Missionaries of Charity Homeless Outreach

“Which of these three, do you think, proved neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?”  He said, “The one who showed mercy on him.” And Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.” ~Luke 10:36-37 The Parable of the Good Samaritan

“Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.” ~Matthew 25:40 Parable of the Sheep and the Goats

The Missionaries of Charity Sisters (Mother Teresa’s Sisters or the Sisters of Mother Teresa,as many call us) is a religious community in the Catholic Church, founded by Mother Teresa of Calcutta (now St. Teresa of Calcutta) in 1950 in Calcutta, India. Their community is totally dedicated to the service of the poorest of the poor, irrespective of social class, creed or colour. They deliberately choose to show God’s concern for the poorest and the lowliest, remaining right on the ground, while offering immediate and effective service to those in need, until they can find someone who can help them in a better and more lasting way. In the words of their founder, Mother Teresa of Calcutta, “The aim of the Missionary Sisters of Charity is to devote themselves heart and soul and exclusively to the material and spiritual welfare of all destitute people, the helpless poor, neglected children, the abandoned sick, lepers and deserving beggars – in short all those unfortunates who, either through their own neglect or through lack of public concern, are left to drift through life without help or hope.”

The Missionaries of Charity is the only organization founded by Mother Teresa of Calcutta to carry out her mission of love and perpetuate her legacy. As a registered charity in India (and various other countries of the world), and with its headquarters in Calcutta, the organization is serving the poorest of the poor across the globe.

On 10 September 1946, Mother M. Teresa (aLoreto nun at a time) received an inspiration from God to found a new congregation devoted to the service of the poorest of the poor. After obtaining the approval of the Archbishop ofCalcutta, Ferdinand Perier, S.J., and the permission of the Holy See (Vatican), Mother Teresa left the Loreto convent in August 1948 to begin her new work among the poor in the slums of Calcutta. The first 12 young women, most of who knew her as she had been their teacher and head mistress, followed in her footsteps and soon became known as the "running congregation" in the slums of Calcutta. On October 7, 1950, Archbishop Perier, S.J. erected the Missionaries of Charity as a diocesancongregation, for the Archdiocese of Calcutta.

Mother Teresa began to visit the poorest of the poor in their homes and on the street, to care for the sick and the dying, and to gather and teach little street children.She opened slum schools, medical dispensaries and fooddistribution centers. In 1952, Mother Teresa opened “Nirmal Hriday” (Immaculate Heart), the first home for the dying destitutes; in1955, she opened “Shishu Bhavan”the first home for the abandoned children and in 1957 the first mobile leprosy clinic. Her first mission outside Calcutta was in Ranchi in 1959. Throughout the 1950s and early 1960s, Mother Teresa expanded the work both in Calcutta and throughout India. In 1965when she and her and her sisters embarked on their first mission “abroad” in Cocorote, Venezuela; very soon followed foundations on all five continents. At the time of Mother Teresa’s death in 1997, there were 3,914sisters in 594 missions in 123 countries. Various works developed as she endeavored to meet the needs of the poorest of the poor around the world. Intime it included homes for them, those who had TB,those physically mentally challenged, suffering with various mental illness, AIDS patients,night shelters, soup kitchens, homes for the unwed mothers and mothers with children in difficulties,afterschool programs and summer camps for children from poor families, and so on.Their website, missionariesofcharity.org, states that their objective is to love and serve the poorest of the poor, both materially and spiritually, not only in the slums, but also all over the world wherever they may be. In doing so, they endeavor to live the love of God in prayer and action in a life marked by the simplicity and humility of theGospel. They put their love into action by:

• nursing the sick and dying destitutes;
• gathering and teaching the poor and little street children;
• visiting and caring for beggars, leprosy patients and their children;
• giving shelter to the abandoned and homeless;
• caring for the unwanted, the unloved and the lonely.

In her effort to “bring souls to God and God to the souls,” Mother Teresa taught: "What these poor people need desperately is genuine kindness – But what we want to bring into their lives is not merely kindness and benevolence!Our spirit is the spirit of Christ, Whom we see and serve in the poor, the suffering and the sick. Hence mere material help, even the most abundant, could never change these lives for the better. However if supplemented inspired by spiritual outlook and guidance,surely some bright rays of hope and courage will penetrate into their sad lives, and do away, to some extent with that terrible destitution that drives so many to lawlessness, vice and despair.” The mission of the active Sisters is supported by the prayer, silence, fasting and penance of their contemplative Sisters.

They are always looking for help in their mission to help the homeless and the poor. Some friends and I had the pleasure to volunteer and assist them this past Friday, August the 8th. I and three friends of mine from my Bible study group volunteered to assist them. We loaded everything in between 2 cars. We had cases of bottled water and a lot of pizza from Little Caesars. The four of us, with two of the sisters, drove up and down the streets of Sacramento, stopping and handing out pizza, water, and prayers to every homeless person we saw. Sad to say, there were so many homeless that at one point one of my Bible study friends and I stopped in a small convenience store to replenish after running out of bottled water. After we were finished, we even had the pleasure of spending an hour of Adoration before the Eucharist with the sisters in their chapel.

Anyone can volunteer. They will take donations, but also some locations need more manpower…and horsepower (transportation). If you are interested, and I strongly encourage everyone to volunteer, you can also visit their website mentioned above for more information.