Up until now, this pilgrimage has been an excercise in the unknown and the unexpected. Based on God's penchant for pushing us out of our comfort zones, this makes complete sense. However, perhaps one of my most powerful experiences stemmed not from stumbling on a cathedral that I had no clue existed, though believe me there have been some inspirational cathedrals, but rather on careful reflection on the life of Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta, a true saint of our times who I have grown up hearing about my entire life.
Located gloriously near our hotel, a blessing to our travel-weary group of pilgrims, The travelling museum exhibit, "Mother Teresa: Life, Spirituality, and Message" contains photos, a comprehensive telling of Mother Teresa's story--often in her own words and relics. It also offers pilgrims a chance to pray and reflect on the inspirational example of Mother Teresa by providing a place of prayer.
Blessed Mother Teresa's life truly corresponds to what has proven to be a major theme of World Youth Day: having the faith to totally abandon oneself to the will of God. "I surrender myself completely to the good God's disposal" reads one of the first quotes of the exhibit. Mother Teresa stands as a dynamic example of blind faith in the will of the Father. From her initial answering of God's call to become a religious sister with the express vocation of spreading the love of Christ as a missionary, to her later deeper understanding of her vocation to form the Missionaries of Charity and carry the light of Christ into the slums of the world by serving the poor of the poor, Mother Teresa was always willing to give everything over to God. The exhibit reveals that Mother Teresa made a private vow early in her ministry never to hold back anything from Christ--or suffer the pain of mortal sin. I found myself inspired and almost intimiated by this demonstration of reckless abandonment to God.
The exhibit goes into great depth dealing with what Mother Teresa came to call "The Darkness," that period of her life when she felt completely cut off from Christ. It is perhaps one of the most profound examples of the so-called, "Dark night of the soul." After her death, the media made much of this period in Mother Teresa's life, almost as if they were trying to discredit her faith in God. The exhibit, however, shows this "Darkness" for what it truly was and how Mother Teresa eventually came to be thankful for it. In this period of intense interior desolation, Christ was allowing Mother Teresa to experience the deep sorrow and anguish He himself felt at the plight of the poor who lived without Him.
Mother Teresa was truly a modern saint and one of the most powerful elements of the exhibit is to see the fruits of her labors alive and well. The Missionaries of Charity are constantly walking around the exhibit and are happy to talk and answer questions. One sister from the Czech Republic took a picture with members of our group and recalled her experience as a small girl of seeing Mother Teresa years ago when she visited her country. The sister's face lit up as she recalled the encounter.
We are called to be Christ to the earth; to serve as He served and to love as He loved. One sees this truly in the life of Mother Teresa. The exhibit opens with a picture of the children of Calcutta. They are looking at Mother Teresa with eyes that brim with tears, trust, and love. Even though it is the only picture in the exhibit that Mother Teresa doesn't appear in directly, it is the most accurate picture of her I have ever seen. In fact, it is perhaps such a beautiful portrait because she doesn't appear in it. Mother Teresa did not care about leaving a legacy by which she would be remembered and glorified, she cared about doing the work of Christ on earth. That is what the photo shows. I realized as I stared at that picture that this is precisely how children would have looked at Christ. Then it struck me, the children in the picture are.
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