By Lois Rogers | Correspondent
After Sept. 4, the diminutive woman who challenged humanity in the name of Jesus to care for the poor, dying and discarded, will be known to the world as St. Teresa of Kolkata.
But in the convent complex on Ridge Avenue in Asbury Park, where four sisters of her Missionaries of Charity set out every day to share her consistent message of human dignity, it’s likely she’ll simply still be called “Mother.”
One morning, about two weeks before the canonization was scheduled to take place in Rome, that familiar appellation rippled through the convent air with consistency. Over and over it surfaced gently as Sister Rose Therese, the superior in Asbury Park, spoke of the ideals that Mother bequeathed to the world and how they had translated to the Diocese of Trenton through the work of the sisters.
Sister Rose Therese was born and raised in the Indian state of Kerala, a predominantly Catholic area. Many locals believe the faith was originally brought to the area by the Apostle Thomas during his travels to South India. She arrived in Asbury Park about two months ago after serving at a home for men living with AIDS in Baltimore.
She is one of 5,039 members of the order founded in 1950 with 12 women. Today, the order serves in more than 600 foundations in 123 countries, including in 37 dioceses across the United States, according to the Official Catholic Directory.
Called to be a sister in 1993, Sister Rose Therese entered the Missionaries of Charity novitiate at age 23, where she was formed by Mother.
“She gave us classes; we prayed together in the same house. She was a real mother to poor people,” said Sister Rose Therese, who has served in the United States and Canada and is fluent in French, English and Malayalm, a language of where she grew up.
People recognized Mother Teresa’s spiritual maternity and clung to her, said Sister Rose Therese.
“They would call from the streets, ‘Mother, Mother’ into the house. They knew she was loving and understanding” and that love was conveyed to those called to the religious order she founded, she said.
“Mother (was) so simple. She didn’t know why people came to see her,” but she “wanted to be a saint. She wants everyone to be a saint,” in their daily life, said Sister Rose Therese.
“It isn’t a luxury that you get to pick and choose. Mother focused on the fact that Jesus took human nature. He took our nature. And like her, I don’t want to be an angel; I want to be a saint and be with the Lord.
“With Mother, you want to offer service to the poor,” in the name of Jesus,” Sister Rose Therese said. “You don’t miss your family. You don’t miss your life because you are with everybody – young and old. You are not missing any state of life.”
Loving and Serving
In November 1998, the Diocese received a letter from the order’s motherhouse in Kolkata seeking approval for a residence within a city where their services would meet the greatest needs. After visiting a number of sites throughout the Diocese, the sisters asked to be established in a house near St. Peter Claver Parish on the western side of Asbury Park.
And there they remain today, just around the corner from St. Peter Claver Center, the bustling hub of service in Mother of Mercy Parish, which includes the former parishes of St. Peter Claver, Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Our Lady of Providence and Holy Spirit.
Life is very busy there, Sister Rose Therese said.
“Sometimes it feels like we barely have time to pray,” she said with a smile.
Rising at 4:40 a.m., their Morning Prayer begins 20 minutes later and is followed by a one-hour meditation and Litany of the Hours. Then comes house cleaning. At 7 a.m., they attend Mass either in their own chapel or in Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church, “where we receive Jesus and then we go out to bring him to others,” said Sister Rose Therese.
Indeed, by 9:30 a.m., Sisters Lee Fong, from Singapore, Franslily, born in Colombia, and Vandita, who like Sister Rose Therese is from Kerala, take their ministry into the streets of Asbury Park.
There, they fulfill on a daily basis the promise Mother Teresa made to Bishop John C. Reiss after her 1995 visit to Trenton.
Their constant witness is part of life on the streets of the city’s west side and its surroundings. There, they visit shut-ins and many in need of comfort and consolation.
“We visit everybody,” said Sister Rose Therese. “We have made a kind of friendship in Mother’s name,” she said. “We don’t impose our faith on people. We ask if we can pray for them. If they say ‘no’ that is okay. We will continue to visit them if they can tolerate us.”
Three days a week, the sisters and their devoted corps of volunteers also man the convent’s soup kitchen, and on Saturday evenings, their distinctive blue-and-white habits can be seen downtown at the city’s train station, a haven for the downtrodden. There, in a tradition established by volunteers for Mother Teresa’s good works even before the sisters arrived, they distribute food to the poor.
Sundays are dedicated to religious education for the children of the area. The youngsters are picked up by bus and conveyed to Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church for Mass with the sisters. Then they come back to the convent complex for catechetical studies. “Mother wants us in a parish Mass on Sundays,” said Sister Rose Therese.
She spoke also of the summer camp run annually by the sisters as another reflection of their founder’s positive emphasis. The program helped 65 children stay occupied and happy this summer, she said, breaking into a delighted grin.
“And we get to evangelize them, get them to know Jesus, teach them songs that focus on knowing Mother Teresa. They do arts and crafts and have a weekly outing to area parks for swimming and cook outs. It’s a very happy time.”
‘Mother’s Great Day’
Throughout the year, special events created by the sisters – such as the annual pageant that melds the Nativity and Three Kings Day into one, celebration – unite the community.
Sept. 4 is certain to do the same. On this 19th anniversary of her death, she will be proclaimed a saint by Pope Francis in Rome in what Sister Rose Therese calls a “great celebration of Mother – Mother’s feast. Mother’s great day.”
The sisters were hopeful that faithful would gather with them from around the Diocese for a Novena honoring the great occasion that began Aug. 26 and was scheduled to conclude Sept. 3.
They were looking forward to worshiping with everyone at the Mass of Thanksgiving to be celebrated by Bishop David M. O’Connell in Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church, Sept. 4 at 11 a.m., but wanted to take a back seat.
“It’s a celebration of the Church for Mother. It is for her, not for us,” said Sister Rose Therese. “Only Mother is Mother.”