St. Teresa of Kolkata

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Friday, 5 September 2025 : 22nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Teresa of Kolkata, Religious (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Religious)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, we are all reminded that all of us as part of the one Church of God, with Christ our Lord as the Head of the Church, all of us are called to follow the path and the ways which God Himself has shown and led us through. As Christians, all of us should align to what God has taught us to do, in His Law and commandments, being faithful and committed as ever to proclaim His truth and Good News to the world. That is what all of us are reminded today, and what we should always do our best in doing, in aligning ourselves to God’s will, obeying Him in all things and becoming good role models and inspirations to everyone around us in how we live our lives faithfully as God’s disciples and followers, at all times.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to the Church and the faithful people of God in the city and region of Colossae in Asia Minor, in which the Apostle spoke to the faithful there regarding the nature of the Saviour Jesus Christ Whom St. Paul and the other Christian missionaries had been speaking and preaching about to them, and he highlighted how Jesus was not just merely a Man or a mere Prophet, or any ordinary Person, as He is none other than the Image of the Unseen God, the Firstborn of all Creation and all things, Begotten and not made, because He has existed before all ages and all time, as the Son and Word of God that had become incarnate in the flesh, becoming one like us as the Son of Man.

St. Paul introduced to the faithful in Colossae and therefore also all of us as Christians today, reminding to us the important details of what the Lord had done for our sake in sending unto us all His only Begotten Son, to be our Saviour, and in all that He had done as the One Who had established God’s Church in this world as the tangible unity of all the believers of the Lord, gathering us all together to Himself so that by this renewed unity and communion, all of us may become united in the One Church of God, the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church, through which all of us shall receive the assurance of salvation and eternal life which the Lord Himself has promised and reassured to us all.

Then, from our Gospel passage today, taken from the Gospel according to St. Luke the Evangelist, we heard of the Lord’s famous parable on the wine and the wineskin, and the old and new pieces of cloth. In that parable we heard how the Lord elaborated about how an old wineskin should not be used to store new wine and vice versa, that new wineskin be used to store old wine. In the same manner therefore, the new cloth should not be used to patch an old piece of cloth and vice versa, that an old cloth should not be used to patch a new piece of cloth. This parable may seem rather peculiar, but if we look at the deeper meaning and intention of this parable, it is actually quite clear what the Lord intended by sharing this parable.

He intended for all of us to keep in mind that if we want to follow Him, then we have to change our ways and actions in life. We cannot claim to believe in the Lord or be good and faithful Christians if we still continue to carry on our sinful, wicked and worldly way of life. That is why as Christians we have to centre our lives and existence in the Lord and make sure that everything that we say and do, in our every interactions, we should always strive to do them in the manner that have been expected of us as Christians. If we still continue to live in the manner of the world, then the incompatibility of the path of worldliness and that of the Lord’s path will likely cause frictions and problems for us. And if we do not act on this, we may end up walking down the wrong path forward in life.

That is how the parable of the new wineskin and the wine, and the old and new cloth came to use here, to remind us all that if we truly want to follow the Lord faithfully then we should strive to change our ways and to follow Him firmly and faithfully at all times. We should not allow ourselves to be swayed and pulled by the many coercions, temptations and pressures present all around us, which often seek to make and even force us to conform to the ways that the world often find to be acceptable, and yet, is not compatible with the ways of the Lord. That is why we should really discern carefully our path forward in life and do our very best so that we may always walk and progress forth ever more faithfully in the Lord’s path, in accordance to His will and guidance, at all times.

Today, the Church also celebrates the Feast of the renowned St. Teresa of Kolkata, also known much better by the name of Mother Teresa, the founder of the Missionaries of Charity, a religious order and congregation that is well-known for their efforts and works in caring for the needy and the poor, the sick and the dying, and especially in giving dignified treatment for those who were suffering and dying, showing them the love of God manifested and shown through the actions of St. Teresa of Kolkata and her fellow sisters and other collaborators in the Missionaries of Charity. She was born in Albania as Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu to a Catholic Albanian family in the year 1910, and since young she has been fascinated and inspired to be a missionary in distant lands. This eventually led to her joining the Sisters of Loreto congregation and went to India to continue her formation.

St. Teresa of Kolkata became involved in the education of young children in Kolkata, India during her many years in the congreagtion of the Sisters of Loreto, and eventually becoming the headmistress of the mission school there. However, she was continually disturbed by the great and abject poverty which many of the people in Kolkata and other parts of India suffered from. Through this calling that she embraced wholeheartedly, she eventually decided to leave her profession as a Sister of Loreto and role in the school, founding a new congregation, the Missionaries of Charity dedicated to the care and attention towards the poor, the needy and those who were sick and dying. She gathered many other like-minded women who sought to serve the needs of the people, giving care and compassionate love for those who needed them.

She gave dignity to those who have been abandoned, neglected and ostracised, caring for them in the poorest and most despicable conditions, in the slums and in the streets. She was well-known for her outreach to everyone who were poor and suffering regardless of their religious beliefs and background. She opened and operated hospices and houses like the famous Nirmala Hriday of Kolkata, where the poor and the dying can be cared with love and given the dignity due to them as human beings. Throughout the rest of her life, St. Teresa of Kolkata continued to do her best to serve the Lord and His people, following Him to whichever path that He wanted her to go, and famously mentioning at the time when she was given the Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts, that she was just ‘an instrument in the hands of the Lord.’

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all be inspired by the great humility and commitment which St. Teresa of Kolkata has shown us all, so that we too may live our lives worthily in the manner that God has called us to do in our own respective responsibilities and vocations, in doing our best to serve the Lord through each and every good efforts and works that we are doing in every circumstances and opportunities that we have been given, to do our best to glorify the Lord in all things, now and always. Amen.

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Friday, 5 September 2025 : 22nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Teresa of Kolkata, Religious (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Religious)

Luke 5 : 33-39

At that time, some people asked Jesus, “The disciples of John fast often and say long prayers, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees. Why is it, that Your disciples eat and drink?”

Then Jesus said to them, “You cannot make wedding guests fast while the Bridegroom is with them. But later, the Bridegroom will be taken from them; and they will fast in those days.”

Jesus also told them this parable : “No one tears a piece from a new coat to put it on an old one; otherwise the new coat will be torn, and the piece taken from the new coat will not match the old coat. No one puts new wine into old wine skins; otherwise the new wine will burst the skins and be spilt, and the skins will be destroyed as well.”

“But new wine must be put into fresh skins. Yet, no one who has tasted old wine is eager to drink new wine, but says, ‘The old is good.’”

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Friday, 5 September 2025 : 22nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Teresa of Kolkata, Religious (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Religious)

Psalm 99 : 2, 3, 4, 5

Serve the Lord with gladness; come before Him with joyful songs.

Know that the Lord is God; He created us and we are His people, the sheep of His fold.

Enter His gates with thanksgiving, His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him and bless His Name.

For the Lord is good; His love lasts forever and His faithfulness through all generations.

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Friday, 5 September 2025 : 22nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Teresa of Kolkata, Religious (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Religious)

Colossians 1 : 15-20

He is the image of the unseen God, and for all creation, He is the Firstborn, for, in Him, all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible : thrones, rulers, authorities, powers… All was made through Him and for Him. He is before all and all things hold together, in Him.

And He is the Head of the Body, that is the Church, for He is the first, the first raised from the dead, that He may be the first in everything, for God was pleased to let fullness dwell in Him. Through Him, God willed to reconcile all things to Himself, and through Him, through His Blood shed on the cross, God established peace, on earth as in heaven.

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Thursday, 5 September 2024 : 22nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Teresa of Kolkata, Religious (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Religious)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, we are all reminded that we should not put our trust only in human power and abilities, only in our own wisdom and intellect, as there would be a time and opportunity when those things may eventually fail us, while if we put our faith and trust in the Lord, we will be strengthened and while our paths and journeys may still be difficult and challenging, but in the end, it is with the Lord alone that we shall be able to gain true satisfaction, joy and happiness, glory and liberation from all of our troubles and difficulties. If we follow the Lord, then He will guide us all to His Presence, and we have to commit ourselves to walk in this path He has shown and led us through.

In our first reading today, taken from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Church and the faithful people of God in the city and region of Corinth, we heard how the Apostle was speaking about the matter of human and worldly wisdom, and how those who are members of the faithful and holy people, the Church of God ought to be always seek to be filled with God’s Wisdom and grace, to be filled with His love and kindness, and not be swayed by the foolish paths taken by those who depended and walked in the path shown by their worldly wisdom and understanding alone. Those who sought worldliness and its satisfaction will be brought low while those who sought the Lord to be with them, all of them would be protected and reassured in their lives and existence before God and man alike.

As Christians, it is important that all of us must embody our faith and beliefs in each and every one of our actions, words and deeds, or else we are no better than hypocrites and unbelievers. Worse still, we may even scandalise our faith and the Lord’s good and holy Name if we allow ourselves and our actions to be swayed by the falsehoods and evils of this world around us. We should not allow our pride, ego and ambition, our greatness, abilities and other things from leading us astray from the Lord and His righteousness. Many people, our predecessors and our fellow brothers and sisters have fallen into this same trap as they allowed the temptations of pride and desire to mislead them and to tempt them away from the path and wisdom of God.

In our Gospel passage today, we are all reminded through the Gospel according to St. Luke in which we heard the account of the moment when the Lord was with His disciples at the Lake of Galilee or Gennesaret, where some of His disciples who were fishermen, were in the water, seeking for fish while their Master was on the land, teaching all the people who had come to Him to listen to Him. And we heard how the Lord then asked Simon Peter, one of His disciples to put out his boat and net into the deep waters, so that they could get fishes for themselves. Simon Peter, who was a fisherman and was an experienced one in his area of expertise immediately told the Lord that he and the other fishermen had worked hard all night long and they did not manage to get any fish.

But at the same time, we then heard of how Simon Peter obeyed the Lord’s commands, and he did just exactly as the Lord had told him to do, putting out his boat into the deep waters and lowering his net, which almost immediately and miraculously led to a huge and vast number of fishes being caught in the net, causing the boats that the disciples were in to be almost capsized by the huge haul. This miracle and event showed that the power and wisdom of God, His power and might are truly far greater than anything that the world can provide or give us. And this is why by entrusting himself to the Lord and by obeying Him, St. Peter and the other disciples could gain such a great catch, at which moment the Lord then told them to follow Him and that He would make them ‘fishers of men’.

This is a reminder how each and every one of us as the members of the Church and as part of the efforts and missions to reach out to our fellow brothers and sisters all around us in this world. All of us are like those fishermen, St. Peter and the other disciples of the Lord, who were labouring for the Lord, gathering and reaching out to more and more of those who have not yet seen the Lord’s truth and wonders. We are all parts of God’s Church and we all share the same mission, calling and responsibility to reach out to everyone of all the nations, to all those to whom we have been sent to, proclaiming the Good News of God and His salvation to them, and it is by our obedience to God and by the path that God has shown us that we will have great success in this endeavour, and not by our own power and might.

Today, the Church also celebrates the feast of the famous St. Teresa of Kolkata, also known as St. Teresa of Calcutta, or as Mother Teresa, renowned for her great charitable works and efforts through the congregation of Missionaries of Charity that she founded, in caring for the needy and the poor, the sick and the dying, and especially in giving dignified treatment for those who were suffering and dying, showing them the love of God manifested and shown through the actions of St. Teresa of Kolkata and her fellow sisters and other collaborators in the Missionaries of Charity. She was born in Albania as Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu to a Catholic Albanian family in the year 1910, and since young she has been fascinated and inspired to be a missionary in distant lands. This eventually led to her joining the Sisters of Loreto congregation and went to India to continue her formation.

St. Teresa of Kolkata became involved in the education of young children in Kolkata, India during her many years in the congreagtion of the Sisters of Loreto, and eventually becoming the headmistress of the mission school there. However, she was continually disturbed by the great and abject poverty which many of the people in Kolkata and other parts of India suffered from. Through this calling that she embraced wholeheartedly, she eventually decided to leave her profession as a Sister of Loreto and role in the school, founding a new congregation, the Missionaries of Charity dedicated to the care and attention towards the poor, the needy and those who were sick and dying. She gathered many other like-minded women who sought to serve the needs of the people, giving care and compassionate love for those who needed them.

She gave dignity to those who have been abandoned, neglected and ostracised, caring for them in the poorest and most despicable conditions, in the slums and in the streets. She was well-known for her outreach to everyone who were poor and suffering regardless of their religious beliefs and background. She opened and operated hospices and houses like the famous Nirmala Hriday of Kolkata, where the poor and the dying can be cared with love and given the dignity due to them as human beings. Throughout the rest of her life, St. Teresa of Kolkata continued to do her best to serve the Lord and His people, following Him to whichever path that He wanted her to go, and famously mentioning at the time when she was given the Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts, that she was just ‘an instrument in the hands of the Lord.’

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all be inspired by the great examples of St. Teresa of Kolkata and the many other saints, holy men and women of God, so that our lives and efforts will truly be centred on God and that we will not be swayed by the temptations of worldly ambitions, power and glory. Instead, let us all humbly seek the Lord and strive to be always guided by Him and His Wisdom in all things. Let us all be the instruments of the Lord’s works, and be the ones through whom God would bring His many good works to fruition. May the Lord bless each and every one of us, in our every good effort, works and endeavours, now and always. Amen.

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Thursday, 5 September 2024 : 22nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Teresa of Kolkata, Religious (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Religious)

Luke 5 : 1-11

At that time, one day, as Jesus stood by the Lake of Gennesaret, with a crowd gathered around Him listening to the word of God, He caught sight of two boats, left at the water’s edge by fishermen, now washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to pull out a little from the shore. There He sat, and continued to teach the crowd.

When He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, “Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch.” Simon replied, “Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing. But if You say so, I will lower the nets.” This they did, and caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. They signalled their partners in the other boat to come and help them. They came, and they filled both almost to the point of sinking.

Upon seeing this, Simon Peter fell at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Leave me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” For he and his companions were amazed at the catch they had made, and so were Simon’s partners, James and John, Zebedee’s sons. Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid. You will catch people from now on.” So they brought their boats to land and followed Him, leaving everything.

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Thursday, 5 September 2024 : 22nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Teresa of Kolkata, Religious (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Religious)

Psalm 23 : 1-2, 3-4ab, 5-6

The earth and its fullness belong to YHVH, the world and all that dwell in it. He has founded it upon the ocean and set it firmly upon the waters.

Who will ascend the mountain of YHVH? Who will stand in His holy place? Those with clean hands and pure heart, who desire not what is vain.

They will receive blessings from YHVH, a reward from God, their Saviour. Such are the people who seek Him, who seek the face of Jacob’s God.

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Thursday, 5 September 2024 : 22nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Teresa of Kolkata, Religious (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Religious)

1 Corinthians 3 : 18-23

Do not deceive yourselves. If anyone of you considers himself wise in the ways of the world, let him become a fool, so that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s eyes. To this, Scripture says : God catches the wise in their own wisdom. It also says : The Lord knows the reasoning of the wise, that it is useless.

Because of this, let no one boast about human beings, for everything belongs to you; Paul, Apollos, Cephas – life, death, the present and the future. Everything is yours, and you, you belong to Christ, and Christ is of God.

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Tuesday, 5 September 2023 : 22nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Teresa of Kolkata, Religious (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Religious)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Lord in the Scriptures, we are all reminded of the need for each and every one of us to remain faithful to God and to entrust ourselves in His love and kindness, because it was by His ever present and enduring love for us that we have been assured of the providence and help that God has always ever constantly provided to us. God has always cared for us all and He has always thought about us, without ceasing. Because of this, we should always trust in Him and obey His Law and commandments, and we should not allow the wicked and evil temptations all around us to dissuade us and tempt us away from the path of righteousness and virtue which God had led us into, so that we may indeed be worthy of God and not be swayed into the false path towards our downfall.

In our first reading today, taken from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Thessalonians, we heard the Apostle keeping with his encouragement of the faithful people in Corinth, which if we have heard the story about them through the same sequence of readings in these past weeks, we will know that they have been faithful and devout, exemplary and great in their way of obeying God and His Law and commandments, in their love for one another and righteous way of life, in persevering for the Lord and in abandoning the wicked ways of the pagan and idol worship. As compared to many of the other communities that St. Paul had been writing and addressing his Epistles to, the Thessalonians community and Church have shown their contemporaries how one should live correctly as Christians and disciples of the Lord.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard of the Lord in His works and ministry in Capernaum, a town in Galilee, where He often performed His miracles and wonders, and where He did His teachings and preachings among the people, who were often amazed and astonished by His great wisdom and teaching authority. It was also where people often brought the sick and those who suffered various maladies and sickness to Him as well. And in today’s account in particular, we heard of how someone who was possessed by evil spirits came to the Lord and shouted at Him, revealing before all that He is the Saviour, the Holy One of God sent into this world. Those evil spirits genuinely feared the Lord and at the same time they wanted to do something to try to disrupt His works, by sowing confusion among the people in revealing the Lord’s true nature.

Back then, we must understand that it was difficult for the Lord to navigate the strong opposition from the members of the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, the elders and the chief priests, many of whom were opposed to the Lord, to His works and teachings. That was why the Lord often kept His identity a secret and told His disciples that they should not speak of what they have heard and seen, when they received revelations and truth about the Lord Jesus being the Saviour and Son of God. Thus, in that occasion when the evil spirits threatened to make the work difficult for the Lord in Capernaum, and at the same time, in not wanting to allow those same evil spirits to torment and dominate over the man any longer, He rebuked those evil spirits and ordered them all to leave the man be.

Thus, we heard in that occasion how the Lord cast out those evil spirits from the possessed man, and showed His authority even over demons and evil spirits, which further highlighted and showed the truth of God having manifested Himself in His Son, Jesus Christ, in this world, to come into our midst and to rescue us all from the depredations and attacks from the evil one. He has shown us all His merciful side and love, His generosity in always ever being ready to reach out to us and in giving us all the strength and help, so that through Him we may find the way to grace and eternal life, and liberation from the dominion of sin, evil and death, just as He had done to the possessed man. While God despises our sins and wickedness, but He has always loved us all and wants each one of us to be reconciled to Him.

With this same spirit and commitment therefore, all of us should do whatever we can so that we may also dedicate ourselves in love towards the Lord and towards our fellow brothers and sisters. All of us have been called by God to be the bearers of His truth and Good News, to be the beacons of His love and light, in the midst of all the hatred, evils and wickedness in this world. Each and every one of us should heed the great examples set by our holy predecessors, all those who have gone before us, so that we may truly be holy and worthy of God, in all of our lives, actions, works and deeds. And today, we have the examples of St. Teresa of Kolkata, also better known as Mother Teresa, as the great example, role model and inspiration that we should emulate in our lives today. St. Teresa of Kolkata and her actions in reaching out for the poor and the least fortunate should inspire us to do the same with our own lives.

St. Teresa of Kolkata was born as Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu or Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu in what is today Albania, to a family of Catholic Albanians, who was called early to her vocations when she was inspired by the story of missionaries and the works they did in the region of Bengal and India. Eventually, this led to the young Agnes joining the Sisters of Loreto, and aspiring to become a religious sister and missionary. She eventually went to India, and took up the name of Teresa upon entering the convent, living her life as a religious in caring for the needs of the community. During those years, St. Teresa was gradually more and more disturbed by the abject poverty which were rampant around her convent and school community. This eventually led to her embracing the new calling and mission of the Lord, beginning a new missionary outreach in caring for the poor, the sick and the dying, which led to the establishment of the Missionaries of Charity.

St. Teresa tirelessly worked hard for the sake of those to whom she had dedicated herself to, and inspired many others within her community with her dedication and efforts, while facing hardships, challenges and trials throughout her journey and mission. But she did not allow all those obstacles and hardships to distract or dissuade her from her commitment to her mission, or to her love for her fellow brothers and sisters, especially to the poorest, the last and the least among the people, and for all those who did not have anywhere else to go to, or anyone else to turn towards. St. Teresa established homes and care places to take care of those who were sick and dying, giving them the means to face suffering and death with dignity, caring for the least fortunate amongst us, and showing unto us the love of God manifested in our midst.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, the well-known examples set by St. Teresa of Kolkata should serve to remind us to keep ourselves strongly dedicated to God, as well as to turn away from all sins and wickedness. We should instead be filled with genuine love from God, and with the desire to love our fellow brothers and sisters, much as what St. Teresa of Kolkata and all those inspired by her had done. All of us should do our part so that we may always seek to be ever more faithful and worthy of God, in all of our words and actions, in our every interactions and dealings, so that through us, and our works, we may ever be blessed and be filled with God’s grace. May God bless us always, in our every good works, efforts and endeavours. Amen.

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Tuesday, 5 September 2023 : 22nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Teresa of Kolkata, Religious (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Religious)

Luke 4 : 31-37

At that time, Jesus went down to Capernaum, a town of Galilee, and began teaching the people at the Sabbath meetings. They were astonished at the way He taught them, for His word was spoken with authority.

In the synagogue, there was a man possessed by an evil spirit, who shouted in a loud voice, “What do You want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I recognise You : You are the Holy One of God.”

Then Jesus said to him sharply, “Be silent and leave this man!” The evil spirit then threw the man down in front of them, and came out of him without doing him harm. Amazement seized all these people, and they said to one another, “What does this mean? He commands the evil spirits with authority and power. He orders, and you see how they come out!”

And news about Jesus spread throughout the surrounding area.