Yesterday, 26 August 2010, would have been the 100th birthday of Mother Teresa, the modern age's most famous saint. Born in 1910 in Albania, she traveled to India in 1929 where she would later take her religious vows two years later. In 1946 she had a mystical experience that prompted her to embark on a life of charity in 1948. For 50 years St. Teresa (she's one miracle away from "official" sainthood as described by the Catholic church, and I've no doubt she'll be proclaimed a saint within my lifetime) worked tirelessly serving the poor and destitute of India, those suffering from horrible disease, malnutrition, and crippling poverty. Although the owner of Empire State Building, Anthony Malkin, did not light his edifice blue and white to honour her, claiming he doesn't light it for religious figures, despite lighting the building to honour the end of Ramadan (this is America, don't forget, everyone with power is deathly afraid of Muslims and has to appease them, not realizing the difference between Muslims and terrorists), and lighting the tower for completely asinine reasons like a Mariah Carey album and the Ninja Turtles, The Urban Mystic none-the-less feels the need to commemorate a shining example of selfless service and the hights to which humans can aspire to. India opened a new train line, the Mother Express, in her honour yesterday.
Let us pray that more people are inspired by Mother Teresa's example and try to live their lives with love, especially now when the world is in such dire conditions.
