There is great power found in one single YES

Today the Universal Church honors Mother Teresa of Calcutta…..A woman who was known all around the world….But before the world knew this woman….God was molding her…Preparing her for the role she was to play on the world stage….How is God molding you?…Are you cooperating with him?……Mother Teresa in her life wore "many hats"….In her youth her family was very wealthy, until her father was murdered, which in turn impoverished her family…….At 18 she left home and never returned again to her native country of Albania, never to see her mother again….For 20 years she taught at an affluent all girl school in Calcutta…..And then God called her to do something “else”, to form a religious order to serve the people of the streets…And she complied with God’s “ask”…..And for 17 years she served the poor at a Home for the Dying and Destitute…..She was complete unknown to the world during those many years of hard work....…Until Life Magazine sent a reporter to Calcutta and wrote an article about her work, bringing it to the attention of the world…..That is where the story of “Mother Teresa” begins as we all know it…But before that…Many “chapters” of life happened…To form her - To become "Mother Teresa"…Today, in the Gospel of St Luke read to us at Mass, Jesus tell us about “old and new wine skins”….To teach us about changing…About evolving……”No one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the new wine will burst the skins, and it will be spilled, and the skins will be ruined. Rather, new wine must be poured into fresh wineskins. And no one who has been drinking old wine desires new, for he says, 'The old is good”……..Like all fathers of children, God sees the finished product of our life….The way we are “supposed to be”….God has a master plan for our life…To mold us and shape us in his image and likeness…That only happens when we cooperate with him…..Not everyone’s life will turn out to be like Mother Teresa…However, each of us has something very important to do for the Kingdom of God…..But this requires us to evolve, allowing sanctifying grace to shape us….Jesus tells us today in the Gospel that some people told him…”The old is good”……For those who held that position, they missed point of the parable….”New wine” must be poured into “new wine skins”…That means we are to evolve…..We are to change….We are to be transformed…..Everythinging that has happened to you has prepared you for that transformation…Just like Mother Teresa…..She cooperated with God…With each new chapter of life she said YES to God……..Are we doing the same?

“I am the light of the world, says the Lord; whoever follows me will have the light of life”

Outside of my parents…No other person’s life has impacted mine as Mother Teresa’s life did….If you have been fortunate enough in your life to have met one of the Missionaries of Charity sisters - Then in a way you have met Mother Teresa…In my 55 years of existence on this earth…I have NEVER met people like them…And trust me…I have met every kind of person you can imagine!……This is the power of a pure heart…Merely by witnessing the purity of such a person - The impact is lasting and as we say in New Jersey - It “leaves a mark”…..Why is that? - Because in each of us - No matter what we claim to believe or say - There is a deep longing for goodness and purity……Allow we to share a story......Years ago it was Good Friday……The Missionaries of Charity sisters were serving in Lower Manhattan at a hospice where men (mostly homosexual men) came to die as a result of the AIDS virus….I do not recall the name of this man I am about to tell you about but for the purposes of this story, lets call him John….John had an advanced case of HIV and was dying….Sadly however, he was not behaving well while living in the hospice run by the sisters, so he would be asked to leave - But John kept trying his best - After being asked to leave, he would always come back - Say he was sorry - Live in the Hospice for a time - Do something crazy - Be asked to leave again - Only to come back - Again and again....…I think you get my point - And the circle continued for some time….Eventually, the virus got the better of John and he was admitted into St Vincent’s hospital in Lower Manhattan to die…John knew he was dying…..So what does he do? - True to form - John being John - He escapes from the hospital……When the hospital staff could not find him, they called the sisters and they were worried about John….The next thing that happened was what I call a legitimate Good Friday miracle…..When John escaped from the hospital, he went back to the only real home he knew…The hospice run by the the Missionaries of Charity….And when there sisters came home from the afternoon Good Friday service…They found John in his old bed…He came home to die….This is a true story….The Superior of the house (Sister Vineeth) knew John was about to die and she stayed with him cradling him in her arms, until the Lord took him……Why tell this story?…..Because John, who clearly was not an “altar boy” could still recognize love when he saw it…..And because he experienced love from the sisters, he eventual “came around”…..I call this a miracle!….As Christ suffered and died on Good Friday…..So did John…And by God’s grace…John in the end “figured it out”……Only the witness of love can make a person do what John did…Arguments….Facts…..That will never make a person who has “dug in” and turned their back to God “come around”….…Only when they experience the purity of heart from another…..So what are we to do as Catholics?….We must cooperate with God….He has a plan for our life….To transform us…But here is the “catch”….We can not self manufacture this transformation - No "book" can tell us how to do it…..We need Sacramental grace…..This is what made Mother Teresa who she was - And that is why John wanted to die in the arms of one of the Missionaries of Charity sisters

“I am the light of the world, says the Lord; whoever follows me will have the light of life”

Today Jesus in the Gospel of Luke talks about old and new wine skins…How the old must be put aside for the new…..Mother Teresa was a great example of this…She lived many “different lives” in her long life…..She cooperated with God…Allowing him to continue to form her…She continued to say YES…She continued to evolve…And that is how the world came to know “Mother Teresa”…How about us?…….Are we satisfied with the status quo?….Something new is always around the corner - God is the master builder and he has a plan…..The old may have been good - But the new will be even better……”New wine must be poured into fresh wineskins” - There is great power found in one single YES…………….JMJ