KOCHI: Fr. John Puthuva, the vicar of St George Church Thalayolaparamb and Prison Ministry India Co-ordinator (Delhi), is overwhelmed with joy as the world witnesses the canonisation of Mother Teresa. It is because he had the opportunity to meet Mother Teresa once and be blessed by the great soul. While working as a social worker in Delhi, Fr. Puthuva used to take the destitute and the abandoned living on the streets to the Mother Homes and look after them thus becoming a willing volunteer to the yeomen services of Mother Teresa. Fr Puthuva, who hit headlines while visiting cricketer Sreesanth in jail, says his attachment to the work of Mother Teresa has not diminished at all even though he has shifted base to Kerala now.
That is why every year without fail he spends 10 days at the Mother Homes in Kolkata, staying with them and nursing the lepers and the dying. This experience, according to him, gives immense joy and contentment. After having cleaned the wounds of the lepers and having helped them put on fresh clothes, he used to kiss on the forehead of them, a challenging practice which he initiated was soon adopted by the sisters of the Mother Homes there.
Once after cleaning a foul smelling, maggots infested leper at ‘Nirmal Hriday’, the home for the dying in Kalighat and dressing him up, the father moved to the next patient, but he was held back by the leper, who whispered in his ears in a sobbing voice “but for people like you, I would have died a miserable death. You are all surely God to me”. It was much more touching for him seeing another leper, whom he took care of with two Irish youths, dying, who also embraced him and kissed. “In spite of the stench, I felt I was nursing the wounds of Jesus Christ. Now I wait for the 10 days of experiencing Christ every year and to serve Him,” Fr Puduva says.
