Thursday, 26 August 2010
ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE ASSEMBLY OF THE REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA, MR. TRAJKO VELJANOSKI ON THE CEREMONIAL ACADEMY COMMEMORATING THE 100th CENTENARY OF THE BIRTH OF MOTHER TERESA
Distinguished President of the Republic of Macedonia,
Distinguished Prime Minister of the Republic of Macedonia
Distinguished Members of the Family Bojaxhiu
Distinguished Head of the Macedonian Orthodox Church- Ohrid Archiepiscopacy
Distinguished Representatives of other religious communities
Ladies and gentlemen,
Your Excellences,
Dear friends
There is a so much suffering and poverty and in the world. Suffering from huger, homelessness, illnesses. I still think that the most terrible poverty is loneliness and the feeling of being unloved and deserted by everybody.
I believe that many of you recognized the words of Blessed Mother Teresa, Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu born 100 years ago close to this place, in the Vlach neighbourhood in the Albanian family Bojaxhiu.
Today, 100 years since the birth of Mother Teresa, the house of the Family Bojaxhiu is no longer there, the Vlach neighbourhood is also gone, and only a few meters from here was the Church of the Holy Heart of Jesus where Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu was baptized, one day after she was born. Today on this place is the Memorial House of Mother Teresa, which in a modest but dignifying and spiritual manner presents the life and work of Mother Teresa.
She showed her character from early childhood. Certainly the love of God was most distinctive. In that period she shared this love with her closest relatives and friends, and later through her missionary work with the people who needed love most - the poorest in India and the whole world. As she recalled, even as a child she was considering dedicating her life to the missionary call.
When she was 18 years old, Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu decided to leave her family, here home town, and to go to Dublin, where she joined the Sisters of Loretto. That same year she left by ship to India, to Calcutta, where she established her missionary and humanitarian mission, which she lead until the end of her life.
Guided by her love for humanity, in 1948 Mother Teresa was given permission to leave the monastery where she was lecturing in order to work alone among the poorest people in the city of Calcutta. She worked among the people who lived and died on the streets and who needed love most. Her infinite faith in God and her perseverance made her a household name not only in Calcutta and India, but all over the world. In 1950, after receiving the blessing of the Pope, she established the Order of Sisters of Charity, also known as Sisters of Love, in their distinctive white and blue sari.
Dear friends and admirers of the work of Mother Teresa,
Although she left Skopje when she was young, she never forgot her home town. After the catastrophic earthquake in 1963, Mother Teresa sent a letter to the Indian Government and to the governments of other countries asking for solidarity and help for her birth town and for the citizens of Skopje. In 1970, for the first time after 42 years, she arrived in Skopje, and by the end of her life she visited Skopje three more times. In 1980, during her second visit to Skopje, she was awarded honorary citizenship of Skopje. According to the words of Mother Teresa, this recognition was one of her dearest because, as she said, she wouldn’t have been what she was if it had not been for Skopje. She added that she was from Skopje, but that she belonged to the world.
Her strong faith and love of humanity made Mother Teresa the greatest humanitarian of the 20th century. In 1979 she received the Nobel Peace Prize.
In her Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech, Mother Teresa said:
”I think that we in our family we don't need bombs and guns, to destroy to bring peace - just get together, love one another, bring that peace, that joy, that strength of presence of each other in the home.
There is so much suffering, so much hatred, so much misery, and we with our prayer, with our sacrifice are beginning at home.”
Unfortunately, today there is also so much suffering and hatred in the world and not enough love Mother Teresa spoke about and dedicated her life to. These values, this light of love that Mother Teresa nurtured should be cherished and shared every day. What and how much we have achieved is less important than doing what we do with honest and sincere love.
Mother Teresa continues to be an example of selfless humanity.
Her lifelong dedication to care for the poorest, for the sick and underprivileged, made her one of the greatest humanists in the history of mankind. After the news that Mother Teresa passed away on 5th September 1997, Pope John Paul II said that Mother Teresa marked the history of the 20th century. She served the people, promoting their dignity and respect, showing the mercy of God to those defeated by life.
Ladies and gentlemen,
I believe that today when we are commemorating the centenary of the birth of Mother Teresa, a Nobel Peace Price winner who in 2003 was beatified by Pope John Paul II, we are all pleased that her life path started here, in Skopje.
I am convinced that the humanity and dedication of Mother Teresa will be the true light that will guide us through our lives, regardless of our religious or national belonging.
We owe that to our fellow citizen Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, we owe that to the humanitarian legacy that Mother Teresa left us. I believe that the shining light of humanity that Mother Teresa ignited and the love that she shared with those who needed it the most is inside every one of us. What we need is need to find these values in us and share them with all the people.
Thank you.