by Salvatore Circosta
On August 26th 2010 the world will celebrate the 100th anniversary of a poor nun from Calcutta, Agnesë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu, better known as Mother Teresa. This anniversary marks the centennial of a woman who has made some of the greatest accomplishments in history. Mother Teresa founded a religious order called “Missionaries of Charity” who, since 2007, have 600 missions, schools and homes in 120 countries where thousands of her nuns currently work.
Mother Teresa’s mission in life was to do the will of God, especially by the corporeal works of mercy: To feed the hungry, clothe the naked, shelter the homeless, visit the sick, and bury the dead. Her literal participation in these works has help feed, clothe, care for, love, and bring the light of God to a countless number of people worldwide. She even was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and the Presidential Medal of Freedom to name a few.
The Catholic League wants to honor this saintly woman by a simple gesture of having the Empire State Building lit up on August 26th in blue and white, the colors of the habits of the nuns she founded. This act of having the Empire State Building lit to honor groups or people is common: It was lit to honor 9/11, the Gay Pride Parade in New York, and to honor the Chinese Communist Revolution just to name a few.
Yet there is a problem. The Empire State Building refuses to do so, without any reason. Yep, they have no problem lighting the building in yellow and red to honor Chairman Mao who had an estimated 77 million people killed while he ruled over Communist China. But a woman who in her poverty and love helped a countless number of children, sick, and poor- the heck with her!
Descent Americans should not be surprised. Even the US Postal Services were harassed by the UCLA because they are planning on issuing a stamp to honor Mother Teresa. Believe it or not there is an anti-Catholic and liberal bias of the media today. This is not complete by any means, but the mainstream media has historically been cautious and critical of the Catholic Church. Why one may ask? I think it is because the Church is the largest, strongest, and most consistent voice promoting true morals and ethics, and the Church voices herself against the possible problems with secular liberalism. The Catholic Church is the voice of Christ in the world.
So it seems whatever committee who allows the colored lights to shine at the Empire State Building wants to give a lesson to children, women, men, and most directly the Church: If you desire to truly help the helpless and love the lonely, you better do so with the lights off. But as believers we do not fear, for we have our own Light, and Christ the True Light will shine through any darkness, even the darkness that will cast a shadow in the skies of New York on August 26th.
The author is a fourth year seminarian at St. John’s Seminary in Boston, Massachusetts.
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