Mother Teresa’s letters
I first heard about Mother Teresa’s letters when Time magazine sent me an e-mail about its Sept. 3 cover story regarding the renowned humanitarian.
In reading the gist of the article, I was somewhat appalled: Letters written by Mother Teresa years ago were being brought to light, revealing that she experienced a “crisis of faith” at certain points in her life. The letters were to be chronicled indepth in a book, ”Come Be My Light: The Private Writings of the ‘Saint of Calcutta’ (which was released Tuesday).”
According to The Associated Press, the book was edited by the Rev. Brian Kolodiejchuk, a priest who knew Mother Teresa for 20 years and is the postulator for her sainthood cause.
“It depicts Mother Teresa as a mystic who experienced visions of Jesus speaking to her early in her ministry, only to lose that connection and long for it like an unrequited love for most of her last four decades,” The Associate Press story says.
Why would anyone show proof of the humanitarian’s despair to the world? What good would come of such an expose of her soul?
As it turns out, plenty.
In the days leading up to the 10th anniversary of her death, I thought about Mother Teresa and her amazing legacy of compassion and love. Here was a truly authentic person, a 20th century icon who attained that status (though she did not seek it or revel in it) by showing Christ’s love for others in the most simple and sincere ways possible.
Finally I came to the realization (my own opinion, of course) that it is helpful to know that even people of faith of her caliber have moments when they feel less than wonderful. We are humans, ordinary people with very real feelings. Faith, I think, moves us past our feelings so that we can do the extraordinary – live, give and love extraordinarily as Mother Teresa did.
In The Associated Press story, Jim Towey, Mother Teresa’s legal counsel from 1985 until her death and former head of the White House Office of Faith-Based & Community Initiatives, seemed to express similar sentiments. In fact, I think he captured it well in a nutshell:
“Skeptics are going to say what they want,” said Towey, president of St. Vincent College in Latrobe, Pa. “But the reality is, any person with faith has doubts.”
Ultimately, he said, Mother Teresa’s struggles will demonstrate “faith isn’t about feeling, it’s about will.”
What are your own thoughts about the recently revealed letters? Did you read the Time magazine piece and do you plan to read “Come Be My Light”? Have the “crisis of faith” revelations in Mother Teresa’s letters caused you to think differently about the late humanitarian? … Have they caused you to think differently about your own spiritual walk and that of your clergy?
Let me know.
