Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity Care for the Dying in Nepal's Holiest Temple

[mdgspencer]

This very affirming article on the lives of sisters in the order Mother Teresa began, tells of how these sisters go into a Hindu temple every day to care for those dying there. They are greatly admired there for this. Nepal is a small country just north of India; 81% of the people are Hindus.
see catholicphilly.com/2015/08/news/world-news/missionaries-of-charity-care-for-the-dying-in-nepals-holiest-temple/

 

[jeannetherese]

From the article:

“Now the work of the sisters is much easier as lots of volunteers and government trainees come here,” said Shree Ram Phokarel, a Hindu who served alongside the sisters for 20 years. “In the 1990s, there were hardly any volunteers. The sisters had to do everything themselves.”

Prahlad Giri, a government official who retired in 2004 as the center’s custodian, told CNS the work of the sisters “has changed my attitude to life.”

“They are angels of love,” he said.

“One day, I was shocked to see Mother Teresa removing excreta with her hands,” Giri said, recounting a 1980s incident.

“I asked, ‘Mother, how are you able to do this?’ Mother told me: ‘If you care for them, you have to do all this.’ That changed my attitude. I started thinking. If Mother is doing like this, I should care for them more,” Giri said."

May God bless the sisters and those whom our Lord entrusts to their care.
Amen.

 

[boomerang]

It’s very telling, the difference in attitude between Hindu and Catholic. Several times in this article it was stated that no one would care for the dying there, or even bury or cremate the bodies until the Sisters came and showed them by their example. Now they have lots of Hindu volunteers. It’s easy to see how Christianity has lifted people up into a more compassionate society.

A lot of people unfamiliar with history wrongly assume all societies helped and cared for the sick and elderly like Western society does. Mankind has a streak of savagery in them that is largely suppressed in Christian societies. I’ve read enough anthropology and early explorer’s diaries to know. I’m not PC. The world owes Christianity a huge debt. It’s too bad seeing Christianity vilified and marginalized like it is today.

 

[Jason_Firestone]

I believe Germany was a Christian nation.

 

[ComplineSanFran]

A lot of people unfamiliar with history wrongly assume all societies helped and cared for the sick and elderly like Western society does. Mankind has a streak of savagery in them that is largely suppressed in Christian societies. I’ve read enough anthropology and early explorer’s diaries to know. I’m not PC. The world owes Christianity a huge debt. It’s too bad seeing Christianity vilified and marginalized like it is today.

Goodness, what makes you think that Western society cares for its elderly and dying? We marginalize them to the point where they are sent away to die alone. The numbers say that 60-80% of our dying are dying forgotten or left by others.

The US is in a crisis as our Boomers begin to age and die. End of life is one of the critical health care concerns. Have you read Atul Gawande’s BEING MORTAL, or any of his New Yorker articles? There is a wealth of studies coming out right now on the need for decent care for those at end of life and where we fall short. Here is one that talks about those who die alone.

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/store/10.1111/1467-9566.ep10933327/asset/1467-9566.ep10933327.pdf;jsessionid=8BA0885AF49F52194ABE1596E07F1CDF.f01t03?v=1&t=icy9nej0&d1122b65&systemMessage=Wiley+Online+Library+will+have+intermittent+access+on+8th+August+2015+from+10%3A00-16%3A00+BST+%2F+05%3A00-11%3A00+EDT+%2F+17%3A00-23%3A00+SGT+for+essential+maintenance.++Apologies+for+the+inconvenience.

Christianity does NOT do a good job of caring for our dying. We have forgotten how. Perhaps it’s time to re-learn.

 

[boomerang]

Goodness, what makes you think that Western society cares for its elderly and dying? We marginalize them to the point where they are sent away to die alone. The numbers say that 60-80% of our dying are dying forgotten or left by others.

The US is in a crisis as our Boomers begin to age and die. End of life is one of the critical health care concerns. Have you read Atul Gawande’s BEING MORTAL, or any of his New Yorker articles? There is a wealth of studies coming out right now on the need for decent care for those at end of life and where we fall short. Here is one that talks about those who die alone.

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/store/10.1111/1467-9566.ep10933327/asset/1467-9566.ep10933327.pdf;jsessionid=8BA0885AF49F52194ABE1596E07F1CDF.f01t03?v=1&t=icy9nej0&d1122b65&systemMessage=Wiley+Online+Library+will+have+intermittent+access+on+8th+August+2015+from+10%3A00-16%3A00+BST+%2F+05%3A00-11%3A00+EDT+%2F+17%3A00-23%3A00+SGT+for+essential+maintenance.++Apologies+for+the+inconvenience.

Christianity does NOT do a good job of caring for our dying. We have forgotten how. Perhaps it’s time to re-learn.

No, Christianity does an excellent job of taking care of vulnerable people. It’s when we abandon Christianity that we get the situations you describe. I’m talking in general, anyway. We don’t leave old people out to die in the snow, like some cultures have. We have a sense of right and wrong based on the teachings of Christ. In practice, that’s another story, but the teachings are there. Similar teachings are not always present in many other cultures. Look at the ancient Romans. It’s inconceivable to us that they could get enjoyment out of watching people get mauled by animals. Christianity changed that over time, along with other horrendous practices. Take this article, for instance. They admitted that Hindus in Nepal don’t seem to give a hoot about the dying, not even to see to their burial. Along come the Catholic nuns, game changer. Now they “get it.” We’re supposed to* help people*.

 

[ComplineSanFran]

No, Christianity does an excellent job of taking care of vulnerable people. It’s when we abandon Christianity that we get the situations you describe. I’m talking in general, anyway

.

Yes, I think you are speaking in generalities because in reality it doesn’t work that way. Every religious tradition teaches compassion and care for the vulnerable. Every single one. Do we see people practice it? Not so much.

Try doing this… Go to your parish church office. Try to get a roster of all the people in the parish who are homebound or in a nearby nursing home or in hospital or hospice. Say you would like to visit them just to show compassion and pray with them. First of all, would your parish let you do it? Second, do they even know who these people are? And third, when was the last time someone brought them communion?

See how we care for our own, much less someone else’s like the Sisters do.

 

[jeannetherese]

From the article:

"Maryknoll Father Adam Gudalefsky, who arrived in Nepal in 1977, told CNS the first group of four sisters were sent by Blessed Teresa of Kolkata upon his request.

“They began to visit and to help immediately,” Father Gudalefsky wrote in a July 29 email from Hong Kong, where he is based now.

“None except the MCs would see to the cremation and disposal of the dead bodies,” he said.

Missionaries of Charity Sister Amy, superior at the Mitra Park convent, was first sent to Kathmandu in 1993. She told CNS that “it was very tough and the conditions very challenging” at the temple.

“Now, doctors visit them regularly and give medicines. Those days there were no such facilities. We were giving nursing care and medicines we brought with us,” Sister Amy said."

May God bless the Missionaries and send many more with such vocations to join them.
Amen.

 

[SWolf]

Yes, I think you are speaking in generalities because in reality it doesn’t work that way. Every religious tradition teaches compassion and care for the vulnerable. Every single one. Do we see people practice it? Not so much.

Try doing this… Go to your parish church office. Try to get a roster of all the people in the parish who are homebound or in a nearby nursing home or in hospital or hospice. Say you would like to visit them just to show compassion and pray with them. First of all, would your parish let you do it?

Yes.

Second, do they even know who these people are?

Yes.

And third, when was the last time someone brought them communion

Probably last Sunday.

 

[ComplineSanFran]

Yes.

Yes.

Probably last Sunday.

So let’s give an example of St Mary’s Parish in an urban city. There may be 2,000 families listed as members. Given that the demographics by age group list approx 25% as being older than 75 years, that means 500 members are that age. Not all of them are home bound or in nursing homes, but let’s say that half are (and that is being generous.) Are you saying that your Eucharistic Ministers are taking the Sacrament to 250 people every week? And are aware of their physical and spiritual needs?

 

[SWolf]

So let’s give an example of St Mary’s Parish in an urban city. There may be 2,000 families listed as members. Given that the demographics by age group list approx 25% as being older than 75 years, that means 500 members are that age. Not all of them are home bound or in nursing homes, but let’s say that half are (and that is being generous.) Are you saying that your Eucharistic Ministers are taking the Sacrament to 250 people every week? And are aware of their physical and spiritual needs?

Why is this so hard to believe? Before my Grandparents passed away in a nursing home, the local priest visited them on several occasions, had Extraordinary Ministers came, and had cards made for them from parishioners.

If this is not the dorm in one’s Parish, I would recommend steps are taken so it is the norm.

 

[jeannetherese]

Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion visit all who request each week in my local parish.
I was involved in this ministry for several years.
The parish office maintains a list. They also work to provide transportation to Mass for those unable to drive.

jt

 

[ComplineSanFran]

Why is this so hard to believe? Before my Grandparents passed away in a nursing home, the local priest visited them on several occasions, had Extraordinary Ministers came, and had cards made for them from parishioners.

If this is not the dorm in one’s Parish, I would recommend steps are taken so it is the norm.

I am really pleased that the priest and ministers visited your grandparents. It just doesn’t happen very often. Most people are left alone in their declining years. If churches can manage to visit even a dozen people after Mass on Sundays, that is commendable. But hundreds? I don’t think it even comes close to happening.

 

[boomerang]

I am really pleased that the priest and ministers visited your grandparents. It just doesn’t happen very often. Most people are left alone in their declining years. If churches can manage to visit even a dozen people after Mass on Sundays, that is commendable. But hundreds? I don’t think it even comes close to happening.

Christians aren’t perfect. But Christianity is still the the most compassionate religion the world has ever seen, and the world is better off for it, even when it is imperfectly practiced.

 

[ComplineSanFran]

Christians aren’t perfect. But Christianity is still the the most compassionate religion the world has ever seen, and the world is better off for it, even when it is imperfectly practiced.

So how can you back that up in a comparison, say, between Christianity and Buddhism? Can you site teachings as well as practice?

 

[boomerang]

So how can you back that up in a comparison, say, between Christianity and Buddhism? Can you site teachings as well as practice?

There are good teachings in Buddhism concerning ‘doing no harm’ etc. But when it comes to selfless sacrifice for others, even strangers, you can’t beat Christianity. Mother Theresa and the Missionaries of Charity are not Buddhist. They’re Christian. Nepal is 80% Hindu and 10% Buddhist and almost no Christians. None of the Hindus or Buddhists were helping the dying at this temple, the largest and holiest in all Nepal. They apparently couldn’t even be bothered with picking up the dead bodies and burying them until the nuns came.

Look at the article:

Nepal’s holiest Hindu temple…Hindus believe that those who die there will experience instant salvation.

Imagine the numbers of dying that flocked there!

“In the 1990s, there were hardly any volunteers. The sisters had to do everything themselves.”

Everything? With all those people there? No one would help?

“None except the MCs (nuns) would see to the cremation and disposal of the dead bodies,” he said.

That’s shocking. What did they do before the Missionaries of Charity got there in the 1970s? Did they just leave the bodies in the sun? Throw them in the river? Let the crows peck their eyes out?

This is the perfect time to state the (painfully) obvious: “You will know them by their fruit”

 

[ComplineSanFran]

None of the Hindus or Buddhists were helping the dying at this temple, the largest and holiest in all Nepal. They apparently couldn’t even be bothered with picking up the dead bodies and burying them until the nuns came.

Imagine the numbers of dying that flocked there!
Everything? With all those people there? No one would help?
That’s shocking. What did they do before the Missionaries of Charity got there in the 1970s? Did they just leave the bodies in the sun? Throw them in the river? Let the crows peck their eyes out? "

I think perhaps you have things a bit mistaken. It sounds as if you are quite passionate about the work the Sisters are doing, and rightfully so, but a bit of context might help.

First, the Pashupatinath Temple in Nepal is one of the holiest sites where people go on pilgrimage in order to die specifically there. Dying in that sacred place guarantees instant reincarnation to a higher level.

Second, Hindus cremate, not bury, nor are people ever left to the crows. Cremations happen 24/7 and the ashes are placed in the river, as is proper.

The Sisters help in a government center near the Temple, obviously for the poorest of the poor. But it’s not as if they were the only ones caring for the dying in the huge Temple environs.

India and Nepal are filled with people living in poverty and Mother Theresa’s ministry took her to people and places no others wanted to go. Hinduism has many rituals and practices that are difficult for Westerners to understand, but think of all those people who died in a holy place. And they were grateful, I’m sure, for comfort and nursing from the Sisters.

But again, the Temple is always filled with compassionate people caring for the dying and the dead.

 

[boomerang]

Second, Hindus cremate, not bury, nor are people ever left to the crows. Cremations happen 24/7 and the ashes are placed in the river, as is proper.

From the article:
“None except the MCs (nuns) would see to the cremation and disposal of the dead bodies,” he said.

The Sisters help in a government center near the Temple, obviously for the poorest of the poor. But it’s not as if they were the only ones caring for the dying in the huge Temple environs.

From the article:
In the 1990s, there were hardly any volunteers.

But again, the Temple is always filled with compassionate people caring for the dying and the dead.

From the article:
“The sisters had to do everything themselves.”

The facts in the article contradict everything you said. Christianity is still tops for helping people. Seems like nobody gave a passing thought about helping those dying pilgrims until the nuns came and set an example. Now they have the natives stepping up to the plate, as it should be.