BY KATHI STEARNS

Staff Writer

ATLANTA--The woman who was called "Mother" by people of every race, nationality and religion was remembered at a memorial Mass Sept. 9.

The wealthy and homeless, the healthy and the sick, the old and the very young gathered to celebrate the life of the woman who had spent a lifetime serving the poor and the dying, those she felt were closest to God.

The mourners filled the Cathedral of Christ the King beyond capacity to commemorate the life of Mother Teresa, mc, the 87-year-old foundress of the Missionaries of Charity who died of heart failure in Calcutta, India Sept. 5.

Students from the Cathedral of Christ the King greeted Mass attendees with programs, medals, Mass cards and rosaries. Archbishop John F. Donoghue was the principal celebrant of the liturgy which was concelebrated by approximately 60 priests of the archdiocese.

The first 10 rows on the left side of the church were reserved for the Missionaries of Charity serving in the archdiocese, the residents of their Gift of Grace House, volunteers and other orders of nuns who minister in the Archdiocese of Atlanta.

Grey Nuns of the Sacred Heart, Dominican Sisters, Sisters of Mercy, Sisters of St. Joseph and even two members of the cloistered Monastery of the Visitation in Snellville filled the rows behind the Missionaries of Charity to remember and celebrate the life of their foundress.

Volunteers Terry Jennings, Anne Brown and Finola Nichols announced the readings. Deacon Alexander Gallagher proclaimed the Gospel.

During his homily the archbishop recalled Mother Teresa's visit to Atlanta in June 1995 during which she attended the blessing of the Gift of Grace House, a home for women with AIDS her order opened in 1994.

"Many of you were there on that occasion and will remember, as I do, that it didn't really matter if you met her face to face or if the closest you came was to get a glimpse of her across a very crowded church," he said. "Something in her, the Holy Spirit, made an immediate and lasting impact."

The archbishop said that two features of her diminutive figure are etched upon his memory. "First was her face, which was always intense and expressive of her single-minded dedication," he said. "And second, her hands, gnarled, lean and strong, sculpted by the countless hours she spent serving the poor, especially the old and dying. But whether it was by her spirit or by the enduring strength of her body, she was somehow able to share with each of us, in a mystical and sanctifying way, the power of Christ's love--a power which she knew so well, and which, with all possible respect for human dignity, she wanted to share with every person in the world."

The archbishop said that there will be expectations concerning this legendary woman. "Now, as her death brings us together, the world, and especially the Catholic world, look to her for one more and final lesson," he said. "We expect that miracles may follow in her wake, and we anticipate that the voice of the Church--the voice of the Holy Faith--may rise in general acclamation of her sanctity--for the glory of God revealed in the lives of his saints is truly a great gift to all of us and for the world."

But the archbishop encouraged the congregation to put aside these expectations and remember her as she was in real life. The archbishop said that Mother Teresa, who led by example, wasn't finished with her teaching.

"Now in her death she continues to teach us about the Gospel she lived and its truth: the truth, first, that the death of his friends is a precious thing in the eyes of God," he said. "I do not believe that Mother Teresa just happened to die last Friday; I believe that the time for God's waiting simply ran out; he wanted her on that day, so he took her on that day, the greatest day of her life. This is a decision that God made for her, and it is a decision he will make for all of us. Let us hope and pray that when our day comes, we will welcome it, as we know that she must have in her last conscious moments of earthly life."

The archbishop compared Mother Teresa to the grain of wheat which falls upon the earth and dies in order to produce much fruit.

"If Mother's life could be so fruitful, if her good works could be so abundant while she lived, then what glory must God have in store for those who will live after her and who will carry on her work," he said.

The archbishop said that one of Mother Teresa's great gifts to the archdiocese was the gift of her own order, her sisters who dedicate their lives which are modeled upon that of their foundress, to dispensing the charity of the Lord and his church in the Atlanta community.

The archbishop encouraged the sisters to continue their work while spreading the message of Mother Teresa. "Mother would want us to continue this cooperation, without hesitating for sorrow, and I once again, in my office as bishop, pledge to her sisters, the Missionaries of Charity, the love and support of all the Catholic people in North Georgia--and especially, in this hour of loss, when the consolation of one's brethren is the quickest and surest medicine for healing."

The gifts were brought to the altar by Dr. Sharne Sheehey, an Atlanta physician who made a personal appeal to Mother Teresa to open an AIDS home for women in Atlanta, Blanca Salaski, a resident of the home and Sallie Davenport, a volunteer.

After Communion Mary Welch Rogers sang "In Jesus' Name," a meditation she composed the day before the Mass.

"I was watching all the television coverage about Mother Teresa and suddenly a melody started to come to me," Rogers said. "Throughout her life Mother Teresa did what all of us are called to do. Whenever she met someone she would pause and say 'hello' to the Jesus in each person she met."

The words of the song describe how Mother Teresa had been the hands, feet and heart of Jesus. As Rogers sang the song a cappella, tears flowed down the faces of the Missionaries of Charity, the volunteers and many others at the Mass.

At the conclusion of the liturgy the Missionaries of Charity along with the residents of the house were escorted out of the church with many of their volunteers. Many of those in attendance remained to pray the rosary. Others gathered outside the cathedral to share their memories of Mother Teresa with one another.

For Anne Brown, a parishioner at Sacred Heart Church, Atlanta, who volunteers weekly at the Gift of Grace House, Mother Teresa's death was not viewed as an end, but rather as a new beginning.

"I feel that she is going to do a work for us in heaven," she said. "Finally, she is at peace and with the Lord in body and soul. We need to live by her example. If we do this, we will never let her ministry or her memory die. We just can't afford to let her go. We need to pray to her. She was someone who lived her life totally in the presence of Jesus; now she can be an intercessor for us."

Keri Allen, a parishioner at the Cathedral of Christ the King, came to the Mass wearing a cross Mother Teresa had blessed when she visited Atlanta in 1995.

"What was so wonderful about Mother Teresa was that she became a legend while she was still living," said Allen. "That's quite a tribute to who she was and the work she did. Even though we are not all called to be Mother Teresa, we are all called to love the way she loved, and that was simply with a heart of Christ. The more love Christ poured into her, the more she poured it out into the entire world. She just exuded Christ."

Micah Jennings, a parishioner at Holy Cross Church, Atlanta, began work at the Missionaries of Charity home before the sisters even arrived.

"When I heard they were coming, I felt the Holy Spirit calling me to get involved," he said. "I helped with the renovations, pulling down walls, restoring bathrooms and doing whatever was needed to get the place ready for the sisters."

Jennings met Mother Teresa when she visited Atlanta in 1995. "She touched my life in such a way that it will never be the same again," he said. "I will always help the Missionaries of Charity in one way or another. I truly believe their work is God's work."

Father John Fallon, who ministers to the nuns at the Gift of Grace House, said that Mother Teresa has taught him what it means to work for the poor.

"We as a Church must focus our attention on the poorest of the poor," he said. "We must minister to prisoners, the abandoned, the depressed, those who are suffering from AIDS, mental illnesses and loneliness."

Father Fallon said the sisters have had continual exposition of the Blessed Sacrament each day since Mother Teresa died Sept. 5 and will continue to do this until she is buried Saturday.

"It is a wonderful way to honor Mother Teresa," he said. "In everything she did she wanted Christ rather than herself to be the focus. She knew he was the one who deserved the glory and praise."

The Missionaries of Charity were first invited to the Archdiocese of Atlanta in 1988 by Archbishop Eugene A. Marino, SSJ. At that time Mother Teresa did not have the sisters to send to the city. Dr. Sheehey then made a personal appeal to her for the homeless women with AIDS/HIV she treats at Grady Hospital's Infectious Disease Clinic. When Dr. Sheehey learned that the Missionaries of Charity come only at the request of the diocesan bishop, she took her appeal to Atlanta Archbishop James P. Lyke, OFM. He endorsed her purpose and made another formal request in 1992. The sisters arrived in Atlanta in January 1993.

That June the archdiocese facilitated the purchase of a house on St. Charles Avenue in Atlanta and contributed $50,000 toward renovation expenses, which included fabricating a convent for the sisters out of a former carriage house at the rear of the property. In the years of their ministry, the sisters have served the community with the selfless dedication and tireless spirit of Mother herself.