The Mother House

After a few months in town it's easy to grow weary of the noise, the dirt, the trash, and the odors; particularly when all those things are compounded by a line of work that requires watching film after film of undercover brothel footage and reading gut-wrenching legal statements of young girls recounting their existence as sex slaves.  Silent meditation, corporate scriptural study and rich fellowship breathe life into us— that's why we begin every work day with an hour of the three combined. 

Standing alongside a fresh pair of eyes, watching them find the best in everything they see, is among our most rejuvenating practices.  We love having guests.  Along with fresh eyes they bring fresh energy, fresh chocolate, and fresh Starbucks coffee; none at which we scoff. 

Currently our office is hosting a team of staff and donors from IJM UK and IJM The Netherlands.  Today I got to accompany the team to the Missionaries of Charity's Mother House.  While the Missionaries of Charity work throughout the world, this is their home-base convent, and the home to Mother Teresa's tomb.

  

This is the sign just outside the entrance.  I loved seeing that Mother Teresa was "in" today.

Here are some of the nuns arriving from various work stations for Sunday afternoon mass:

 



 

Upon entering the building, the nuns took seats in a small room used for mass.

They sang "As the Deer" during their service.  Knowing the work and conditions to which they've committed their lives in the name of Christ, hearing them sing these words was moving.

When they finished mass, each nun approached Mother Teresa's tomb and knelt briefly in prayer.  

Today the tomb was topped in flowers arranged to read, "Be my fire of love."

 

 

Then, just as quietly as they had entered, the sisters returned to their work in the streets.

 

 

Walking where Mother Teresa had walked, praying where she had prayed, and being among the women who now carry on the mission she began was a source of great peace and strength for all of us.  We were blessed to be reminded that we are not alone in serving the oppressed, and admonished to remember that others in our city perform this same mission in working conditions far dirtier than ours.  Both through the encouragement of the sisters' fellowship and the silent contrast of their tasks to ours, I left with one simple conlusion: our work is not so bad.