Global Christian Worship

This week we marked the 20th anniversary of the passing of Saint Mother Teresa. In her honor and memory, here are 3 paintings by artists of India and some quotes.

M.F. Husain is a “famous, rich Muslim painter” of India. He spent time with Mother Teresa and was reportedly very moved by her faith-based ministries, and created over 150 paintings and drawings of her and fellow nuns.

In this painting, Mother Teresa sits within a red drop of blood. On her lap she holds baby Jesus with a halo … and he has blue skin like Krishna. The artist probably didn’t mean that as a theological statement, but as a visual portrayal of the sacrificial love that Mother Teresa had for Christ leading her to the sacrificial love she had for the peoples of India.

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This week marks 20 years since the death of Mother Teresa. Here are some of her words of wisdom to chew on:

• “Faith in action is love. And love in action is service.”

• “Let us take whatever God gives and give whatever God takes with a smile. That is holiness.

• “Never worry about numbers. Help one person at a time and always start with the person nearest you.”

• “If there has been resentment in our hearts or if we have not accepted humiliation, we will not learn humility.”  

• “Give yourself fully to God. God will use you to accomplish great things on the condition that you believe much more in God’s love than in your own weakness.”

• “To forgive takes love. To forget takes humility.”

• “Calcuttas are everywhere if only we have eyes to see. Find your Calcutta.”

These quotes are reprinted from a blog post by Father Philip Chircop at
http://www.philipchircop.com/post/165010773722/remembering-mother-teresa-today-marks-20-years

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Nimai Sengupta has been an art teacher at a Christian school in Kolkata since 1975. He has been associated with the Sisters of Charity for nearly 40 years, and has painted 50 portraits of Mother Teresa (including the one above).

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This prayer was written by Mother Teresa and comes from the book No Greater Love. 

“We cannot find God in noise and agitation.
Nature: trees, flowers, and grass grow in silence.
The stars, the moon, and the sun move in silence.
What is essential is not what we say
but what God tells us and what He tells others through us.
In silence He listens to us;
in silence He speaks to our souls.
In silence we are granted
the privilege of listening to His voice.Silence of our eyes.
Silence of our ears.
Silence of our mouths.
Silence of our minds.
…in the silence of the heart
God will speak.”

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We close this blog post with another early painting of Mother Teresa by M.F. Husain, the “famous, rich Muslim painter.”

In this early triptych he portrays Mother Teresa in the famous Pieta pose, as Mary holding her dead son brought down from the cross after being crucified. This pose also points to Mother Teresa herself cradling the bodies of some of the most marginalized, destitute, unwanted and unloved men of India, after helping them pass from this world into the next.

“Give yourself fully to God. God will use you to accomplish great things on the condition that you believe much more in God’s love than in your own weakness.”

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The paintings and accompanying information are from this masterpiece of a book:
 ‘Christian Themes in Indian Art from Mughal Times to the Present‘ (2011)

I’ve lived with this book for some years, and with over 1000 color reproductions of art, I’m still astonished all the time. 

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See my previous blog posts related to Mother Teresa at

http://globalworship.tumblr.com/post/150014175520/fragrance-prayer-cardinal-newmanmother-teresa

http://globalworship.tumblr.com/post/150051930735/do-small-things-with-great-love-chris-de