Mother Theresa Doubted

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renewedfaith196

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I was shocked when I learned that Mother Teresa was plagued by extreme doubts during her entire ministry. It actually gave me comfort, as I realized that even the greatest servants struggle with doubts. Mother Teresa questioned God’s existence and experienced pain over her lack of faith, when she said:

“Where is my faith? Even deep down . . . there is nothing but emptiness and darkness . . . If there be God—please forgive me. When I try to raise my thoughts to Heaven, there is such convicting emptiness that those very thoughts return like sharp knives and hurt my very soul . . . How painful is this unknown pain—I have no Faith. Repulsed, empty, no faith, no love, no zeal . . . What do I labor for? If there be no God, there can be no soul. If there be no soul then, Jesus, You also are not true.”
 
renewedfaith196 said:
I was shocked when I learned that Mother Teresa was plagued by extreme doubts during her entire ministry. It actually gave me comfort, as I realized that even the greatest servants struggle with doubts. Mother Teresa questioned God’s existence and experienced pain over her lack of faith, when she said:

“Where is my faith? Even deep down . . . there is nothing but emptiness and darkness . . . If there be God—please forgive me. When I try to raise my thoughts to Heaven, there is such convicting emptiness that those very thoughts return like sharp knives and hurt my very soul . . . How painful is this unknown pain—I have no Faith. Repulsed, empty, no faith, no love, no zeal . . . What do I labor for? If there be no God, there can be no soul. If there be no soul then, Jesus, You also are not true.”
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What I love though is that she never gave up!
 
And today she is beatified in the Catholic church. This proves that works are more important than faith and that, according to the aforementioned church, you don’t have to be a firm believer in Christ to be saved.

It’s one thing that reassures me about being agnostic during my existential times.
 
HardRockGTR said:
And today she is beatified in the Catholic church. This proves that works are more important than faith and that, according to the aforementioned church, you don’t have to be a firm believer in Christ to be saved.

It’s one thing that reassures me about being agnostic during my existential times.
Click to expand...
Sorry, but works aren’t better than faith or vice versa. The Catholic Church has never taught that nor will She ever. “you don’t have to be a firm believer in Christ to be saved.” wow really?? Please read the Catechism. If you were taught this I’m sorry you were mislead. Now as for Mother Teresa, did she die in this state of doubt? I don’t think so.

“There is no saint without a past, no sinner without a future.” -St. Augustine of Hippo

God Bless!👍
 
renewedfaith196 said:
I was shocked when I learned that Mother Teresa was plagued by extreme doubts during her entire ministry. It actually gave me comfort, as I realized that even the greatest servants struggle with doubts. Mother Teresa questioned God’s existence and experienced pain over her lack of faith, when she said:

“Where is my faith? Even deep down . . . there is nothing but emptiness and darkness . . . If there be God—please forgive me. When I try to raise my thoughts to Heaven, there is such convicting emptiness that those very thoughts return like sharp knives and hurt my very soul . . . How painful is this unknown pain—I have no Faith. Repulsed, empty, no faith, no love, no zeal . . . What do I labor for? If there be no God, there can be no soul. If there be no soul then, Jesus, You also are not true.”
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So did the ‘Little Flower’.
 
vincent10395 said:
Sorry, but works aren’t better than faith or vice versa. The Catholic Church has never taught that nor will She ever. “you don’t have to be a firm believer in Christ to be saved.” wow really?? Please read the Catechism. If you were taught this I’m sorry you were mislead. Now as for Mother Teresa, did she die in this state of doubt? I don’t think so.

“There is no saint without a past, no sinner without a future.” -St. Augustine of Hippo

God Bless!👍
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en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_francis#Nonbelievers
 
In that case, it almost sounds as if he’s not really saying anything new at all.
 
HardRockGTR said:
And today she is beatified in the Catholic church. This proves that works are more important than faith and that, according to the aforementioned church, you don’t have to be a firm believer in Christ to be saved.

It’s one thing that reassures me about being agnostic during my existential times.
Click to expand...
There is nothing wrong with healthy doubting. It proves a need for a rational response to Faith which the Church has demanded of all philosophy. Without doubt our faith will not strengthen. It is like exercising a muscle we use to reach for our God.
What we have surely in Mother Teresa is the dark night of the soul extended. Thus her beatification for her perseverance in both her faith and in the works that flowed from it, edifying us sinners. She was always with Jesus in all aspects of her life.
Your extrapolated assumptions of Catholic teaching are wrong. I hope to read your posts on your return journey.
 
HardRockGTR said:
And today she is beatified in the Catholic church. This proves that works are more important than faith and that, according to the aforementioned church, you don’t have to be a firm believer in Christ to be saved.

It’s one thing that reassures me about being agnostic during my existential times.
Click to expand...
Mother Teresa did not entertain the temptations to doubt. She clung to faith in God through her dark night of faith.

If one is familiar with the writings of the mystical doctors on prayer, they explain about the “dark night” that one goes through in their spiritual journey. It is when one clings to the Lord in prayer in spite of no feelings or consolations. They are purified by passing through this trial of faith.

This night of faith gives one the opportunity to prove to God that they love Him for Himself alone, and not for the good feelings that sometimes accompanies them in prayer.
 
How does one love a being one doesn’t know or feel, though?

That’s always been something that struck me as weird. Even when I was a Catholic I didn’t feel love as an emotion for God because 1) I felt like God was all-powerful and didn’t need it, and 2) I didn’t know God or have any reason to love such a being. Not because I dislike or disliked God, but rather because I could not love a being that seems so foreign and alien to me. I later took that “loving” God was to be a good person, since God is love.

Then I left Catholicism for various reasons and am now agnostic for wholly different reasons.
 
HardRockGTR said:
In that case, it almost sounds as if he’s not really saying anything new at all.
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He didn’t.

He just wants us to take down our walls and engage the culture. Go work with the atheist. Talk to them do good works with them…perhaps rub off on them 😉
 
HardRockGTR said:
How does one love a being one doesn’t know or feel, though?

That’s always been something that struck me as weird. Even when I was a Catholic I didn’t feel love as an emotion for God because 1) I felt like God was all-powerful and didn’t need it, and 2) I didn’t know God or have any reason to love such a being. Not because I dislike or disliked God, but rather because I could not love a being that seems so foreign and alien to me. I later took that “loving” God was to be a good person, since God is love.

Then I left Catholicism for various reasons and am now agnostic for wholly different reasons.
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It sounds like you’ve had an interesting road, but always seeking some understanding of God which I commend.

I would say your idea of love might be wrong.

Love is not a feeling it’s an action and a choice.

We don’t need to feel anything from God to love him, but based on all we see in the world, the fact that we exist, we choose to love him.

We have faith in what’s been revealed through history about God.

But at the end of the day. I am here typing on an Internet forum as my heart beats automatically and I see life and I have life… I exist and there is no reason why I should exist other than God.

I choose to seek him and love him for that.
 
Jon_S said:
It sounds like you’ve had an interesting road, but always seeking some understanding of God which I commend.

I would say your idea of love might be wrong.

Love is not a feeling it’s an action and a choice.

We don’t need to feel anything from God to love him, but based on all we see in the world, the fact that we exist, we choose to love him.

We have faith in what’s been revealed through history about God.

But at the end of the day. I am here typing on an Internet forum as my heart beats automatically and I see life and I have life… I exist and there is no reason why I should exist other than God.

I choose to seek him and love him for that.
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Well said:thumbsup:
 
Dorothy said:
Mother Teresa did not entertain the temptations to doubt. She clung to faith in God through her dark night of faith.

If one is familiar with the writings of the mystical doctors on prayer, they explain about the “dark night” that one goes through in their spiritual journey. It is when one clings to the Lord in prayer in spite of no feelings or consolations. They are purified by passing through this trial of faith.

This night of faith gives one the opportunity to prove to God that they love Him for Himself alone, and not for the good feelings that sometimes accompanies them in prayer.
Click to expand...
Well said:thumbsup:
 
HardRockGTR said:
How does one love a being one doesn’t know or feel, though?

That’s always been something that struck me as weird. Even when I was a Catholic I didn’t feel love as an emotion for God because 1) I felt like God was all-powerful and didn’t need it, and 2) I didn’t know God or have any reason to love such a being. Not because I dislike or disliked God, but rather because I could not love a being that seems so foreign and alien to me. I later took that “loving” God was to be a good person, since God is love.

Then I left Catholicism for various reasons and am now agnostic for wholly different reasons.
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That is why the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity became man! He was like us in all things but sin. He is fully God, and fully Man…two natures in one Person. Please be aware …Jesus is not “foreign”.

When we read and ponder the Gospels, and the great spiritual writers, we get to know what our all-loving, all-powerful, all-loving God is like. And according to how receptive we are to His Grace, we can become more and more like Him, and radiate His Goodness and Love everywhere.
 
HardRockGTR said:
How does one love a being one doesn’t know or feel, though?
Click to expand...
That’s always been something that struck me as weird. Even when I was a Catholic I didn’t feel love as an emotion for God because 1) I felt like God was all-powerful and didn’t need it, and

**Yes you’re are right, God doesn’t need us. He doesn’t need our worship, because He is already complete. Our worship doesn’t add anything to His greatness. So why do it? Because He tells us too. We worship and we love God because He says it brings us closer to Him, and He is the only reason we are here. He is the only thing that satisfies. "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28
We worship because that is the very definition of God, “worthy of worship” **
  1. I didn’t know God or have any reason to love such a being. Not because I dislike or disliked God, but rather because I could not love a being that seems so foreign and alien to me. I later took that “loving” God was to be a good person, since God is love.
Click to expand...
Did you try to get to know Him better? Did you seek? “seek and you will find” Matt 7:7
Then I left Catholicism for various reasons and am now agnostic for wholly different reasons.
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I pray you make a Journey back Home!

You can visit these sites if you want answers
reasonablefaith.org/
catholic.com/

God Bless!👍
 
Petaro said:
There is nothing wrong with healthy doubting. It proves a need for a rational response to Faith which the Church has demanded of all philosophy. Without doubt our faith will not strengthen. It is like exercising a muscle we use to reach for our God.
What we have surely in Mother Teresa is the dark night of the soul extended. Thus her beatification for her perseverance in both her faith and in the works that flowed from it, edifying us sinners. She was always with Jesus in all aspects of her life.
Your extrapolated assumptions of Catholic teaching are wrong. I hope to read your posts on your return journey.
Click to expand...
Amen!
 
Muscles? Exercises? Your faith is a Tower of Babel, the work of your own hands. The end is confusion & faithlessness. It is anti-biblical to suggest that faith is anything except a gift from the only true God, I AM his name.
 
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