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Mother Teresa
Saturday, September 13, 1997
Quotes from funeral of Mother Teresa
By The Associated Press
Excerpts from eulogies at Mother Teresa's funeral:
Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the Vatican's secretary of state, reading a message
from Pope John Paul:
"The hour has arrived for us to say a final farewell to the late Mother
Teresa. We are coming here from many corners of the world to demonstrate our
affection and gratitude and render a fitting homage. From the cold bier, the
unforgettable and dear mother continues to speak to us and seems to repeat
the Lord's words -- it is more blessed to give than receive.
"Mother Teresa of Calcutta understood fully this gospel of love. She
understood it with every fiber of her indomitable spirit and every ounce of
energy of her frail body. She practiced it with all her heart and through
the daily toil of her hands, crossing the frontiers of religious and ethnic
differences she has taught the world this lesson - it is more blessed to
give than to receive. ...
"The beggar, the leper, the victim of AIDS, do not need discussions and
theories -- they need love. ...
"At the close of a century which has known terrible extremes of darkness,
the light of conscious has not been altogether extinguished. Holiness,
goodness, kindness, love are still recognized when they appear on history's
stage. The holy father, Pope John Paul II, has given voice to what so many
people of every condition has seen in this woman of unshakable faith.
"Today, on behalf of Pope John Paul II who sent me here, I offer you a final
earthly farewell and in his name, I thank you for all you have done for the
poor of the world.
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The archbishop of Calcutta, Henry D'Souza:
"Perhaps the greatest message she has given to the world is the value and
dignity of human life. All human life is precious, in whatever condition we
find it, from the womb, to the tomb. ...
"To the dying and the suffering, she brought her tender compassion, washing
their wounds, easing their pain. And one of them said so touchingly,
'Mother, so long I have lived as an animal, now I am dying as an angel.' She
had restored to him human dignity and worth.
"She reached to lonely people...Mother Teresa understood the hunger of these
human hearts about whom she would say, 'The greatest poverty is to feel
unwanted and unloved.' And this poverty was to be found everywhere, even in
the affluent countries...
"Dealing with the poor is a divine encounter. The power of Mother Teresa was
that she had encountered God in herself, had come to love him and understand
his love before she went out to find him in the neighbor.
"She often said, 'The good news is that God loves us. Let us be grateful for
that love by loving others.'
"She said the poor people are great people. They can teach us many beautiful
things. The greatest injustice we have done to our poor people is that we
think they are good for nothing. We have forgotten to treat them with
respect, with dignity as a child of God. Often I think they are the ones to
whom we owe are greatest gratitude. They teach us. ...
"With the passing away of Mother Teresa, a chapter is closed and a new one
has begun. Her sisters will remember the assurance she gave. She said, 'I
did not know that the work would grow so fast or go so far. But I had this
conviction that if God blesses it, it will prosper."'
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