Teresa's Journey and Call to Ministry

Teresa's Journey to Secularization

• Teresa's final vows were unbreakable, requiring convincing from her superiors.
• The archbishop required Teresa's secularization.
• Teresa wrote to the Loreto motherhouse in Ireland, receiving their response within a month.
• Teresa's superior authorized her to apply to the Church in Rome for an indult.
• The archbishop insisted on secularization, prompting Teresa to follow his instructions and request it from Rome.
• The Vatican granted both secularization and exclaustration, giving Teresa the choice.
• This decision took four months, with Teresa praying before hearing the news.
• The archbishop placed a one-year probationary period on Teresa to test her suitability for secular life.

Teresa's Call to Ministry

• Teresa worried that her superiors would think she was foolish, proud, or mad when she revealed her call to a new ministry.
• The call to serve the poor meant sacrificing the comforts of her Loreto sisterhood.
• Teresa felt God wanted her to be poor with the poor.
• Leaving the Loreto Sisters to work among the poor involved significant bureaucratic hurdles.
• The "ecclesial red tape" took two years to obtain permission.
• Teresa’s journey depended heavily on her confessor, Fr. Celeste Van Exem.

The Call Within a Call

• Teresa had a profound calling to leave the Loreto Sisters and dedicate her life to serving the poorest.
• This calling occurred on September 10th, annually celebrated as "Inspiration Day" by the Missionaries of Charity.
• Teresa refused to discuss the experience, except to say it was not a vision or rapture, but something else entirely.

St. Teresa of Calcutta

• St. Teresa decided to leave the Loreto order.
• She purchased simple white saris with blue stripes, which later became the habit of her new order, in honor of the Virgin Mary.
• Her departure caused distress and shock among the Loreto Sisters.
• Some sisters thought God had led her to a new ministry, while others felt betrayed.
• The sisters were advised to pray for her success or failure.
• Teresa removed her Loreto habit and left the compound without fanfare, adopting a blue-edged sari.
• She recognized a need for knowledge in first aid to help the poor.

Fr. Van Exem and St. Teresa of Calcutta

• Fr. Van Exem initially came to India to foster Christian-Muslim dialogue.
• His relationship with St. Teresa evolved from spiritual director to actively assisting her ministry.
• He advised St. Teresa to discern her call for several months.
• He offered her strategic advice on how to proceed.
• He suggested two options for seeking permission to leave the Loreto Sisters.
• Fr. Van Exem strongly supported the second route and aided Teresa in writing a letter to the archbishop.
• He provided advice on what to say if the archbishop wished to interview her.
• Fr. Van Exem volunteered to hand carry Teresa's letter and act as an advocate for her.

St. Teresa of Calcutta: A Description of the Instrument

• St. Teresa believed she heard a clear call from Christ to undertake a new ministry.
• A significant aspect of her ministry involved quiet and intimate prayer.
• Her call was deeply connected with Christ's thirst for love and care.
• The call emphasized the importance of ministering to marginalized people.
• The founding of the Missionaries of Charity stemmed from this call.
• The words related to Christ's thirst were prominently displayed in the order's chapels.
• The call and the experience were not limited to the initial event but continued throughout her life.
• St. Teresa's personal reflections further clarify her understanding of the instrument.

The Call Within a Call

• The archbishop's initial response to Teresa's proposed ministry was discouraging.
• Périer was cautious and wanted confirmation of Teresa's calling before supporting her.
• His annoyance stemmed from Teresa being a newly arrived priest who lectured him on his ministry.
• Périer said he was only just arrived in India and did not know the will of God.
• The meeting between Périer and Van Exem led to no immediate action, with Périer instructing Van Exem to counsel Teresa to keep her desires secret.
• A panel of priests was commissioned to advise Périer on Teresa's petition.
• Teresa was assigned to a Loreto convent in Asansol, which may have been due to Périer's suggestion.

The Call Within a Call

• Mother Teresa reflected on her experience of "God's infinite longing to love and to be loved."
• This experience occurred during a 1946 train journey.
• She received a letter from Divine Light and Love.
• Private interior locutions from Jesus continued until mid-year after the experience.
• Jesus addressed her as "My own spouse" and "My own little one," urging compassion for the poor.
• She was consistently urged by Jesus to be a "light" to those in need.

The Meaning of Jesus’s Thirst

• Mother Teresa sought to understand the implications of invoking Jesus' thirst.
• Helping those in need was serving Christ.
• Mother Teresa lived in Calcutta, witnessing suffering and poverty among the Dalits.

A Defining Experience

• Mother Teresa had a revelation on a Darjeeling train.
• She concluded that the impoverished were Christ in physical disguise.
• Jesus desired something to quench his physical thirst; Similarly, Christ embodied in the Dalit women, children and men also thirsted for material aid.

Mother Teresa’s Experiences in Asansol

• The order to go to Asansol was initially intended as punishment but turned out to be a positive experience.
• Mother Teresa had ecstatic experiences, feeling connected to God.
• The Archbishop Périer was unimpressed and worried that Mother Teresa was fantasizing.
• While in Asansol, Périer returned to Europe to consult with other Jesuits about Mother Teresa's petition.
• Van Exem was ordered not to contact the other Jesuits.
• After returning to Calcutta, Mother Teresa appealed to the archbishop.
• Two priests advised that there was no obstacle to her petition.
• Périer finally granted Mother Teresa permission to write to her general superior.
• The archbishop stipulated that Mother Teresa had to request an "indult of secularization" to formally leave the Roman Catholic Church.

Jesus's "I thirst"

• Jesus's "I thirst" expressed an intense desire for love and companionship.
• Teresa recognized that "I thirst" also signified the longing for love Jesus felt in his final moments.
• Christ in the disguise of the poor thirsted not only for material necessities, but even more so for kindness, love, and compassion.
• Teresa concluded that the thirst for love was felt by everyone.
• Her experience convinced her to leave the Sisters of Loreto to serve the poor.
• Working with children made her "the happiest nun in the world," and forsaking it was a "great sacrifice."