Keeping the faith
There has been a lot of commotion in the media surrounding the publication of Mother Theresa's letters in a single volume titled Come Be My Light. The letters have been collected and presented by Fr. Brian Kolodiejchuk who has known Mother Theresa for twenty years, and is promoting her cause for sainthood. The reason that the book is creating so much controversy is because in her letters Mother Theresa expresses her anguish over the lack of feeling of God's presence in her life. This indeed is a shock to most people, since for so long she has been cast in the role of poster-person for deep faith and commitment to live the Gospel in the most extreme form. However, the content of this deep spiritual crisis has been in public for quite some time, albeit not in such a widely accessible form. An article from the May 2003 issue of "First Things" is a very thoughtful analysis.
There are several important lessons that can be learned from the spiritual anguish of this remarkable saint. Despite few loud and shrill voices that are trying to make the most of this "scandal", these letters are not a proof of Mother Theresa's "atheism". In all her years she never stopped praying to God to give her strength, and yes, to give her a sense of His presence. Faith, in Catholic understanding of that concept, requires consent of the mind to the truths that are not immediately apparent, and from all that I have read Mother Theresa gave that consent willingly and hardly ever wavered from it. There have been a few reported moments when she was not sure of God's existence, but this too is just a part and parcel of faith. All of us who express belief, be it in natural or supernatural, have our doubts, but that is exactly why faith is faith. If faith could be reduced to anything that is solid and tangible, it would cease to be faith and our own ability to go out of ourselves and open ourselves would be that much more diminished. The ultimate, supernatural faith, if it is possible to have, is not contingent on any of our sentiments. It is such faith that Mother Theresa cultivated throughout all those years of spiritual darkness, and it is that faith that sustained her work and gave us such a wonderful fruit of unconditional love and service to the poorest of the poor.
Another important lesson from these writings is what sort of new demands are placed on the rest of us who are far less holy than Mother Theresa was. We have been lulled in comfortable inaction of service, thinking that only saints of extra-human psychological abilities are capable of extra-human sacrifices. That someone like Mother Theresa would have the same doubts and uncertainties on a daily basis that all of us can relate to is both demanding and liberating. Demanding, because it puts pressure on us to get up and be Christ to the others, and liberating because we realize that all the tools required to achieve that vocation we have already been equipped with.
I have added Come Be My Light to my Amazon wish list. This book is bound to become a spiritual classic. I can't wait to read all that this remarkable woman had to say in her most intimate voice.