St. Mother Teresa?

Richard A. Sokerka

Sainthood may be imminent for Blessed Mother Teresa.

Word that the beloved nun could join the Communion of Saints sooner than later was swirling through the Vatican in recent days with the upcoming Jubilee Year for Mercy providing the perfect backdrop for the canonization ceremony.

After all, who performed more works of mercy on a daily basis to her fellow man than Mother Teresa? When she started working in the slums of India, teaching poor children and treating the sick, others took notice of this frail woman’s mercy to society’s outcasts. Within a year, some of her former students joined her, and together they took in men, women and children who were dying in the gutters along the streets. After founding the Mission­aries of Charity, Mother Teresa’s congregation quickly grew and, as always, her mercy knew no bounds for she saw the face of Jesus in all she reached out to. Her order opened homes for the dying and the unwanted — from prostitutes and battered women to orphanages for poor children and shelters for those suffering from AIDS.

Although the Congregation for the Causes of Saints is studying the cause for Blessed Mother Teresa’s sainthood, as we all know the process takes time. St. Pope John Paul II beatified Mother Teresa on Oct. 19, 2003, six years after her death on Sept. 5, 1997.

What a wonderful blessing to the Church it would be if her cause for canonization is found worthy and she is raised to sainthood during the Holy Year for Mercy. Even more meaningful would be to hold a canonization ceremony on Sept, 4, 2016 — to be observed as a jubilee day for workers and volunteers of mercy — and a day so close to Sept. 5, Mother Teresa’s feast day and the anniversary of her death.