By Purushottam Nayak
Bhubaneswar: Two Missionaries of Charity nuns, who celebrated 25 years of religious life, say serving the poorest of the poor continues to thrill them.
“I find real peace and joy in serving the downtrodden and under privileged following the footsteps of our founder, Saint Teresa of Kolkata,” Sister Selena Toppo, one of the nuns, told Matters India after the jubilee Mass on May 20 in Bhubaneswar, capital of Odisha state in eastern India.
The other Jubilarian, Sister Alphius Kindo, said she finds joy in the happiness of the poor, marginalized and destitute.
Both the nuns expressed gratitude to God for accompanying them for in their religious life.
Archbishop John Barwa of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar, who led the jubilee Mass, reminded the gathering that Christian life becomes meaningful only when it can respond to the needs of the neighbor. “Christianity expects us to be good Samaritans, who identify with the neighbor and share their possession with others and walk an extra mile as Saint Teresa of Kolkata practiced in her life,” the Divine Word prelate explained.
The archbishop wants Christians to share their unique grace to those around them. “People must find our life convincing and inspiring to come to taste that life. If we have no Christian values we are like salt-less salt or hidden light,” he added.
Sister Shamuel, the local superior of the Missionaries of Charity, the thirst Jesus experienced on the cross continues to guide her congregation. Their founder had heard the cry in a vision when she was traveling to Darjeeling for her annual retreat.
“For us Missionaries of Charity the Call is for a very specific way of bearing fruit for the Kingdom of God,” the superior said in her introduction to the celebration.
She said their vocation is “deeply rooted” in Jesus cry from the cross “when he was rejected, left alone to suffer and die for us.”
Five priests, 35 nuns and some 100 lay people attended the jubilee celebrations. Young people performed a traditional entrance dance and led the celebrants to the altar.
Sister Toppo is the third daughter of late Ingnatious Toppo and late Bridgit Lakra of Karako Darentoli of Gumla diocese of Jharkhand. Her elder sister Samira is also a member of the same congregation, while the youngest sister Ereena belongs to the Disciples of St. John Bosco.
She has worked in the Philippines, Papua New Guinea and Kenya. In 2008, she returned to India for the renewal course in Kolkata. She was then sent to northeastern India. She joined the Bhubaneswar community in 2013.
Sister Kindo’s parents, Sebastian and Salome, both deceased, belonged to the Samtoli parish of Simdega diocese in Jharkhand. She has six brothers and a sister. Her youngest brother is Father Jugal Kindo of the Delhi Jesuit province. She has spent her religious life in various states in India.
In Odisha, the Missionaries of Charity congregation has 18 houses. Mother Teresa first visited Bhubaneswar in 1974 and met then Odisha Chief Minister Nandini Satpathy and the Odisha Governor Akbar Ali Khan.
In Bhubaneswar the nuns manage a home for the old, sick, abandoned women, temporal shelter for children, unwed mothers and women in distress. They have a leprosy rehabilitation center at Janla.
Recently, the congregation opened a new community at Salimaguchha in Ganjam district under Archdiocese of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar.