Posted on 08/24/2007 8:40:01 AM PDT by HarleyD
Mother Teresa of Calcutta, who has been put on the “fast track” to sainthood, was so tormented by doubts about her faith that she felt “a hypocrite,” it has emerged from a book of her letters to friends and confessors. Shortly after beginning her work in the slums of Calcutta, she wrote: “Where is my faith? Even deep down there is nothing but emptiness and darkness. If there be a God — please forgive me.” In letters eight years later she was still expressing “such deep longing for God,” adding that she felt “repulsed, empty, no faith, no love, no zeal.” Her smile to the world from her familiar weather-beaten face was a “mask” or a “cloak,” she said. “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.” Mother Teresa, who died in 1997 and was beatified in record time only six years later, felt abandoned by God from the very start of the work that made her a global figure, in her sandals and blue and white sari. The doubts persisted until her death.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Thanks
oh look...context makes a HUGE difference.
Thanks for posting...it was a beautiful read. Pray that I see Jesus in my two year old who is physically incapable of obedience recently.
I will pray for you.
You mean s/he is just like all other 2-year olds?
Yes, including the incredibly cute part, which seems to grow as her naughtiness does. And if there is a few seconds of peace from her...well there's always the four year old to stir something up. And being six months pregnant myself, well that might just explain some of the frustration.
I do need to remember to see Christ in my family, and to love and serve Him through them.
The word cr@p comes from an abbreviation of the last name.
Since we should never use profanity, it was my way of showing displeasure for the TIME article.
When Ted Turner was Chairman of Time-CNN-Warner, he told his employees that anyone of his employees that believed in God were fools.
I felt that the Times article on Mother Theresa was a way to attack Christians.
I was just saying that Time and Ted Turner were full of horse manure...
Terrible 2s—Fearsome 4s—Sassy 6s.—Aggressive 8s
But cheer up. Age 10 is the best of all and will have to last as a fleeting, happy memory until after age 21.
Hindus are closer to God than the the modern pagansof Europe. They do not despise religion. In amy respects, they are like the pagans of ancient Rome and Greece. For them divinity is fragmented. If many of their gods seem like demons to us, others were emblems of virtue. The Hindus, however, are better situated than the Romans. They have a sence of the One God. Except for the god of the philosophers, the Romans had little sense of THE Deity. No one ever thought of Jupiter as the Jews thought of their Lord.
Prayer For Mother Teresa(APPROVED FOR PRIVATE USE BY THE ARCHBISHOP OF CALCUTTA)
God our loving Father, You have exalted the beauty of Your Love for us in the life of Mother Teresa of Calcutta.
She showed the poor and the suffering, the weak and the lonely how much You long to love them — how in their poverty and pain You thirst for them through Jesus Your Son. It was He, hidden in the poor, whom she served as her Lord and loved as her Spouse.
May her example encourage us to recognize Jesus in our brothers and sisters in need and reach out to them with ardor and joy, kindness and compassion, as she did. May her work here continue and we ask You, Dear Father, that through her intercession Your grace will touch our weakness and heal our wounds.
We ask this special favor through the intercession of Your handmaid, Mother Teresa . . . (mention the special favor to be prayed for).
May the beauty of her life, holiness and message be lifted up by the Church, even, as she lifted up the beauty of Your Son’s presence in the precious disguise of the poor. Amen.
Mother Teresa of Calcutta
Born August 26, 1910 – Died September 5, 1997
This prayer in Spanish:
Oracíon por la Madre TeresaDios Padre amoroso, Tú nos has manifestado la grandeza de tu amor en el vida de la Madre Teresa de Calcuta.
Ella reveló todo tu amor al pobre y al sufriente, al débil y al solitario; en su pobreza y en su dolor ella mostró cuánto tú padeces en Tu Hijo Jesús. Fue a él a quien escondido en el pobre, ella sirvió como su Señor y lo amó como su esposo.
Que su ejemplo nos lleve a reconocer a Jesús en nuestras hemanas y hemanos necesitados y nos acerquemos a ellos tal como ella lo hizo, con ardor y con gozo, amabilidad y compasión.
Que su trabajo continúe aqui hoy, y nosotros te pedimos, Padre misericordioso, que a través de su intercesión tu gracia sane nuestra debilidad y cure nuestras heridas.
Nosotros te pedimos que a través de la intercesión de tu sierva, Madre Teresa nos concedas ... (mencionar el favor especial que se desea obtener.)
Que la grandeza de su vida, santidad y mensaje sea elevado por la Iglesia, como ella engrandeció el nombre de Tu Hijo en el precioso rostro del pobre. Amén.
Madre Teresa de Calcuta
Nació el 26 de agosto de 1910 – Murió el 5 de septiembre de 1997
This prayer in Portugese:
Oração por Madre TeresaDeus Pai amoroso, tu manifestastes a grandeza de teu amor por nós na vida de Madre Teresa de Calcutá.
Ela revelou todo teu amor ao pobre e ao sofredor, ao fraco e ao solitário; em sua pobreza e em sua dor ela mostrou quanto tu padeces em Teu Filho Jesus. Foi a ele, escondido no pobre, que ela serviu como seu Senhor e o amou como seu esposo.
Que seu exemplo nos leve a reconhecer Jesus em nossos irmãos e irmãs necessitados e nos aproximemos deles como ela o fez, com ardor e alegria, amabilidade e compaixão.
Que seu trabalho continue aqui hoje, e nós te pedimos, Pai Misericordioso, que através de sua intercessão, Tua graça cure nossa fraqueza e snae nossas feridas.
Nós te pedimos que através da intercessão de tua serva, Madre Teresa, nos conceda . . . (mencionar a graça especial que se deseja alcançar).
Que a grandeza de sua vida, santidade e mensagem sejam elevadas pela Igreja, assim como ela engrandeceu a beleza da presença de Teu Filho no disfarce precioso de pobre.
Madre Teresa de Calcutá
Nasceu em 26 de agosto de 1910 – Morreu em 5 de setembro de 1997
God does not call us to do great things but to do small things with great [Charity] love.
I don't know St. Teresa of Avila. Christians who have doubt about the existence of God raises serious questions in my mind. Paul instructs us to see that we are in the faith. How can we do that unless we know there is a faith to begin with?
The fact that she went on regardless, and did what she did makes her a saint!
And what makes a saint? That she treated sick people in India? There are many doctors who do that. That she called many people to her faith? Ghandi did that. That she sacrificed her wealth and humbled herself. Yes there are others non-Christians who have done that.
All children of God are saints. Everyone Christian has a purpose that God has ordained for us.
Amen! I missed your excellent post.
I like her chances from the context of a Fallen World.
If only she’d Blogged.
I don't know Mother Theresa. All I'm going by is that, based upon information from the person who wished to canonized her, for the last half of her life she repeatedly wrote letters questioning the existence of God. Personally, if someone knew this, why would anyone seek to have her canonized? That is what puzzles me.
You've never been a man? A wandering organic mass of self-interest and discontent? The Apostles themselves had moments of reflection, no?
Yes, you're correct. She is on her way to being canonized but do you doubt that she will be?
However the media and some on this thread are taking it in a different direction; that trials of Faith make someone not Christian or specifically not Catholic.
I cannot identify with "trials of Faith". Paul says in Romans that everyone knows God exists, they simply don't acknowledge Him as God. To deny or doubt the presence of God, is simply to refuse to acknowledge God and is sin.
Yes, at best it is very Pelagius.
Joh 15:16 "You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you.
Faith is given to us by God. The only thing you need to do is pray that God will be merciful and grant it to you.
I don't know anywhere in scripture that the Apostles (or any believer for that matter) doubted the existence of God. So, to answer your question, "no" is correct.
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