A Blessing for Spokane

This is very exciting news. I go to St. Patrick's.

Inland Register: Missionaries of Charity coming to Spokane next month---

(From the Jan. 12, 2006 edition of the Inland Register)

A vacant convent in Spokane’s Hillyard neighborhood will see new life when four of Blessed Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity begin ministering from St. Patrick Parish in Spokane.

The four Sisters – Alinda, Shanti Prabha, Bernadette Ann, and Joshua Marie – will be the first presence of the Missionaries of Charity in this part of the United States. The nearest their Religious community has come to the area is Vancouver, B.C.

Their official welcoming will take place Thursday, Feb. 23, with 6 p.m. Mass at St. Patrick with Bishop Skylstad. A procession after Mass will bring the Blessed Sacrament to the convent. The house will be blessed, and the parish will host a reception afterward.

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Although the presence of particular Sisters might change over time, the Missionaries of Charity will be here for “as long as the diocese wants us,” said Sister Francis Terese.

As they minister among the poorest of the poor, they rely completely on Divine Providence for their own needs, she said. They have no regular source of income, depending instead on unsolicited donations, “the sacrifices people have made, have been moved to donate to us. We don’t allow anyone to fund-raise in our name, or use Mother Teresa’s name in any way to raise money,” she said, “even for a good purpose.

“We live a very poor life ourselves,” said Sister Francis Terese. “We’re poor ourselves. We depend on Divine Providence ourselves, for the bills, for food.

“All of our houses live this way,” she said. “No matter where we are, this is what we do. It’s a real joy, because you really see God working. He really does care for his poor people. You see his tender love for his poor people.”