Mother Teresa 	                             5 September
Missionary of Charity
Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu was born in 1910 in Albania. Her father died when she was eight. She felt a call to the religious life from an early age, and at 18 left home and joined the Sisters of Loreto intending to become a missionary. She went to Loreto Abbey in Ireland, where she learned English. The Sisters ran a school Darjeeling in India and Agnes went there in 1929. She became a novice of the community and took her first vows in 1931, taking as her religious name, Teresa, after Teresa of Lisieux. In 1937 she took her final vows. By that time she was teaching in a school in Calcutta.
Teresa became increasingly concerned about the poverty in Calcutta, exacerbated by a famine in 1943 and the outbreak of violence between Hindus and Moslems in 1946. In 1946 Teresa felt an urgent call to live and work among the poor. She began this work in 1948 and adopted the dress which became so distinctive of her, a white cotton robe with a blue border. The first year was extremely difficult and only her determination and faith kept her going. In 1950 she received papal approval to start the Missionaries of Charity. The community’s purpose was, in her own words, to care for “the hungry, the naked, the homeless, the crippled, the blind, the lepers, all those people who feel unwanted, unloved, uncared for throughout society, people that have become a burden to the society and are shunned by everyone”.
Mother Teresa was joined by others, initially from her old Order and then from elsewhere. As the Missionaries of Charity grew so Mother Teresa was able to expand the work beyond Calcutta. By the mid-1960s there were houses in various countries, not just in India. Mother Teresa also established other related orders so that the work could be extended. In addition to formal religious orders she began the Co-Workers of Mother Teresa, and the Sick and Suffering Co-Workers for people of various faiths, whose common bond was their support and encouragement of her work. 
Her international reputation and fame were considerably enhanced by the documentary on her work produced by Malcolm Muggeridge in 1969, Something Beautiful for God, published as a book with the same title in 1971. Also in 1971 Pope Paul VI awarded her the Pope John XXIII Peace Prize for her charitable work and efforts to promote peace. Other awards followed from various countries and she was honoured by leading international figures of the day. In 1979 she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
Mother Teresa has not been without her critics. Some charged that her charitable work, noble as it was, did nothing to alleviate the causes of poverty or address the social injustices that accompanied it. Mother Teresa ignored such criticisms. On the other hand she has consistently been cited as one of the most admired people in the world. 
There has never been any doubt over her commitment to the poor and destitute. Underlying that was a spiritual strength nourished by prayer and deep meditation. She greatly admired Francis of Assisi and themes of Franciscan spirituality are woven into the spiritual practices of the Missionaries of Charity. Mother Teresa conducted a voluminous correspondence, some of which has since been published. Some of this indicates a lack of certainty, but this never stood in the way or her commitment to her chosen work. She died on 5 September 1997, and was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 2002 with the title, Blessed Teresa of Calcutta.

For Liturgical Use
Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu was born in 1910 in Albania. She joined the Sisters of Loreto and went to India in 1929, taking her final vows in 1937 as Sr Teresa. In 1948 founded her own order, the Missionaries of Charity. For the rest of her life Mother Teresa ministered to the poor, sick, orphaned, and dying in Calcutta. She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979. She was widely admired as an advocate for the destitute. Following her death on 5 September 1997 she was beatified by the pope and given the title, Blessed Teresa of Calcutta.
Sentence
You are my helper and deliverer; make no long delay, O my God.	Psalm 40:22
Collects
Compassionate God,
by your grace Mother Teresa became a shining light
in the darkness of poverty and desitution;
grant that strengthened by her example
we may work for the inclusion of all people
within the embrace of our charity
and an end to the conditions that deprive your children
of freedom and justice;
through Jesus Christ our Redeemer.

Jesus,
for love of you
Teresa embraced the leper and the outcast
and gave them dignity.
Free us from our complicity
in all that leads to injustice,
Psalms	Psalm 10:13-20	82
Readings
Deuteronomy 24:17-22	Remember, you were slaves
James 1:22-27		Doers of the word
Mark 10:46-52		The blind beggar, Bartimaeus
Post Communion Sentence
Speak out for those who cannot speak, for the rights of all the destitute	Proverbs 31:8