Denver Catholic

10 AUGUST 27-SEPTEMBER 9, 2016 | DENVER CATHOLIC BY AARON LAMBERT T he woman stood at a mere 5 foot zero, but her mountainous faith towered high above those she encountered. "She was diminutive in physical stat- ure, she was a giant in her firmness and her vision of life,"´ Cardinal J. Francis StaŒord recalled.´ Cardinal StaŒord served as arch- bishop of Denver during Mother Tere- sa's historic visit to Denver in 1989, when she announced that her Mission- aries of Charity would bless the Mile High City with their presence. Following her presentation at McNichols Arena, Mother Teresa, Cardi- nal StaŒord and several others ate lunch together prior to going to look at possible convents for the Missionaries of Charity. "After lunch, we were moving from the table, and we had to pass across a crucifix. [Mother Teresa] was ahead of me as she was leaving, and she stopped and looked at the cross with the body of Christ upon it," Cardinal StaŒord recounted. "She gazed at it for several minutes in silence. We waited with her, respected her desire to contemplate the cross of Christ, and suddenly she said in Latin, 'sitio''— 'I thirst.' And she just left." This is kind of woman Mother Teresa was. She was one with Christ in her own thirst for holiness; a thirst that will declare this beloved woman a saint on Sept. 4. ABLAZE IN THE DARK In her autobiography, Mother Teresa spoke of darkness. She was consumed by a darkness that permeated her mind and her heart. "I feel so much pain and torture that I cannot explain," she wrote. Having spent her life serving the poor, sick and dying in Calcutta, it's not dicult for one to imagine the sorrow Mother Teresa must have felt. "In some way, I think the´sitio'is an explanation of that darkness," Cardinal StaŒord said. "It was not only the thirst of Christ, it was her oneness with the thirst of Christ in the midst of his suf- fering on Calvary. She became one with that abandonment that Christ spoke of." Despite the darkness she lived in, Mother Teresa was an immense ray of light in a world that so desperately needed it. It was her holy simplicity that set her apart, her raw courage that enabled her to do what she did, and her utter dependence on God that gave her the strength to do so. "In Mother Teresa's life, we see this complexity that emerges from this holy simplicity," Cardinal StaŒord said. "She was absolutely dependent on God, even in the midst of this terrible darkness that could have been enervating to her, but wasn't. It was energizing, rather than enervating." SAINT TERESA OF CALCUTTA And now, at last, Mother Teresa of Calcutta will become Saint Teresa of Calcutta on Sept. 4. As with the many saints who have come before her, she serves as an example of holiness for the faithful to follow, not only as someone who experienced the absence of God in her life, but found joy in the midst if it. "For contemporary men and women who sense the absence of God in their life, it's very important for us to reflect upon the immense courage and the unfolding of the meaning of faith in the life of a human being as it was described by Blessed Teresa," Cardinal StaŒord commented. "Mother Teresa has told us that the absence of God is really God's presence to us. The absence of God indi- cates his presence to us, and Mother Teresa understood that in spades. "Mother Church has given us Teresa of Calcutta now. A woman who lived in darkness, but lived in that darkness with the light of faith — that dark ray of light that suddenly illumines the dark- ness with a wisdom and knowledge that only those who have faith understand and see. She's model for us, not simply for the darkness, but for the joy." The Holy Communion of Saints warmly welcomes Mother Teresa of Calcutta. Saint Teresa, pray for us. Cover Story ONE DENVER CATHOLIC SHARES HER'EXPERIENCE OF MOTHER TERESA During Mother Teresa's 1989 visit, St. Rose of Lima parishio- ner Helen Onofrio was asked to prepare a prayer altar for the Blessed Mother. She acquired an ante-room and a small table near the auditorium, and she took a rug from her home, an altar cloth, a vase and one single stem red rose. She then carefully pre- pared the altar with her sister and waited for Mother Teresa to arrive. When Mother Teresa entered the room, she didn't notice Onof- rio and her sister at first. After kneeling to pray silently for 15 minutes, Mother Teresa stood up, turned around and noticed them. "She came up to us, blessed each of us, and gave each of us a big hug," Onofrio said. "She was a tiny lady, but the strength in her face and in her eyes…she seemed like a giant." Before Mother Teresa left to give her presentation, Onofrio asked her to autograph one of the programs, which she has kept framed to this day, as well as the rose that was on the altar. Onofrio also kept the rug upon which Mother Teresa knelt to pray, which she donated to St. Rose of Lima. "It was a great blessing and an honor and experience that I will never forget," Onofrio said of meeting Mother Teresa. One with the thirst of Christ Cardinal Sta•ord and Mother Teresa at McNich- ols Arena, May 20, 1989. FILE PHOTO BY JAMES BACA She was dimin- utive in physical stature, she was a giant in her firm- ness and her vision of life." CARDINAL STAFFORD " See bulletin board or Denver Catholic online calendar for canonization events CANONIZATION i MOTHER TERESA Watch exclusive video interviews at denvercatholic.org

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