"Mother is dead" declared "The Statesman" India's oldest newspaper in announcing the death of Mother Teresa of Calcutta. She, who in her humility wanted to serve the poorest of the poor, was honored by India with a State funeral, attended by India's President and other dignitaries from all over the world. She was awarded the Noble Prize for Peace for her work in the slums of Calcutta. India bestowed on her its highest civilian award and the US made her an honorary citizen and bestowed on her the Congressional Medal of Honor.

Mother Teresa had her de-tractors. I recoil in horror as I recall in sorrow, a Catholic nun in the US, proclaim, some years ago, that Mother Teresa was not a suitable model for the women of today, because she was submissive to a male authority figure: the Pope!

The Philadelphia Inquirer, in an editorial on Mother Teresa says: "Why, modern thinkers griped, was she so vehemently against abortion, when overpopulation breeds poverty?" I suppose modern thinkers consider abortion to be a procedure for controlling overpopulation, which despite what modern thinkers may think, does not breed poverty. In any case, Mother Teresa's abhorance of abortion flows from the same love of God and her neighbor, which made her the servant of the poorest of the poor.

Mother Teresa lived a truly Christian life. She devoted her life to the least of our brothers and sisters, caring for the poor and the dying in the streets of Calcutta and through the Mission-aries of Charity, she spread her work through the world including Russia. Mother Teresa has a home in Hong Kong and she hoped to establish a home on mainland China. That hope was fulfilled, indirectly, when Hong Kong became part of China.

The Goan Association honored Mother Teresa by having a Mass celebrated in her remembrance , on October 26, at 12:30 pm at the Hightstown Fire Hall, in Hightstown, NJ.