Those who have set up their own courts of justice in the narrowness of their prejudiced minds and are judging and ridiculing the Missionaries of Charity should have met Sister John Berchmans before she died peacefully a few days ago at Mother House in Calcutta.

If they had, they would have met the 58th young woman to leave the comfort of her home and take the vow of poverty to serve the poorest of the poor, way back in 1955.

They would have met a true missionary who embraced newborn babies left in garbage dumps and held the hands of leprosy sufferers with spontaneity and love that can only come from within.

They would have met a true missionary, like 4,500 others spread across Asia, Africa, Latin America, North America, Europe and Australia who feed the hungry, clothe the naked, provide shelter to the homeless and refuge to refugees, want the unwanted, love the unloved and find the lost.

If they had, they would have met Miss June Macfarland, grandaughter of the late P.G. Macfarland, a driver on the railways, who lived at 117 Lower Circular Road, Calcutta. June was the eldest child of Percy and Alice Macfarland, an Anglo-Indian couple who had four sons after June was born – Charles, Victor, Reggie and Oliver. (Incredibly, all four, like their father before them, served the Indian Railways as drivers!)

June joined this incredible congregation of nuns when she was just 17. All of 63 years later, she was laid to rest as Sr John Berchmans, M.C. Like all the others in saris, white and blue, she too had dedicated her life to serve God by serving his people.

As Andrew, her nephew from Bilaspur, wiped a tear while her coffin was being lowered into the grave, he prayed a silent prayer for his aunt to rest in peace.

At home, I prayed a silent prayer that many more young girls follow in the footsteps of Saint Teresa of Kolkata and join the Missionaries of Charity as it continues to give “wholehearted free service to the poorest of the poor”, perhaps like no other.

Will they continue to carry a cross that is both heavy and challenging? They will.

Will they continue to be judged, ridiculed and attacked? They will.

Will they continue to serve, love and care? They will.

The fight will continue with weapons of prayer, love, care and concern.

They now have one more “saint” to intercede for them where it matters. Her name is Sister John Berchmans, M.C. or simply June Macfarland, a girl from a middle-class Anglo-Indian family in Calcutta.

(Telegraph)