mother – this tiny, little person, no taller than 4’9” in her best days, who is the embodiment of love, selfless service and great power.  I started choking, and it was hard to hold back the tears that quickly overwhelmed me.  As soon as Mother entered the terminal, all activity ceased, and everybody started running to her – employees and travelers alike.  Mother had to bless countless people before she could resume looking for her boxes of donations which she had brought from her trip.  The sister who had accompanied Mother on her journey around the globe came over to us and handed me Mother’s knit jacket to hold, so she and Mother could retrieve her packages.  So, here I was, holding Mother’s jacket in my arms and wishing I would never have to return it.  Had I been able to keep it, I know I would have wanted to wear it every day for the rest of my life…

Mother and the sister came over several times to hand us boxes over the railing, and soon other observers in the baggage-claim area started assisting them.  When all of the packages had been handed over, Mother came out of the terminal, and we were able to welcome her home.  Sister Andrea introduced me, and Mother greeted me cordially and blessed me when I bowed before her.  “You are from Hawai’i!”, she exclaimed.  “You have come such a long way”.  I have often been asked what it was like to look into Mother’s face, and all I can say is that it was like looking into the face of God.

I then gave Mother the beautiful garland of fragrant jasmine which my Indian friends had helped me buy for her, and she accepted it joyfully and gave it to one of the sisters to drape over the statue of Our Lady at the chapel in the Motherhouse.  We then stacked all of Mother’s boxes in the van and headed toward the Motherhouse.  We sat on the side seats in the back of the van, with our feet on top of the boxes and our knees almost touching our chins.  

On our long drive to the Motherhouse, Mother and the sisters discussed world news, and Mother gave a report of her travels to her missions worldwide. I was deeply impressed by the sisters’ knowledge and sense of international politics and global affairs.  I was sitting close to Mother, and when she addressed me, I asked her if she could bless the rosary which Sr. Bernard had given me.  Mother took it into her cupped hands and prayed over it.  At that moment, we were passing Prem Dan, the home for disabled adults, and Mother turned around slowly, looked at the facility and blessed it – while she was still holding my rosary.  I will never forget the serenity in her face when she turned toward Prem Dan.  It was the most divine moment I have ever experienced.

When we finally reached the Motherhouse, we encountered a cheerful crowd of chanting, singing and dancing sisters, all eager to welcome Mother home.  It was now Mother’s task to bless 300+ sisters!  Sr. Andrea took me through the sisters’ private quarters into the main courtyard, so we could watch the joyful spectacle. Sr. Gertrude, MC, also a medical doctor, saw me and called out, “What are you doing here? This is for the sisters only!”  Sr. Andrea quickly came to my rescue and called out, “It’s okay; she is with me!” Thus, I was the only volunteer to witness this touching event, and I felt so grateful and so privileged.  Unfortunately, night was falling rapidly, and the time came for me to say good-bye.  As soon as I left the Motherhouse, an overpowering feeling of emptiness came over me, and I wanted nothing but to stay in Mother’s presence.  However, I had to be patient and wait until the following morning when I would see Mother again at mass.  Sr. Priscilla, MC, has told the media on numerous occasions that people always describe Mother’s departure and their separation from her as “a light bulb going out suddenly”, and I can only agree with this metaphor.  It was the greatest emptiness I had ever felt.

The next morning, mass took place at 5:20.  I entered the chapel at the Motherhouse with great excitement, not knowing where Mother would be, and my eyes were magnetically attracted to where she was humbly kneeling among her 300+ sisters.  I knew I was in the presence of God.

After mass, Mother received visitors from all over the world in an area overlooking the courtyard, between the chapel and the office.  She was kind and cheerful and displayed no sign of jet lag or fatigue.  When it was my turn to talk to Mother, I gave her the pictures that my children had drawn of her, and she enjoyed them so much!  She looked at my children’s photograph and laughed, “You have beautiful children – you should have some more!”  Sr. Andrea, who was with us, thought that that was a great idea, and the two sisters tried hard to convince me to have another child.  I told Mother that if I were ever to have another daughter, I would call her Teresa in her honor, and Mother loved the idea.  [In August 2000, I gave birth to my daughter Bethany Teresa, and we consider her Mother’s godchild!].  We then discussed my work at Kalighat for that day, and I went along my way.  In the evening, I saw Mother again at mass, and my eyes found her immediately, as they had that morning.  When I went home to my room at the Y, I experienced that same feeling of emptiness I knew so well by now.

The following day was my birthday, and I received a cheerful blessing from Mother after morning mass.  She also gave me a handful of medals which she kissed and blessed, and she told me to hand them out to people at home.  In addition, Mother gave me some prayer cards and mentioned how deeply saddened she felt by the many abortions happening in the western countries.  Then, Mother specifically asked me to make it my ministry to fight abortion once I was back home.  Mother’s motto was, “We fight abortion through adoption”.  I have never ceased speaking out against abortion.

Unfortunately, my time to say farewell to Mother and the sisters came the next morning.  After morning mass, it was time for me to take a taxi to the airport.  I would have given the world to stay longer, but I needed to return home to take care of my family and my work as a language instructor.  I had to be grateful for my wonderful time in Calcutta and for the many life-long memories I had taken home with me.  Meeting Mother and working with her in Calcutta was an experience that had changed my whole life.  I would never be the same again…

[Fortunately, I was able to meet Mother again during her visit to San Francisco a couple of years later.  At that time, I took my children with me to meet Mother and to receive her blessing].

[In September 1997, on the day Mother died, I was getting ready for work, when I suddenly felt the urge to turn the TV on and to listen to the morning news.  In those days, I NEVER, EVER watched TV.  However, as soon as I turned the TV on that day, I saw a picture of Mother with the caption 1910-1997.  I sat in shock and listened to the report of her passing.  Before I had had time to digest this news, TV and newspaper anchors were already calling me and asking for interviews].