Glasgow archbishop appeals for asylum seekers being evicted

Our Lady of Christendom is an annual pilgrimage to the shrine of Our Lady of Covadonga (Asturias) that takes place around the feast of St. James the Apostle (July 25), patron saint of Spain. / Credit: Our Lady of Christendom Pilgrimage

ACI Pren… […]

Rome, Italy, Sep 5, 2018 / 10:03 am (CNA/EWTN News).- For Sr. Mary Prema Pierick, Mother Teresa’s impact did not come from her outward appearance, but from a personal encounter with the woman’s unconditional and mother-like love and acceptance.

According to the Missionary of Charity, Mother Teresa’s greatness defied her short stature, residing “inside” her. Upon meeting Mother Teresa for the first time, Sr. Prema told CNA / EWTN, “It was not appearance, but it was the way she related to me,” that was most striking. “That was an experience of a person who loves, and who accepts me, and who wants me, and is a mother to me.”

When “I saw her the first time she was already 70 years old, so she was already a little bent, but her eyes were full of life,” Sr. Prema said.

Sr. Prema was in her late 20s when she first met Mother Teresa in Berlin, Germany in 1980. She said she was inspired to meet the foundress of the Missionaries of Charity after reading the biography of her life, Something Beautiful for God by Malcolm Muggeridge. “I was impressed by the simplicity of life the sisters were having in Calcutta and I could not forget about it,” Sr. Prema said.

After this encounter with Mother Teresa, Sr. Prema continued to feel called to join the Missionaries of Charity. “Then slowly, as I became richer in my prayer life, I knew that I wanted to give all, all for Jesus,” she said. “And I didn’t look for a congregation where I could compromise, having things for myself or conveniences, but I wanted to follow Jesus in this radical way of life.”  

Elected to the position of Superior General of the Missionaries of Charity on March 24, 2009, Sr. Prema is the second to take over the order after Mother Teresa’s death in 1997.

For Mother Teresa, Sr. Prema shared, there was not only much physical suffering in the world, but also an invisible and deep spiritual suffering, found “in sin, in addiction to sinful behavior.”

Spiritual suffering is a “real deep, deep suffering,” Sr. Prema said. “For those who are in the blindness of sin, but also for those who are suffering the consequences of those sins.”

The solution, to Mother Teresa, was simply to love Jesus and to practice mercy. “Mercy was like a second nature to Mother because of the love she had for Jesus. And she invited everybody to put their hands, and especially their heart, to love.”

To those thinking they may be called to a vocation to the religious or priesthood, Sr. Prema shared, “Do not be afraid to love and to give yourself.”

And for everyone, Sr. Prema reminded, “Let us not be in a hurry and in a rush to complete things and projects and plans and become deprived of what is really making us human, which is to love and to be loved.”

This article was originally published Aug. 15, 2016. Mary Shovlain contributed to this report.

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Paris, France, Jan 22, 2018 / 04:51 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Heavy rains did not deter huge crowds from gathering in the streets of Paris for the city’s March for Life on Sunday.

Organizers estimated that about 40,000 people showed up for the march, which had as its theme, “From darkness to light.”

Despite the heavy rain, the marchers completed the entire route. The march lasted about four hours, starting from Porte Dauphine and ending in the Trocadero esplanade, in downtown Paris.

A minute of silence was held during the march for those who have lost their lives to abortion.

More than 200,000 abortions are performed each year in France, according to government statistics.

March for Life spokesman Emil Dupont told CNA’s Spanish-language sister agency ACI Prensa that “it is important to break the silence and speak about the consequences of abortion, which no one want to say anything about. So we’ve got to do it.”

“It is very important to work together for life,” he stressed. 

Ana del Pino, the European coordinator of the OneOfUs Federation, agreed, emphasizing the need for unity and cooperation among all the European pro-life groups “to present a common front in defense of motherhood, the family and life.” 

In addition to protection for the unborn, this year the March for Life placed special emphasis on end-of-life issues.

Although active assisted suicide is illegal in France, a bill passed in January 2016 allows for “terminal sedation.” For those who are determined to be near death, the law permits “heavy and continuous sedation,” administered until the patient dies either from the illness or starvation. 

In addition to the tens of thousands of French who took to the streets to demonstrate for life, several pro-life groups from Holland, Spain, Germany, Italy and Portugal also joined in the march.

Pablo Siegrist from the Jerome Lejeune Foundation in Spain told ACI Prensa that his group participated in this demonstration in France because the laws on surrogate motherhood, abortion and euthanasia have “a clear crisscross effect between countries, and that’s why we believe we have a much more encompassing goal to offer, which is to defend everyone’s life.

“We believe that life is a treasure regardless of the physical or mental abilities a person may have and that everyone has a lot of contribute. We stand up for everyone, no matter what their situation is,” Siegrist stressed. 

Alvaro Ortega, president of the Spanish +Life Foundation, one of the numerous groups of young people attending the March for Life, said the reason they came was because “we believe it is absolutely necessary to defend the most innocent and defenseless which is the child who has been conceived but not yet born.”

Ortega also stressed the importance of an international presence in demonstrations such as this one because issues like abortion and euthanasia “come from an agenda organized on the international level, and so the response has to also be international.”

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