Mother Teresa
"My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?!" Psalm 22; Mark 15
"...So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weakness, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me..." 2 Corinthians 12
"But Jesus said to them, "You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?" They replied, "We are able." Then Jesus said to them, "The cup that I drink you will drink..." Mark 10
"If this brings You glory — if souls are brought to you — with joy I accept all to the end of my life." Teresa to Jesus, undated
Have you read TIME Magazine's recent story on the doubts and darkness of Mother Teresa's spiritual life? If not, read that rather than this.
"...So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weakness, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me..." 2 Corinthians 12
"But Jesus said to them, "You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?" They replied, "We are able." Then Jesus said to them, "The cup that I drink you will drink..." Mark 10
"If this brings You glory — if souls are brought to you — with joy I accept all to the end of my life." Teresa to Jesus, undated
Have you read TIME Magazine's recent story on the doubts and darkness of Mother Teresa's spiritual life? If not, read that rather than this.
I just finished it and am simply floored by this woman's amazing life. To even think of living in the kind of sanctity that she knew frightens me. There is no doubt in my mind that she is among the greatest saints of our age. Some conservative Protestants may be skeptical of the genuiness of her faith for doctrinal reasons. Atheists, like the one quoted in the article, may sneer at her life as a great mistake (also for doctrinal reasons). But, then, they aren't bandaging the broken bodies of the sick and dying in the gutters of hell, for the love of Christ.
She did it. She lived out the commission of Matthew 25 literally (as so many self-described Biblical literalists do not). She has preached the gospel to the world in the most winsome way - she participated in the sufferings of Jesus (see Philippians 3:10-11), and has truly been a light to us all who will look. Her story is a corrective to our almost universal unspoken assumption that the point of attending to the worship of God is to "get something out of it" - to be elevated in those pleasant experiences of spiritual intimacy with God, when perhaps the highest elevation or nearest intimacy will not feel pleasant at all. It may feel more like being nailed to a cross.
I can't wait to read the new book that reveals this sid of her life - but to read it well, I probably should wait, and pray.
Labels: Witness of the Saints
posted by Rev. Daniel McLain Hixon at 8/31/2007
1 Comments:
I read an interview with Shane Claiborne and they asked him a question about whether he thought Mother Teresa's work would continue after her death.
He replied there is more people there now in Calcutta doing this work than ever before, but he was also puzzled by the question. He said Mother Teresa died a long time ago. He said she died to herself when she first went to Calcutta. It was no longer Mother Teresa, but Christ who lives!
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