Aug 25 2007
Ever feel like this?
Mother Teresa of Calcutta, who may be canonized as a saint by the Vatican later this year, had a deep crisis of faith in God for the last 40 years of her life, according to a new set of her letters. The correspondence, which spans most of Mother Teresa’s life, shows that she felt alone and in a state of spiritual pain from around 1949, roughly the time when she started taking care of the poor and dying in Calcutta.
âLord, my God, you have thrown [me] away as unwanted - unloved,â she wrote in one missive. âI call, I cling, I want, and there is no one to answer, no, no one. Alone. Where is my faith? even deep down right in there is nothing. I have no faith. I dare not utter the words and thoughts that crowd in my heart.â
Read about it here.
[From me]
How could you not see all of that pain and suffering and not wonder? She was human and I think it is natural to have doubts.
What do you think?
9 responses so far
According to John’s Gospel, even Thomas, who had actually seen Jesus, doubted. Aside from that, I for one can vouch for the fact that it is perfectly natural to doubt!
Kevin,
Her cries to God sound somewhat similar to David’s cries in some of the Psalms. Isn’t it great that we can express our true heart to God in prayer?
Les
When I first saw the news stories and how they were making such a big deal about this and how horrible it was, my first thought was “what’s the big deal she’s human like the rest of us”. How many of us can claim to be perfect and never have any doubts in our minds? I say none of us are perfect. We all have questions and doubts. I for one am glad to see a normal side of Mother Theresa that most of us can relate to. She was not a perfect being, no human can be. But she was a truly faith filled person. Too more of us aren’t like her.
Sandra
I have some problems with some of MT’s theological positions, but the fact that she doubted just shows that she was honest. It also helps dispel the “blind faith” notion.
At last! A Christian to whom I can relate!
Francoise,
Me?
Strike me pink- that’s the quickest response I’ve ever seen!
Sad thing is, I don’t understand what you mean. “Me?” with a smiley face- can you extrapolate on that, please?
Are you saying you can relate to me? The smiley face means “I’m joking” and know you aren’t talking about me.
No, I don’t think I relate to you on that level- you haven’t expressed doubts about the existence of God, as far as I know.
BTW- don’t faint, but yesterday I attended a Pontifical Mass at St Patrick’s Cathedral. MIT will be pleased!