Rome (AsiaNews) - A inestimable gift for the Church and the world: this is how Benedict XVI described the life of Mother Teresa in his message of "spiritual participation" at the beginning of the special Year marking the centenary of the birth of the Blessed of Calcutta.

However we here at AsiaNews fear that this “inestimable gift” might not be fully appreciated by neither by the world nor by the Church. Even the (few) reports published on the centenary in the media tend to mostly emphasize the sentimental aspect of the memory of this woman, who lived among the sewers of Calcutta and the palaces of princesses and heads of state. In the eyes of many - perhaps even Christians - her generosity seems unreasonable, admirable, but impossible to imitate, her methods of facing poverty and disease surpassed and even contraindicated.

In short, the memory of Mother Teresa is at times likened to that of our grandmother, a kind of lovely fairytale that brings with it the taste of a lost childhood, the hopes of the 1980s when it seemed that her heroism could indeed change the entire world. But it is a heroism that already seems outdated to the emancipated and scientifically advanced of the XXI century.

And yet, it is not so.  The proposals lived on a daily basis by Mother Teresa are a good solution to the crisis of the contemporary world. The Mother took care of the terminally ill in Calcutta, sufferers of leprosy, tuberculosis, AIDS (the first to take them into her home when they were still ostracised by the outside world). This was not the result of an irrational impulse, but of a love that united science and wisdom. Even today, the Missionaries of Charity study medicine, nursing, the latest medical research, but they know how to offer all these treatments while caring for the patient as a person and not as an object or a burden.

Mother Teresa's commitment to combating abortion with adoption has drawn the ire of many, including international organizations that should instead protect the mother and childhood. Mother has often been accused of "pampering the poor", allowing population growth to continue unchecked (by abortion). I often wonder whether perhaps Mother Teresa’s position is not, in the end, more realistic than the position of those doctors who practice abortion on the one hand and "pamper the rich" on the other, by exploiting medical advances for late-in-life maternity, or who shop around for the best to chromosomes in artificial fertilization as if at a supermarket. Mother instead, chose to rely on adoptions and natural methods, without killing anyone.

Moreover, when she spoke to those directors who tackle poverty "in general", in their offices and organizations – some even Catholic - Mother Teresa always said: “Come and touch the poor".  This hands on experience is the best tool for the use of science and sociology.

Her commitment to peace by living on the borders of Lebanon, Iraq and Azerbaijan is also worth mentioning here. Or her special form of "liberation theology" where instead of planning for a future common good, she gave to the poor immediately, today, dignity and nourishment. She also taught us all that that the person in need who stands before us, is more important than even the most intelligent project.

It is important to mention one final point: that of doing things "for Jesus". For us Catholics , in danger of absorbing the “post-Christian” atmosphere that is sweeping the world, there is a strong risk of the faith being reduced to mere bourgeois values, to political alliances, to a search for power (“for the common good" of course! ).