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Where there is Love, there is God
September 12, 2025
On 5 September 2025, the Feast of Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta, Caritas Penang held a day of prayer, recollection, and planning for the Board members and staff of Caritas Penang, Lighthouse Feeding Centre, and St Joseph’s Home at the Monsignor Aloysius Spirituality Center (MASC), Penang.
The day began with a memorial Mass for St Mother Teresa, celebrated by Fr Joachim Robert and Fr Andrew Khoo, and attended by around 20 participants. Following the Mass, Fr Andrew Khoo led the recollection, drawing from the spirituality of Caritas Malaysia’s guiding principles. These principles form both our inner disposition and motivation (“Being”)—Sanctity, Synodality, and Solidarity—and our communal efforts (“Doing”)—Subsidiarity, the Common Good, and Co-responsibility. He also reiterated the call for a Synodal Church, walking together in Communion, Participation, and Mission.
To illustrate this spirit of mission, Fr Andrew recounted an encounter in 1969 when a reporter witnessed Mother Teresa cleaning the maggot-infested wound of a man on the street. The reporter remarked, “I wouldn’t do what you do for a million dollars.” Mother Teresa smiled and replied, “I wouldn’t either.” For her, every act of service was an act of love, seeing Jesus in the suffering she ministered to. Her mission was, at its heart, a love story with Christ.
Fr Andrew reminded the participants that, through the sacrament of Baptism, every Christian is called to mission—an ongoing mission to bring God’s love to those entrusted to our care. To share His love with others, we must first encounter Christ ourselves. When we truly carry His love within us, He sustains us even through discouragement, opposition, or burnout. We are not called to be successful, Fr Andrew emphasized, but to remain faithful to the mission Christ has given us. Mission is not one-sided; it also shapes us to become more fully the image of God.
Participants were then invited to reflect on their own personal encounters with Christ through others, and on their present ministry: where it stands now, what Christ may be calling them to, and how the different ministries can collaborate and walk together in mission.
The day concluded with a closing prayer by Fr Joachim Robert, who thanked all participants for their presence and commitment to God’s mission, and expressed gratitude to Fr Andrew Khoo for his insightful guidance throughout the day.
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