Mother Teresa's Crisis of Faith

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One night a man had a dream.
He dreamed he was walking along
the beach with the Lord.
Across the dark sky flashed scenes from his life.
For each scene, he noticed
two sets of footprints in the sand,
one beloning to him and the other to the Lord.
When the last scene of his life flashed before him,
he looked back at the footprints in the sand.
He noticed that many times along the path of his life
there was only one set of footprints.
He also noticed that it happened at the
very lowest and saddest times in his life.
This bothered him and he questioned the Lord about it.
“Lord, you said that once I decided to follow you,
you’d walk with me all the way.
But I have noticed that during the most
troublesome times in my life there is
only one set of footprints.
I don’t understand why when I needed you most
you would leave me.”
The Lord replied “My precious, precious child,
I love you and would never leave you.
During your times of trial and suffereing,
when you see only one set of footprints in the sand,
it was then that I carried you.”
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I have asked myself a question-- why would wealthy parents in YUGOSLAVIA send their very special daughter to a convent in India, of all places? Perhaps her calling just after WWII could have had to do with survivor guilt? Think about it.

Homeward bound, homeward bound.
 
Publisher said:
Not “funny”, but very…very profound…if atheists were to ever have a “Patron Saint”, perhaps Teresa would qualify, given the things she struggled with, who better to understand the struggles of “unbelief”?
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Perhaps… if given in context. Reading the thread once more, I can now make that jump: Just as Mother Teresa did for fifty years plus… can we really trust God in the dark? The upcoming book *Come Be My Light *would indeed be a profound answer.

Her quintessential faith should serve as a shining example to us-- “Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.” (James 2:18 KJV)

True, the faith of our fathers is borne out of compassionate love and not out of emotional love, but we have to at least address the struggles of the seeker; slapping him/her with a purely intellectualized faith-- “Just believe, you irrational fool!” is tantamount to beating an old donkey for not winning the Kentucky Derby. That is exactly how existentialism and nihilism got a foothold into the human psyche: it is likely a temper tantrum masquerading as philosophy.

It is unfortunate that it is the same door that others will use to subvert the true faith of our Church. I guess my suggestion is to first “engage” the emotional emptiness or “thirst” of the seeker first, then proclaim the good news. That’s how Jesus dealt with the woman at the well in the Gospel of John, the fourth chapter.

To Publisher: You’re right, thank you.:tiphat:

To AgnosTheist: My apologies. I thought your post was meant to ridicule and not to provoke thought.😃

Peace.
 
To understand Mother Teresa better, especially in light of her letters just published, the follow article has been recommended. To quote CatholicCulture.org, “After John Paul II issued his apostolic exhortation on evangelization (Redemptoris Missio, 1990), Mother Teresa’s reflections on the document were published in L’Osservatore Romano. These reflections clearly reveal her essential spirit: Charity: The Soul of Missionary Activity.”
 
Jerusha said:
I have asked myself a question-- why would wealthy parents in YUGOSLAVIA send their very special daughter to a convent in India, of all places? Perhaps her calling just after WWII could have had to do with survivor guilt? Think about it.

Homeward bound, homeward bound.
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I am almost through the first chapter and it is not as you sugget.
 
Contarini said:
]
Maybe we should pray to Mother Teresa for Christopher Hitchens. If he was converted through her prayers, wouldn’t that count as a sufficient miracle for canonization? 😃
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If Mother Theresa’s prayers could get Hitchens to stop drinking, that alone would be enough for canonization!
 
**Fr. Benedict Groeschel said last night on his EWTN program," Sunday Night Live," that for those who would feel comfortable in doing so, to pray with Mother Teresa for the salvation of those atheist critics of the new book of her letters. (His program next week will also focus on the revelations of her letters as well as the critics.)

He also commented last night that such darkness was not unusual for some (female) saints, including “the little flower” at the end of her life, although the decades of darkness for Mother Teresa was unusual. However, he noted that in talking with her, in person, a couple of weeks before her death, her face was aglow and she experienced much joy.
**
 
jblair said:
**Fr. Benedict Groeschel said last night on his EWTN program," Sunday Night Live," that for those who would feel comfortable in doing so, to pray with Mother Teresa for the salvation of those atheist critics of the new book of her letters. (His program next week will also focus on the revelations of her letters as well as the critics.)

He also commented last night that such darkness was not unusual for some (female) saints, including “the little flower” at the end of her life, although the decades of darkness for Mother Teresa was unusual. However, he noted that in talking with her, in person, a couple of weeks before her death, her face was aglow and she experienced much joy.
**
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When are they going to pray for the Catholic critics of Mother Teresa? There are many on this board.

It is strange that as an atheist, I was among those who had to defend her against Catholics. 🤷
 
notself said:
When are they going to pray for the Catholic critics of Mother Teresa? There are many on this board.

It is strange that as an atheist, I was among those who had to defend her against Catholics. 🤷
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hello Notself,

At the end of the program in question, Fr. Benedict did ask his viewers to pray for Mother Theresa’s atheist critics, especially Hitchens.

I’m just curious. What are these Catholics on the board who are criticizing Mother Theresa criticizing exactly?

Are they “liberal” Catholics whose critiques are similar to those of “liberal” non-Catholics? Or was it “conservative” Catholics criticizing her (as they would criticize John Paul II as well) for being too “ecumenical”?

Peace
 
nonsumd said:
hello Notself,

At the end of the program in question, Fr. Benedict did ask his viewers to pray for Mother Theresa’s atheist critics, especially Hitchens.

I’m just curious. What are these Catholics on the board who are criticizing Mother Theresa criticizing exactly?

Are they “liberal” Catholics whose critiques are similar to those of “liberal” non-Catholics? Or was it “conservative” Catholics criticizing her (as they would criticize John Paul II as well) for being too “ecumenical”?

Peace
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Read the thread “Mother Teresa Praying to Buddha” and decide for yourself. I just bumped it.
 
notself said:
Read the thread “Mother Teresa Praying to Buddha” and decide for yourself. I just bumped it.
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Thanks, notself. I’d forgotten about that thread. I’d avoided that thread because I knew that I’d just get aggravated. Having read through it just now, I appreciate your intervention there as a non-Catholic.

Personally, I think there are far graver forms of idolatry than bowing down to graven images. I observe many people condemning that and having no clue what far more heinous forms of idolatry they are into (turning money, physical beauty, national power, etc. into their personal gods).

It’s ironic that secular critics of Mother Theresa were always falsely charging her with tying her and her sisters’ charity to evangelizing while certain Christians denounce her for being too positive towards other religions (I wouldn’t call such denouncers “Catholic” since to make oneself out to be “more Catholic than the Pope” is in effect to become a sort of “Protestant”).

I found an interesting line of argument in an article arguing that Muslims worship the same God we Christians do (in fact it is one available on Catholic Answers). When the Old Testament condemns the worship of “false gods,” it is referring to the religions of the Canaanites and other peoples known to the ancinet Israelites, religions which practiced human sacrifice and taught no ethics of compassion. The blanket condemnation due to those religions should not be applied to the religions that Christians enconter in the world today which manifestly do teach ethics (and do so in my opinion by the grace of God).

Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism are not specifically mentioned in the OT, so we are not discouraged from seeing them as containing some truth and respecting them for that and respecting their adherents for the sincerity of their quest for God or the Truth.

Like our popes, we can do this while proclaiming that Catholic Christianity possesses the fullness of God’s revelation. We, all of us, Catholic and non-Catholic, must be able to say that we agree on what we do agree on, agree to disagree on what we do not agree on, and agree to affirm our love for each other as fellow human beings.

As far as I am concerned, Mother Theresa and Pope John Paul the Great were just showing common courtesy in being respectful at non-Christian rituals and places of worship.
 
nonsumd;
Thanks, notself. I’d forgotten about that thread. I’d avoided that thread because I knew that I’d just get aggravated. Having read through it just now, I appreciate your intervention there as a non-Catholic.
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I so respect her courage and dedication that I could not stand by and let her be falsely accused. I was not alone in defending her though as you know. Thank you for your comment.
Personally, I think there are far graver forms of idolatry than bowing down to graven images. I observe many people condemning that and having no clue what far more heinous forms of idolatry they are into (turning money, physical beauty, national power, etc. into their personal gods).
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Yes, this is the true idolatry.
I found an interesting line of argument in an article arguing that Muslims worship the same God we Christians do (in fact it is one available on Catholic Answers). When the Old Testament condemns the worship of “false gods,” it is referring to the religions of the Canaanites and other peoples known to the ancinet Israelites, religions which practiced human sacrifice and taught no ethics of compassion. The blanket condemnation due to those religions should not be applied to the religions that Christians enconter in the world today which manifestly do teach ethics (and do so in my opinion by the grace of God).
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Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism are not specifically mentioned in the OT, so we are not discouraged from seeing them as containing some truth and respecting them for that and respecting their adherents for the sincerity of their quest for God or the Truth.
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Like our popes, we can do this while proclaiming that Catholic Christianity possesses the fullness of God’s revelation. We, all of us, Catholic and non-Catholic, must be able to say that we agree on what we do agree on, agree to disagree on what we do not agree on, and agree to affirm our love for each other as fellow human beings.
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As far as I am concerned, Mother Theresa and Pope John Paul the Great were just showing common courtesy in being respectful at non-Christian rituals and places of worship.
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Of course, many on this forum will disagree with you. 😉

I believe that we should make an effort to understand one another. The Tower of Babel is a metaphor for the alienation between people that arose with city states, standing armies, and stored wealth. This babbling is what Pope John Paul was attempting to overcome when he met so often with leaders from other religions. He was making an effort to overcome the concept of “other”.
 
Mother Teresa was an unique individual. I am not surprised by her feelings of darkness. I do believe however that what kept her going was her faith and yes, the pressence of god that she felt before she began her work or vocation by founding the Missionaries of Charity. I do believe that all faith is tested and Mother Teresa’s faith was sorely tested by feelings of abandonment and keeping up her smiling works of love. She knew what god called her to do and kept on with the work because she saw its goodness.

However, I also believe that she wrote to her spiritual director and confessor during her deep moments of darkness and so, her letters published in the recent book can seem a little jaded. I also write in my journal during my darker moments and yet, I can have a cheerful face before and after I write. The soul is a strange part of our humanness. She shared her other life with her confessor and with her spiritual director and by doing so, she coped with her life.

Is she a saint? Yes, she is. However, she may have done better if she would have shared her doubts before her death. Many people would have been helped by such honesty since many doubt and yet, still act and believe through faith.
 
Christianity Today** on Mother Teresa’s Dark Night

***Mary Poplin is a professor at Claremont Graduate University. She spent two months in the spring of 1996 working with Mother Teresa and the Missionaries of Charity. This article is excerpted from her forthcoming book, *Finding Calcutta, to be published in 2008 by InterVarsity Press.Mother Teresa had many mystical experiences with God, especially conversations with Jesus in her early days as a Sister of Loretto and during the early establishment of the Missionaries. Like other mystics have reported across the ages, her mystical desserts began to disappear as she was called into higher levels of spiritual maturity and higher levels of service to God and man. In the words of Joy Dawson, these experiences “forever ruin us for the ordinary.” Mother Teresa longed often to “feel” his presence as she had before.
We have a hard time in the West (and maybe especially in the Protestant West) getting our heads around these spiritual realities. This is because somewhere in the early Middle Ages, the mystics were no longer invited into the universities, the seminaries, or to be advisers in governments, businesses, hospitals, and other institutions. The mystics were sent back to the monasteries and other ministries. Their wisdom is all but lost in the public conversation, and as a result we also live most by naturalism and by our feelings—we grope along by sight and feel.
Even Christians in the West may tend to analyze Mother Teresa as depressed and wonder if she might not have been better off if she had just been given some Prozac. Having lost an understanding of these deep workings of God in our souls and spirits, we too have often adopted the basic tenets of secular psychology, sandwiched between a beginning and ending prayer. But for Mother Teresa (as for the mystics) there is not a trace of secular psychology (or atheism) in her writings; it simply occupied no part of her being.
Read the entire piece.
 
Fr. Benedict Groeschel, who knew Mother Teresa for 30 years, responds in the First Things blog to the recent controversy over the publication of her letters revealing her decades long dark night.
 
jblair,

Thank you for your links and comments. Perhaps those on other threads who have disparaged Mother Teresa will have a change of heart towards her. I am certain her heart is open to them.

Metta
notself
 
lukewarm said:
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Someone like Mother Theresa doubting the very existence of God was shocking to me. I always figured she had conversations with the Almighty all day long. For someone like me who has never felt God’s presence to learn a model of Christianity went what 50 years without it too leaves me feeling quite hopeless.

Maybe everyone’s just “faking it”, seriously if Mother Theresa had to fake it for 50 years, maybe everyone else is too? I wouldn’t put it past humanity on the whole to pull something off like that.
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Why should it be shocking that Mother Teresa doubted in God, or didn’t feel overwhelming “warm fuzzy feelings” every moment of the day or whenever she thought about God?
 
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