“Anthony Malkin (the building’s owner) made a major blunder here. He stiffed Mother Teresa,” said Donohue.
With all due respect to Donohue and his organization, the decision not to light the Empire State Building was probably the biggest nonevent of the year. Rounding up 1,000 people to protest the color of light illuminating a building for one night was a publicity stunt that had no bearing on the way the world views Blessed Mother Teresa.
Make no mistake, Mother Teresa deserves all of the accolades and tributes given her by the church for all she has done to demonstrate the dignity of human life. From Oct. 7, 1950, when the Society of the Missionaries of Charity was officially established in the Archdiocese of Calcutta, Mother Teresa exemplified the qualities Jesus spoke of in the Gospels. In fact, she sought to respond to Jesus’ plea, “Come, Be My Light.” (This phrase comes from the title of a book on her private writings published in 2007.)
Her light of compassion continues to illuminate our lives.
As an ever-so-humble servant, one has to wonder what Mother Teresa would have thought about the commotion in New York City. Her humility was as strong as her compassion and love for the poorest of the poor. Having a building lit in her honor would probably have offended Mother Teresa. Her response likely would have been, “Use your time more wisely by serving the poor in the streets of New York City.”