By Archbishop Thomas Wenski - The Archdiocese of Miami
Homily by Archbishop Thomas Wenski at Mass with the Missionaries of Charity at their shelter on the anniversary of their founding. Monday, August 22, 2016.
Today we celebrate the anniversary of the founding of the Missionaries of Charity – when responding to a “vocation within a vocation,” Mother Teresa began a new community of religious dedicated to serving the poorest of the poor.
Isn’t it wonderful that the sisters wished to share this special day with all of us? And this special day will soon be followed by another, September 4th. Mother entered into eternal life on September 4, 1997, on this September 4th, Pope Francis will raise her to the altars canonizing her as Saint Teresa of Kolkata.
Today, also, is the feast day of Mary Queen of Heaven – but because of the special devotion of Mother to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, we celebrate the anniversary of the Missionaries using the prayers provided in the Missal for the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
Mary's life can be summed up with four words found in the Gospels. The first word is "Fiat" - this is Mary's "yes" to the proposal God made to her through the Angel Gabriel. The second word is "Magnificat" – “my soul magnifies the Lord”, as one translation renders it. "Magnificat" describes then Mary's response to God's grace at work in her life. Then, a third word, "Conservabat" - Mary kept all these things pondering them in her heart; and a final word, "Stabat", which describes her standing faithfully at the foot of the cross watching her Son dies for humanity.
Fiat, Magnificat, Conservabat, Stabat: Mary's life in a nutshell. These words are also descriptive of Mother Teresa and her sisters, the Missionaries of Charity. But since Mary’s "Fiat" made her the first disciple or Christian, these words also set forth a pattern for each of us to follow in our own lives.
We too are called to say "Yes" to God's plan for our lives, and our response to that plan lived out concretely in our lives should also "magnify the Lord". We too are to keep the Word alive in our hearts meditating on the things that God has done for us; and to stand with Christ, especially to stand with him in the poor, the suffering, the persecuted.
"Fiat". Be it done to me according to your Word”. Mary’s life was a “yes” to all the God asked of her. St. Augustine once said, “Mary cooperated through charity in the work of our redemption.” And these sisters – like Mother before them – are called to do the same. Today, on the anniversary of their founding, the sisters here will renew before God and before all of us their vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. They will renew their “Fiat”.
“Magnificat” – “My soul magnifies the Lord”. Now some people might think that to take such vows limits their freedom – but for a religious sister in particular, and for us Christians in particular, freedom does not mean to be able to do what we please but rather it is the freedom to do as we ought.
So to promise to follow what are called the evangelical counsels is in no way a limiting of freedom or a diminishment of one’s life or possibilities; rather the vows that these sisters renew today are what make it possible for them in imitation of Mary to cooperate through charity in the work of redemption. “Magnificat” – in the measure I do something beautiful for God, I magnify the Lord.
“Conservabat.” “Mary kept all these things pondering them in her heart.” Behind every altar in every house of the Missionaries we see an image of Jesus crucified and alongside this image the words that Jesus spoke from his cross, “I thirst”. Prayer and meditation on the Word of God is what makes possible a life of service.
“Stabat”. Mary stood at the foot of the Cross. Mother Teresa reminded us that we are to recognize the presence of Christ in every human person – even if sometimes that presence may be well hidden or disagreeably disguised in one particular person or another. The Missionaries of Charity also stand with Mary at the foot of the Cross. Their charitable works help quench the thirst of Jesus – the thirst he experiences in the least of his brethren and the thirst he has for the souls he wishes to redeem.
Through the intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, we pray that the Missionaries of Charity persevere in their doing something beautiful for God. And may those four Latin words that summarize Our Blessed Mother’s life, Mary’s “Fiat”, “Magnificat”, “Conservabet”, and “Stabat”, also give shape to our lives as Christians and Catholics.
