Wednesday, February 8, 2012

My visit to missionaries of charity( the mission of Mother Teresa of Calcutta.

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I was in Harlem the beautiful part of New York. Black , Home to Hispanic and now new and poorer workers and senior citizens of New York.It is a house part of a Catholic Church and housing project.More like a section 8 housing funded by US government.

Most of the nuns are from mother Teresa's order.This order has highest following in India .Most of the nuns were from India and the leader is from Kerala.I am not willing to divulge her name as she did not want me to mention it.

There are six or seven nuns in this place .They serve and pray in mothers tradition.
They  run a free luncheon program.I did not join in as this was not a lunch time.I hoped that i would be invited in as curious person.we had  a short chat in the entry well of this four storey building.

I asked about the programs of the mission in Harlem.They run an after school program for kids.Most of the kids seemed like Spanish kids as i watched parents picking up children from the school.It seemed that after the after school program which ended about 5:30 pm nuns retired to their prayer and meditation.This was not an Hospice.Mother Teresa is known for the hospice she ran in Calcutta.

I guess after morning prayers and breakfast nuns got busy at preparing lunch and served it between 11 and 2 pm.
i will visit the missions some other time to report on lunch.I offered to ask swami Yogatmananda to invite the leader of the mission for interfaith talk at Vedanta center in Providence RI as part  of their Universal brotherhood day in September.This day is around September 11 and celebrates Swami Vivekananda's talk at the world religions conference in Chicago in 1894 hundred 18 years ago.Her answer to my suggestion that she  outreach to a diverse group surprised. me .Though Mission in Calcutta invite other faith people to its head quarter.She told me she is not allowed to visit missions of other faith.She had earlier told me as part of her mission was to be witness for gods grace in the uninitiated community.I reminded her that i was also being a witness to the humanity by visiting her mission.

She said we can come for lunch and serve with them and pray with them .Other than that she felt i was intruding on her space.

It left me with a mixed feeling .Glad that i visited this mission connected  to Mother Teresa of Calcutta.I was saddened that this nun did not feel any goodwill towards a visitor interested in mission of mother on the faraway continent.

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