05th August 2020 is a memorable day for the FMA World: It is the148th Anniversary of the Foundation of our Institute. For us at M.M. Mumbai, we had our hearts and minds turned on this day to Maria Sharan Keshnand as Sr. Teresa Castellino celebrated her 50 Years of Religious Profession. Indeed it was a great day to thank God for His Loving Fidelity towards you. Marcus Tullius Cicero has expressed it powerfully: “ Nothing is more noble, nothing more venerable than fidelity. Faithfulness and truth are the most sacred excellences and endowments of the human mind.” A closer glance at Sr. Teresa will enable us to grasp better the depth and beauty of this quote.
A call to serve
Sr. Teresa’s 3 years of studies in Rome (1976-1979) offered her opportunities for direct contact with the origins of our Institute and to acquire deeper knowledge of the Salesian Charism. Those of us who are familiar with the beginnings of M.M. Mumbai Province will surely remember Sr. Teresa Castellino, ever busy as the Secretary of the Province (1982-1988), skilfully assisting Sr. Helen Fernandes the first Provincial of our Province. Sr. Teresa’s fidelity to the Lord was manifested in her never ending search for truth and her courage to express it even at the cost of bending down to a young Junior Sister and saying: “sorry, we did not think about it sufficiently.” In spite of her busy work as secretary, it was pretty evident that when it was to discover the talents of us her Sisters, she would take that extra step, leave her office work and watch us perform to say: Well done! We are proud of you!
Sr. Teresa was animator of the community and in charge of the hostel (1988-1994) at Nashik. The Youth Centre at Maria Vihar Nasik stands as testimony to Sr. Teresa’s love for youngsters. As the Animator of the community of Auxilium, Bandra (1994-2002), Sr. Teresa’s heart went immediately to the needs of the School. She not only realized that they did not have a hall and other facilities but also did everything possible to gather funds and made sure that not only a hall was ready but a big building with four floors was put up for students. Sr. Teresa was Provincial Councillor (1994 -1996) and Vice Provincial (1996-2003) of M.M. Mumbai.
God in His marvellous design inspired Mother Antonia Colombo and her Council to elect Sr. Teresa Castellino as Provincial of M.M. Bombay. Sr. Teresa bowed and said ‘God’s will be done.’ It is impossible to trace out the amazing things God has accomplished through the humble mediation of dear Sr. Teresa from the year 2003-2009. “Gratitude is the fairest blossom which springs from the soul” says Henry Ward Beecher. In a spirit of profound gratitude that wells up right now in the hearts of all of us Sisters, here we are to highlight a few salient traits of Sr. Teresa’s way of being Provincial.
The touch of the divine
God has his own unique style of choosing leaders. Right from the very beginning of her term as Provincial, Sr. Teresa seemed to have set a few priorities: God in the first place and then service to the Sisters. She came across to us as watchful, alert, hardworking, simple, straight forward and upright. Her main concern was the spiritual growth of the sisters. Her foresight, generosity and caring thoughtfulness was experienced by many around her. With her God given gifts of nature and grace she spurred us to tread the path of holiness. Her well-written and inspiring Circulars, various conferences and good-nights bear witness to this. Dear Sister Teresa, you are remembered with gratitude by many of us your Sisters as one who stood by us. How true the words of Albert Schweitzer: “At times, our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.”
Attention to the Sisters
Sr. Teresa as we know well is quite allergic to solemn embraces and long telephone calls. But what is amazing is she knows when to make her presence felt and she does it silently without much noise. She did display a very delicate sense by providing opportunities to those Sisters who lacked it. She rejoiced when her Sisters were doing wonderfully well and never got tired of pulling us up when she felt we needed it. One day a student Sister told me: you know the Provincial scolded me for getting less marks… Sr. Teresa seemed to have a clear vision of knowing where she wanted to lead the province and exhibited exceptional ability in consolidating and bringing to completion building works at Keshnand, the residence of the Sisters at Benaulim, Nandgad, Oros etc.
Max De Pree opines: “Trust grows when people see leaders translate their personal integrity into organisational fidelity. At the heart of fidelity lies truth-telling and promise-keeping.” When it came to the health of the Sisters Sr. Teresa never counted the cost and acted promptly. Eusebia Welfare Centre Mundhwa bears witness to her thoughtfulness towards the Sisters who needed rest and medical assistance. She was the Animator of Mundhwa (2009-2015).
When it came to signing contracts for joined collaboration, she pulled out from her vast experience, an extraordinary sense of wisdom: she wanted to see concretely how her Sisters were doing and precisely for this reason she would tactfully sign the contracts just for two-three years and after a good chat with the Sister concerned renewed it if needed.
Gratitude to the departed Sisters
“A faithful friend is an image of God” says a French proverb. It is wonderful to keep fresh in our hearts the memory of our friends who are no more with us. Like the Psalmist, Sr. Teresa would not give rest to her eyelids until she saw the biographies of our Sisters who have gone to their Father’s house. She has often mentioned that “These Sisters have worked wholeheartedly for our Province; it is our duty to remember them with gratitude.”
Singleness of purpose
Sr. Teresa is known in the Province for her singleness of purpose. For her it is always yes, yes, or no, no. On various occasions, a number of us had the fortune to experience the genuine goodness of heart of Sr. Teresa. Beneath the almost serious appearance of hers, there was a mother’s heart who tried to understand, forgive and start anew. She has an astonishing capacity to acknowledge her mistakes and ask pardon and did demonstrate it on various occasions. Sr. Teresa knew how to make others feel loved and important. She was a shaker and a mover when it was for the good of the young people. Auxilium Youth Animation Centre Dahanu was indeed one of her dreams for young people come true.
The magic word ASK
One of Sr. Teresa’s characteristics is her ability to “ask.” ‘Ask and you shall receive’ promises the Bible. Sr. Teresa often turned to us Sisters asking us to give her a hand in one thing or the other for the good of the Province. In this way she was able to get in touch with the high level energy that the Sisters possess and their professional competencies thus making the Sisters feel important and needed and giving them the warm inner glow of having been helpful.
Dear Sr. Teresa Castellino, your countenance is almost filled with sketches of life, fruit of suffering and tears, joyful memories, love and laughter. It’s gorgeous. May God continue to envelop you with His love. May His Spirit lead and guide you as you immerse yourself in following Jesus His Son day after day with renewed enthusiasm and lasting fidelity. May you continue to play and sing aloud Don Bosco’s hymn of gratitude to Mary Help of Christians. This is our wish and prayer for you. Congratulations and Jubilations dear Sr. Teresa Castellino
Sr. Teresa Joseph
For the Sisters, teachers, parents, friends, well wishers and young people who are in the circle of your love