Today, I am thankful for those willing to lend a hand.
Yesterday was the official start of Be Kind to Humankind (BK2HK) week. With this in mind, I touched on the story of Voyager 2 and how it hopes to interact in a kind and inviting manner with some extraterrestrial life form in the (not so) distant future. My account was a fitting story to share on Touch-a-Heart Tuesday, a day intended to share a smile or a song with a stranger in need (even in interstellar space). But, that was yesterday, and today is another day. As the BK2HK know moves on into ‘Hump Day’, our attention turns to a novel theme: Willing-to-Lend-a-Hand Wednesday. As the BK2HK website aptly notes, your willingness to assist someone in need does not have to be anything grandiose or immense. A simple offer to water your traveling neighbor’s gardenias or to purchase bread and milk for your homebound friend would readily suffice. However, if you want to go ‘all in,’ you might want to take a lesson from Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, a person who taught the world what lending a hand looks like in full display.
Agnes was born on this day (Aug 26) in 1910 in Spokje, the capital of what is now Northern Macedonia. Born to parents of Albanian descent, she was raised in a devout Catholic family. Sadly, at the age of 8, she lost her father to what was presumed to be an intentional poisoning, a retribution in response to his strong advocacy for Albanian independence. Despite her profound grief, her devoted mother kept Agnes active in the Church. On a pilgrimage to Letnica in Kosovo at the age of 12, she received her first of two religious callings. After completing her high school studies, she chose a career as a nun at the age of 18 at the Sisters of Loreto in Dublin, Ireland. As part of her theological training, she served time in India, first in Darjeeling, and then in Calcutta. At the age of 27, Agnes took her final vows as she taught at a local public school, St. Mary’s High School, for indigent Bengali girls.
Then, in 1946, at the age of 36, Agnes received her second calling on a train trip from Calcutta to the foothills of the Himalaya Mountains. This “call within a call”, as she later referred to the spiritual moment, directed her to care for the poorest individuals living in the slums of Calcutta. Over the next 50 years of her life, this amazing woman would create and lead the Missionaries of Charities, a philanthropic congregation that would build schools for those impoverished, hospitals for those inflicted with disease, and homes for those orphaned. In Calcutta, she also used her savvy managerial skills and humanitarian means to open a number of mobile health care clinics, a nursing home for the frail and elder, and a colony for those afflicted with leprosy. Although the Missionaries of Charities started with just a handful of former teachers and students from her former institution, the austere organization grew to over 500 different missions in nearly 100 countries.
I vividly remember this astounding person, dressed in her classic blue and white sari, coming to the United States in 1985 not only to speak at the United Nations General Assembly, but, more importantly, to open one of the first homes dedicated to the care of young men dying of AIDS in the Greenwich Village section of New York City. As most avoided those infected with HIV, she chose to draw near to them during their greatest time of suffering. By converting the rectory of St. Veronica’s Catholic Church into the Gift of Love Home for HIV-infected patients, she taught the world to cast away all stigma and social discrimination and replace it with heartfelt compassion and love.
All her life, this astonishing person lent a hand to those in need. Her mission received the Vatican’s approval via numerous commendations and Decrees of Praise. The organization was lauded by heads of state, prime ministers, emperors, and presidents. So, it should come as no surprise that, in 1977, Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, better known to us all as Mother Theresa, received the Nobel Prize for Peace. After her death in 1997, she was beatified by Pope John the Paul II in 2003, and subsequently canonized as a saint by Pope Francis in 2017.
So, on this day we celebrate both Willing-to-Lend-a-Hand Wednesday and the 110th birthday of the stalwart Mother Theresa, may you find the time to perform a small, kind act of kindness for a complete stranger. No one is expecting you to open a leper colony, but a small gesture to a friend or neighbor would be most welcomed.
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