Mother Teresa's Crisis of Faith

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time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1655415,00.html

interesting article… she wondered the same things we all do.

The letters, many of them preserved against her wishes (she had requested that they be destroyed but was overruled by her church), reveal that for the last nearly half-century of her life she felt no presence of God whatsoever — or, as the book’s compiler and editor, the Rev. Brian Kolodiejchuk, writes, “neither in her heart or in the eucharist.”
“I spoke as if my very heart was in love with God — tender, personal love,” she remarks to an adviser. “If you were [there], you would have said, ‘What hypocrisy.’”

Dark night of the soul really tortured her at times. Amazing woman.
 
She experienced what many great saints did–many extraordinary consolations early on and the dark night thereafter–it is a test of their fidelity–they love God even when they receive nothing in return in this life 🙂
 
I read the first three pages then I realized it probably wasn’t the best source, because Time is not a Catholic magazine.

Anyway it reminded me of St. Therese of Liseux.

Bl. Mother Teresa asked to suffer and ‘drink only of Christ’s pain’- Jesus also suffered from spiritual dryness, which is the worst kind of pain imaginable because it brings to the fore the real split between heaven and earth inherent in the fall. And as some theologian said once, “what is not assumed is not redeemed”.

Do people think that Christ’s pain was only physical for that one Friday? No, I would not doubt if he suffered spiritual dryness.
 
Genesis315 said:
She experienced what many great saints did–many extraordinary consolations early on and the dark night thereafter–it is a test of their fidelity–they love God even when they receive nothing in return in this life 🙂
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I know i am excited to read it even though she did ask for the letters to be destoryed. It brings her down to a more of a fellow human being in that fact that she too wondered the same questions and went through such hard spritiual times but at the same time it helps raise her up back into the saint catergory because even in these hard times she perserved and continued to serve the Lord. I hope i can have the strength of faith that she did. She is beautuiful!
 
you beat me to it
I am amazed a secular magazine, particularly time, gave such a balanced account and discussion, and that the author is at least familiar with the dark night in Christian spirituality.

I concur that this will become a Catholic spiritual classic, and intend to purchase it at the earliest opportunity

bears out the heroism behind her simple declaration: it is not necessary to be succesful or to be fulfilled, but to be faithful
 
I’ve been looking around the internet, and already some people are saying ‘Aha! Mother Teresa was actually an atheist!’

So I’m wondering how this will break for them, considering guys like Christopher Hitchens and others have gone out of their way to try and cast Mother Teresa as some evil, wicked being. Will they give that up in favor of making her an atheist saint?
 
I haven’t read the Times article but I’ve been seeing the many comments about it today in Catholic sites, as well as an NBC Nightly News report about it this evening. Many say the same thing - Mother Teresa is a saint for the 21st century especially now that we are aware of her long term spiritual struggles. She gives hope to many people today who are going through a similar crises of faith. She becomes very human in our eyes instead of a lofty, perfectly saintly figure that was always serenely secure in her faith. To know that in all the long years she spent helping the poor she experienced her own persistent “dark night of the soul”, yet remained true to the God she thought had abandoned her. Very impressive.
 
Nullasalus said:
I’ve been looking around the internet, and already some people are saying ‘Aha! Mother Teresa was actually an atheist!’

So I’m wondering how this will break for them, considering guys like Christopher Hitchens and others have gone out of their way to try and cast Mother Teresa as some evil, wicked being. Will they give that up in favor of making her an atheist saint?
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.

as i’ve said before regarding atheists… when the only tool in your belt in a hammer, you start seeing every problem and issue as a nail. they’re so stuck in their rut of subjectivism, they really can’t come to understand the deeper meanings. it’s not possible without a paradigm shift on their end.
 
But look at the source. It’s Time Magazine. I don’t think they believe God exists. I’m not going to bother with it. I’m sorry I even gave Time the hit on the internet.
 
Isle_of_Avalon said:
I haven’t read the Times article yet but I’ve been seeing the many comments about it today in Catholic sites, as well as an NBC Nightly News report about it this evening. Many say the same thing - Mother Teresa is a saint for the 21st century especially now that we are aware of her long term spiritual struggles. She gives hope to many people today who or are going through a similar crises of faith. She becomes very human in our eyes instead of a lofty, perfectly saintly figure that was always serenely secure in her faith. To know that in all the long years she spent helping the poor she experienced her own persistent “dark night of the soul”, yet remained true to the God she thought had abandoned her. Very impressive.
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tangent time:
because of your user name i’ve been singing Cozy Morley’s “On the way to Cape May” for the past 10 minutes… THANKS! :mad: 😃

"On the way to Cape May, I fell in love with you.
On the way to Cape May, I saw my dreams come true.
I was taken by your smile, as we drifted by Sea Isle.
My heart was really gone when we reached Avalon.
On the way to Cape May, Stone Harbor’s skies were blue.
We were naming the day when Wildwood came in view. "

now back to the thread.
 
Hopefully, this news of Mother Teresa’s faith will serve not only as a model for many of us, but also help deal with a misconception of being religious: The idea that anyone who is religious does not question or experience doubt, but instead blindly follows whatever they’re told.

I always feel some despair when I see people - believing and not - holding onto ridiculous ideas about religion in general. In fact, what I really wish would get known is that Mother Teresa, just about every other saint, and every pope has a confessor - that they aren’t sinless or utterly perfect (though many can be extremely admirable), nor should they be expected to be.
 
I wonder why this is news…If I spent 50 years among the poorest of the poor…I’d probably wonder where God was in all of that too.
 
So? It only makes Mother Teresa more real and more “human”.

I dare say most of us live our lives without the constant awareness of the presence of God. We sometimes feel Him for a brief fleeting second and it is so sweet - but I daresay that if we felt ourselves in the constant presence of God - we’d die of bliss.
 
Hopefully, the 3 out of 4 Americans who claimed to read at least one book last year may read this book, rather than just the Time magazine slant on this story.
 
hmmm, all those bashing the story because “time” wrote it… one question… what exactly in the story did you object to?
 
thechrismyster said:
hmmm, all those bashing the story because “time” wrote it… one question… what exactly in the story did you object to?
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Well, I haven’t read the article, not because Time wrote it, but because Hitchens is in it, and I have to fight the urge to puke whenever I read something by Hitchens. Yes, that was a great idea, let’s get someone who is so arrogant he thinks he can attack theology without knowing remotely the slightest about it, and hate’s Mother Theresa with an irrational passion, to provide the analysis of this. I can’t possibly think of anybody better :rolleyes:.
 
I just read the article on Yahoo, and I must say, I was very touched. I don’t think it detracts from her life of good works at all. If anything, it made me respect her even more! I mean, the sacrifices she’s made, and the pain that she must’ve endured, and yet she still trudged on. If that’s not faith, I don’t know what is!

It also made her more human, and not just a lofty ideal. I think this will be one more her most important legacies.
 
How very dangerous lol. That caught my attention. >.< That would be a first.
 
The idea that she was a human being with all the doubts and thoughts that human beings have makes her even more Saintly to me. It just proves that we can all even the doubting Thomases in the world can do wonderful things with Christs Grace.
 
I read the story yesterday; saw it on CNN today. That she’d have had a dry spell doesn’t surprise me. Many of the Saints report the very same struggle, and yet she persevered, giving her life for Christ through her daily works. That she might have felt empty, drawn out and at time inconsolable doesn’t surprise me at all. She poured out her life as a martyr to aleviate human misery and suffering; she’d seen the very worst human society can dish out to those most in need.

HOWEVER, having said all that, I guess I’d cry the warning; the godless media and their anti-christian audience will have a field day with this one! CNN has already orchestrated a special to be aired very soon, if not tonight. There will be dancing round the atheist camp fire this week!
 
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