Georgia Bulletin

The Newspaper of the Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta

  • After being introduced to Sister Mary Prema, MC, background right, by Sister Rita Marie, MC, background left, mother superior of Atlanta’s Gift of Grace House, Micah Jennings, foreground right, tells his son, Micah, what a joy it’s been to be a Missionaries of Charity volunteer for the past 25 years. Jennings was one of several volunteers who helped renovate the house before it officially opened in 1994 as a home for women with AIDS. Photo By Michael Alexander
  • Father Brian Baker gives the homily during the June 29 Mass at the Gift of Grace House. The Mass fell on the fifth anniversary of his first Mass as a newly ordained priest. Father Baker is the current confessor for Atlanta’s Missionaries of Charity. Photo By Michael Alexander
  • (Clockwise from top left) Reverend Chad Hyatt, pastor of Mercy Community Church, Atlanta, K. Paw and William Uk from Corpus Christi Church, Stone Mountain, Sydney Morse from the Cathedral of Christ the King, her husband James and Charmaine Jackson were among the benefactors, friends and volunteers present who have an affiliation with the Missionaries of Charity and Gift of Grace House. Photo By Michael Alexander
  • Missionaries of Charity (r-l) Sister Mary Prema, superior general of order from Calcutta, India, Sister M. Jonathan, regional superior from St. Louis, Missouri, and Sister Mariya Bagya from Gift of Grace House, Atlanta, share a laugh during a comment by the homilist, Father Brian Baker. Photo By Michael Alexander
  • Sister Mary Prema, MC, superior general of the Missionaries of Charity since 2009, briefly addresses the congregation before the final blessing of the June 29 Mass at Gift of Grace House, Atlanta. Photo By Michael Alexander
  • Sister Mary Prema, MC, superior general of the Missionaries of Charity, greets people following a June 29 Mass at Gift of Grace House, Atlanta. She also handed out religious medals of St. Teresa of Calcutta. Photo By Michael Alexander
  • Sister Mary Prema, MC, back row, fourth from left, superior general of the Missionaries of Charity since 2009, poses for a photograph with Gift of Grace House volunteer Lucio Garcia, back row, second from left, and teen volunteers from Corpus Christi Church, Stone Mountain. Photo By Michael Alexander

After being introduced to Sister Mary Prema, MC, background right, by Sister Rita Marie, MC, background left, mother superior of Atlanta’s Gift of Grace House, Micah Jennings, foreground right, tells his son, Micah, what a joy it’s been to be a Missionaries of Charity volunteer for the past 25 years. Jennings was one of several volunteers who helped renovate the house before it officially opened in 1994 as a home for women with AIDS. Photo By Michael Alexander

Atlanta

Superior general’s Atlanta visit inspires Missionaries of Charity community

By GEORGIA BULLETIN STAFF | Published August 8, 2019

ATLANTA—Sister Mary Prema Pierick, superior general of the Missionaries of Charity, visited the Atlanta members of the congregation and its volunteers in June.

Sister Prema, who requests she not be called “Mother,” arrived June 27 for her first visit with the Atlanta sisters. In 1980, she joined the Missionaries of Charity, the congregation established by St. Teresa of Kolkata, and was named superior general in 2009.

In Atlanta, the Missionaries of Charity run the Gift of Grace House for women with AIDS.

In addition to the work at the house, the white and blue sari-clad sisters help families at Colony South trailer park and are catechists at San Felipe de Jesus Mission, both in Forest Park. They also assist refugees in Clarkston, providing after-school programs, summer camps and English classes.

Sister Prema, a native of Germany, had the chance to witness some of the ministries first hand during her stay.

“I am very grateful for the experience to visit Atlanta and to see the work the sisters are doing. Being in the company of the women with AIDS at Gift of Grace House and attending the final day of summer camp in Clarkston has been special,” said Sister Prema. “I enjoyed the program prepared by the young people at the camp.”

On the Solemnity of the most Sacred Heart of Jesus, the superior general participated in the consecration to the Sacred Heart and blessing of the convent and house. A Mass was held June 29 at the house in Virginia Highland for friends and volunteers. Father Brian Baker was the celebrant.

“I think Atlanta was very blessed with having Sister Prema here,” said Micah Jennings, who has served as a volunteer for the Missionaries of Charity since they arrived 25 years ago.

Jennings said it was an “incredible grace” to pick up Mother Teresa and drive her during her two-day visit to Atlanta in 1995 to see the Gift of Grace House.

“She has the same spirit,” said Jennings of Sister Prema. “She radiates Mother’s love.”

Jennings, a parishioner of St. Pius X Church, Conyers, has helped the Missionaries of Charity in a variety of ways throughout the years. He said many new volunteers have joined in as the sisters are so good at “bringing the community in and letting them share in their apostolate.”

“They’re all so in tune with reaching out and helping others,” said Jennings.

He was able to bring his wife and son to the Mass to meet Sister Prema.

“She’s carrying on Mother’s legacy. She is so humble,” said Jennings. “She gave total access.”

The Missionaries of Charity held a June 29 Mass in the backyard of their Gift of Grace House, in the Atlanta neighborhood of Virginia Highland, during a visit by the order’s superior general, Sister Mary Prema, MC, front row, far right. The congregation included benefactors, friends, volunteers and residents of Gift of Grace House. Photo By Michael Alexander

The Missionaries of Charity formally arrived in 1993 to begin work in the archdiocese. The Gift of Grace House opened in 1994 after volunteers helped renovate the two-story home. It is a safe place for women who once lived on the streets.

Mother Teresa came to Atlanta in mid-June 1995 to mark the official opening of the house.

Volunteer Sydney Morse and her husband, James, help the sisters by teaching a catechesis class and a Bible study for middle and high school students based on St. John Paul II’s Theology of the Body.

Morse said the Clarkston students are the best group of young people she’s ever encountered.

“They want to engage, and they are genuinely interested in diving deeper into the truths in their faith,” she said. “They stole my heart, and they are a big reason I am still here in Atlanta.”

She attended the backyard Mass and said that meeting Sister Prema was surreal.

“She is so beautiful. She exudes such joy, peace, mercy and compassion. She smiles just like Mother Teresa—it’s uncanny,” said Morse. “It is clear even just from seeing her and hearing her speak briefly that she has found a piece of eternity in her service to the poorest of the poor which we all seek in our own way, usually in a thousand distractions.”

Morse said being with any of the Missionaries of Charity has transformed her life and inspired her to strip distractions away to be more present daily to Christ.

From Atlanta, Sister Prema departed to spend time with the Missionaries of Charity community in Dallas. She then addressed all of the mothers superior serving in the United States at a July meeting in Chicago.

Sister Prema said she took from Atlanta “the joy and confidence that God is working through the sisters to bring many souls to love God.”