
DATE: Monday, September 8, 1997             TAG: 9709080075

SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY STEPHEN KIEHL, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   76 lines

SERMONS HIGHLIGHT HER MESSAGE SOME WHO KNEW NUN OFFER PRAYERS FOR THE WOMAN WHO HELPED THE POOR SO MUCH.

It was altogether fitting, though not entirely surprising, parishioners at Catholic churches said Sunday, that the readings at Masses the weekend after Mother Teresa's death dealt with caring for the poor and suffering.

While many passages from the New Testament urge compassion for the neglected, the readings Sunday seemed especially appropriate.

``Listen, dear brothers,'' the Rev. Paschal Kneip, pastor of St. Gregory's Catholic Church in Virginia Beach, read from the Epistles of James. ``Did not God choose those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and heirs to the kingdom he promised to those who love him?''

And the Gospel reading Sunday told of how Jesus healed a man who was deaf and mute. According to the Gospel of St. Mark, those who witnessed it exclaimed: ``He has done everything well! He makes the deaf hear and the mute speak!''

As those words rang out in Catholic churches across Hampton Roads, the parishioners who heard them said they were appropriate tributes to the life of Mother Teresa, who died Friday in Calcutta, India, after a lifetime of serving people who were on the fringes of society.

Mother Teresa, people said, did everything well.

An easel in the lobby of St. Gregory's supported a large piece of white posterboard with a picture of Mother Teresa in a blue frame. Inside the standing-room-only church, Kneip's homily raised the question of the purpose of the church.

``The purpose is not to take care of ourselves,'' he said. ``We must be reaching out, taking care of others. Mother Teresa's work continues even though she has gone before us. We are challenged to take care of the poor, the marginalized.''

In Norfolk, a prayer service and recitation of the rosary at St. Mary's Cemetery drew about 75 people. They stood in a semicircle under the shade of an oak tree and were led in prayer by Sister Charles Legg of Portsmouth Catholic Elementary School.

Monica Augustine, a Virginia Beach nurse who grew up in India, brought with her a prayer for Mother Teresa that was said at the end of the service. In the 1970s, Augustine worked in a health clinic in India that Mother Teresa frequently visited.

Augustine said Mother Teresa fundamentally changed the way Indians view the poor. Now people are not afraid to work with or touch the poor.

``They all see her as a saint,'' she said.

Betty Rehpelz, 68, of Virginia Beach, had also met Mother Teresa. Rehpelz's sister took the nun to Washington, D.C., in the early '70s. Rehpelz said Mother Teresa was incredibly powerful in her humble way. She said she refused to take a cab, opting instead for a city bus.

``After the lecture, my sister said, `We have a cab for you,' '' Rehpelz recalled. ``Mother Teresa said, `No, no, no. City bus.' She would not take a taxi.''

Across town at India Fest at Old Dominion University, a minute of silence was held in honor of Mother Teresa. A newspaper photo of her was placed on an easel on a stage and was surrounded by flowers.

Shyamala Cowsik, Indian ambassador to the United States, said Mother Teresa ``had the ability to reach out and feel, as her Lord Jesus felt, in her lifetime, the pain of everyday people.'' MEMO: Staff writer John-Henry Doucette contributed to this report. ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]

HONORING MOTHER TERESA

ASSOCIATED PRESS

The body of Mother Teresa was carried out of the Missionaries of

Charity home in Calcutta, India, to a bigger church on Sunday so

more people could see her. Across the world, Catholic congregations

were honoring her in sermons and with moments of silence.

[Color Photo]

HUY NGUYEN/The Virginian-Pilot

A children's choir practices before singing to honor the memory of

Mother Teresa during a ceremony at St. Mary's Cemetery in Norfolk.

About 75 people attended the service on Sunday.