Mother Teresa of Calcutta's Sandals; Relics, and Minnesota

Relics of Bl. Mother Teresa of Calcutta will be a few hour's drive down the road from me, tomorrow evening. Her sandals, crucifix and rosary, a lock of her hair and drops of her blood contained in reliquaries will be on display for about an hour, at the St. Paul Cathedral (in St. Paul, Minnesota - as you might have guessed) before a special 7:00 p.m. Mass.

I won't be going. Neither will any member of my family, to the best of my knowledge.

A Devout Catholic Not Trekking to See Mother Teresa's Sandals?!

I'm a practicing Catholic, in solidarity with the Magisterium, and quite interested in Mother Teresa of Calcutta. But I'm not driving down to the Cities to see Mother Teresa's sandals.

I've got pretty good reasons.

The trip would cost a certain amount of money: in the neighborhood of $20 for gasoline, if nothing else.

More to the point, the family hasn't been feeling well. I don't think it's prudent to drive 125-plus miles to St. Paul, Minnesota, work our way in through what I suspect will be quite a crowd of folks at the Cathedral, and then drive back.

One Guy With a Blog's Take on Mother Teresa, a Centurion, and Jesus

Besides, I see the matter of going to see those relics as a sort of Matthew 8:5-9 situation. That's when a centurion asked Jesus to heal his servant.

When my Lord said that he'd go, the centurion replied:

"The centurion said in reply, ⁶ 'Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof; only say the word and my servant will be healed. For I too am a person subject to authority, with soldiers subject to me. And I say to one, "Go," and he goes; and to another, "Come here," and he comes; and to my slave, "Do this," and he does it.' "
(Matthew 8:8-9)

As footnote 6 (NAB) in that chapter explained,

"Acquainted by his position with the force of a command, the centurion expresses faith in the power of Jesus' mere word."
(footnote 6 in Matthew 8, NAB)

I'm no centurion, but I understand hierarchical systems and chains of command. I'm also quite certain that when God's saints are concerned, 125 miles' distance isn't much of an obstacle.

Anyway, it's Blessed Mother Teresa for now. It'll take another verified miracle to get her canonized. Which is another topic.

Relic? Isn't That Something Old?

The secular meaning for "relic" includes these definitions:

1. "An antiquity that has survived from the distant past
2. "Keepsake, souvenir, token, relic (something of sentimental value)"
   (Princeton's WordNet)

The second definition is close to what a relic is, in the Catholic sense.

And, naturally, the Catholic Church has rules about relics. We've even separated them into three classes:

"What is a relic?

"A relic is something that is associated with a saint, such as a part of the body, a piece of clothing, or something the saint had come in contact with. There are three classes of relics. A first-class relic is a part of the saint's body. A second-class relic is something used or touched by the saint. A third-class relic is something that has been touched to a first-class relic. The St. Damien relic is a first-class relic, as it is a bone from the saint's heel."
(Frequently Asked Questions | The Relic of St. Damien of Molokai, Archdiocese of Detroit)

I've written about St. Damien of Molokai before. (May 11, 2010)

Recapping what's on the Archdiocese of Detroit's page:

• A relic is something associated with a saint
• There are three classes of relics:
  • First-class relic
    • A part of the saint's body
  • Second-class relic
    • Something the saint
      • Used
      • Touched
  • Third-class relic
    • Something touched by a first- or second-class relic

Since informed Catholic sources have referred to Mother Teresa's sandals, hair, and blood as "relics," looks like the term can be used to describe stuff associated with 'Blesseds,' too.

Worshiping Relics is Wrong, Right?

Right.

Catholics may venerate relics: which isn't the same as worshiping them. (July 12, 2010)

Venerating relics is okay. I think veneration of relics is a good idea, since we're human beings. People like us seem to focus better when we've got something physical to pay attention to.

The Holy See is okay with expressions of popular piety like what's going on in St. Paul, Minnesota, tomorrow evening. They've got more to say on the subject than just 'it's okay,' of course. Here's a sample:

"Popular piety is characterized by a great variety and richness of bodily, gestural and symbolic expressions: kissing or touching images, places, relics and sacred objects; pilgrimages, processions; going bare-footed or on one's knees; kneeling and prostrating; wearing medals and badges... . These and similar expressions, handed down from father to son, are direct and simple ways of giving external expression to the heart and to one's commitment to live the Christian life. Without this interior aspect, symbolic gesture runs the risk of degenerating into empty customs or mere superstitions, in the worst cases."
("Principles and Guidelines," Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy, 15)

Which isn't the same as "venerating relics is superstitious." Which is yet another topic.

Related posts:

• "Saint Thérèse of Lisieux: On Tour in South Africa"
  (June 27, 2010)
• "Alone in a Church? Yes and No"
  (May 14, 2010)
• "Father Damien? Make that Saint Damien of Molokai"
  (May 11, 2010)
• "Saints, the Catholic Church, and Pedophile Priests"
  (March 25, 2010)
• "Saints: That's so Medieval"
  (February 14, 2010)
• "Mother Teresa of Calcutta, and Going Against the Grain"
  (October 19, 2009)

More:

• "Bl. Mother Teresa's Relics on Tour in Midwest Cities"
  Catholicseeking (July 25, 2010)
  • Updated with link to photos from July 26, 2010 event at St. Paul Cathedral

In the news:

• "Mother Teresa's rosary to be on display in St. Paul"
  Star Tribune (July 16, 2010)
• "Bl. Mother Teresa's relics on tour in Midwest cities"
  Catholic News Agency (July 15, 2010)

About Relics:

• "Principles and Guidelines," Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy
  Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, Vatican City (December 2001)

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A tip of the hat to catholicseeking, on Twitter, for the heads-up on the Catholicseeking blog post.

Mother Teresa, Property Rights, and the Dark Tower

From today's news:

"Empire State Building: No lights for Mother Teresa"
The Associated Press (June 10, 2010)

"When the Empire State Building lights up, reaching 102 stories into the Manhattan sky, people lift their eyes and guess what that night's colors might mean - a holiday, a charitable cause, maybe a Yankees win or a birthday.

"But sometimes, color turns to controversy.

"Tens of thousands of people are in an uproar about the building owner's refusal to light New York City's tallest skyscraper in blue and white to honor Mother Teresa in August on what would be her 100th birthday...."

I'm not exactly "in an uproar" over Blessed Mother Teresa being blackballed by the Empire State Building's owners. For Catholics living in America, that sort of thing tends to go with the territory. And, things are improving: trashing a Catholic school is treated as a crime these days. (March 18, 2009, May 26, 2010)

Back to Mother Teresa of Calcutta and the Empire State Building.

That impressive skyscraper is private property. The owners like to light it up for special occasions, like communist China's 60th anniversary. Also Eid al Fitr, Easter, and other holidays. They're real big on cultural stuff like that.

The reason that they aren't going to light up for Mother Teresa is that they've got a policy against that sort of thing:

"...But the real estate mogul said the privately owned building 'has a specific policy against any other lighting for religious figures or requests by religions and religious organizations.'..."
(AP)

They've lit up for Cardinal John O'Connor, Pope John Paul II and Martin Luther King Jr. - which I suppose was different.

I'm not at all convinced that the owners of a privately-owned property should be forced to celebrate something or someone they'd rather ignore. It'd be nice, in my opinion, if the folks who own the tower wanted to light up for Mother Teresa: but it's their building, their lights, and their decision.

And I think that dark tower is a good reminder of who stands for what.

Fourth Sunday of Easter 2010

Readings for April 25, 4^th Sunday of Easter 2010:

• Acts 13:14, 43-52
• Rev 7:9, 14b-17
  
• Jn 10:27-30

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4^th Sunday of Easter 2010

By Deacon Lawrence N. Kaas
April 25, 2010

I ran across a story that I hope you will enjoy: It was on the 30th anniversary of Archbishop Fulton Sheen's death. When New York Archbishop Dolan thanked God for the life of the memorable television and radio personality that was Bishop Sheen. Bishop Dolan said that while he was a seminarian in Rome he saw a crowd gathered around the famous archbishop. Sheen told the crowd he had come from an audience with Pope Paul VI. Someone asked what the pope had said to him. Sheen blushed and replied, "The Holy Father said, 'Fulton Sheen, you will have a high place in heaven,' "

Someone else asked Sheen what he had replied to the Pope. Sheen said, "Your Holiness, would you mind making that an infallible statement?"

In today's Gospel, Jesus tells us that we are His flock and that he is giving us eternal life, and no one will snatch us out of the Father's hand. He has promised all of us that we will have a high place in heaven.

I ran across another story that reinforces the idea of the Good Shepherd and our roll in that mission. It is said that Mother Teresa was caring for a dying man and at one point he looked up at her and said, "does your God look like you?" Mother responded that she tries to do what God wants her to do at which he responded, "if your God looks like you I want to be His follower."

I pose the question to you, what did the man see in Mother Teresa? He, for sure saw the Love of God that shown from the eyes of Mother Teresa, for him, who he know did not look or feel lovable. What a gift she gave to him on his death bed to know that he was loved and that the God he saw reflected in mother eyes was his God as well.

Father Mullady tells of a time when he visited a Benedictine abbey when he was invited by an abbey shepherd to come and see his sheep. Having preached on the subject but never experienced what he was about to see. The Sheep were at the other side of the pasture when the shepherd called in a loud voice: "Halo, Halo," and the sheep prickled up their ears and rushed over the shepherd. They heard the call of the shepherd and recognized someone who cared for them, they sought refuge and guidance from him.

Had others made the same call, the sheep would not have responded.

There was a new bishop who wanted his picture taken with a flock of sheep as to show his ministry to the flock of Christ. Dressed in his Episcopal vestment, miter and crosier, the trouble began because every time he walked up to the sheep they ran away. Supposedly he joked that he hoped this was not a comment by God on his pastoral ministry! You know what I thought when I read this: didn't they know that they could take two pictures and super-impose!

God calls each of us, with an eternal providence, as our shepherd. The trouble is that some hear the voice and recognize him and others do not. "The sheep that belong to me listen to my voice; I know them and they follow me. I give them eternal Life."

But grace must find an open spirit to receive it. God never acts against the nature of something he has created and man's is characterized by freedom.

In Acts, Paul and Barnabas tirelessly give the world God's call to repentance, to believe in eternal life bought by Christ. They always go first to the Jews, and do so in typical synagogue speech, as recounted today in Pisidian Antioch. Some believed. They listened not just with their ears, but with their hearts, and this was the occasion of Paul and Barnabas also to go to the Gentiles. And when the gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of God: they believed and were baptized to eternal life.

We too, as gentiles, have heard the call of the Good Shepherd and as it turned out because of the gentiles the word of God has spread throughout the world. Had Jesus decided to spread His Word only through the Jews or for that matter only by His own presence we would not have even heard the Word at this time in history.

Each of us who have responded to the call of the Good Shepherd are called to evangelize the world or at least our little corner of it. Please do not wait for Father and I do the evangelizing for you will have to wait a hopeless long time. Father and I are called to serve and teach you in a manner by which all of you can go into the work-a-day world and by your example and prayer be part of the reality of the Good Shepherd, the one who calls and receives an answer as one whose voice is known.

You can well imagine, if each of us truly responds to the call of the Good Shepherd and then to live it to the fullest. The world would be a much different place, a world living the Divine attributes in a attitude of Love. A world imaging Eternity so much so that those who are hearing the call for the first time would marvel. See how they love one another. And looking into our eyes seeing what the dying man saw in the eyes of Mother Teresa. LOVE

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'Thank you' to Deacon Kaas, for letting me post his reflection here.

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More:

• "Reflections from Sauk Centre's Our Lady of the Angels Church"

Mother Teresa of Calcutta, and Going Against the Grain

Mother Teresa of Calcutta was beatified six years ago today, on World Mission Sunday of 2003.

She may or may not be declared a saint. From what I see, she looks like a shoo-in for sainthood: but I don't have all the facts, and I'm content to wait until - and if - the church says she's one of the saints.

Which brings up an interesting question: what is a saint?

I ran into a pretty-good definition in a news article:

"A saint is one who doesn't put themselves at the center, but rather chooses to go against the grain and live according to the Gospel, says Benedict XVI...."
(ZENIT.org)

That "going against the grain" may be part of the reason that people like Mother Teresa of Calcutta get called 'hypocrites' (Mother Teresa of Calcutta: She's No Princess Di" (May 8, 2009)) - or worse.

But nobody said that following the gospels was a guarantee for top billing in the world's 'most popular' lists. I'm just glad that Mother Teresa of Calcutta, with some remarkable exceptions is admired by so many.

Maybe some of the people who think Mother Teresa of Calcutta was doing something right will find out why she acted the way she did.

Back to that "going against the grain" thing. I used a couple of quotes for a post in another blog last week. I think at least one of them applies here:

"A dead thing can go with the stream, but only a living thing can go against it."
G. K. Chesterton, "Everlasting Man" (1925)

"Idolatry is committed, not merely by setting up false gods, but also by setting up false devils; by making men afraid of war or alcohol, or economic law, when they should be afraid of spiritual corruption and cowardice."
G. K. Chesterton, Illustrated London News (ILN) September 11, 1909)

Both via The American Chesterton Society.
(Apathetic Lemming of the North "Going With the Stream; Setting Up False Devils" (October 13, 2009))

Related posts:

• "Mother Teresa of Calcutta: Albanian Government Wants Her Body"
  (October 14, 2009)
• "Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta: Born August 26, 1910"
  (August 26, 2009)
• "Mother Teresa of Calcutta: She's No Princess Di"
  (May 8, 2009)
• "Mother Teresa of Calcutta"
  Apathetic Lemming of the North (August 31, 2007)

Background:

• "Beatification of Mother Teresa of Calcutta"
  The Holy See (the Vatican)
  Including
  • "Mother Teresa of Calcutta (1910-1997)"
• "Pope: Saints 'Go Against the Flow' "
  ZENIT.org News Agency (October 12, 2009), via EWTN
  
• "September 5 To Mark Feast Day of Blessed Teresa of Calcutta"
  Catholic News Agency (August 30, 2009)
• "Pope beatifies Mother Teresa"
  CNN (October 20, 2003)
• "John Paul II's Anniversary and Mother Teresa's Beatification"
  L'Osservatore Romano Weekly Edition in English (October 22, 2003), via EWTN
• "Pope Beatifies Mother Teresa in Front of 300,000"
  ZENIT (October 19, 2003)
• "Will Mother Teresa be sainted?"
  Answers.com
• "Making Saints"
  United States Conference of Catholic Bishops backgrounder

Mother Teresa of Calcutta: Albanian Government Wants Her Body

Mother Teresa of Calcutta is in the news again.

She's buried in the Calcutta, India, headquarters of the Missionaries of Charity: the order she founded. Albania wants her body buried in Albania.

I can see their point. Mother Teresa was born in Macedonia, but her parents were Albanians. (EWTN) She grew up in Macedonia. This is what she said about who and what she is:

" 'By blood, I am Albanian. By citizenship, an Indian. By faith, I am a Catholic nun. As to my calling, I belong to the world. As to my heart, I belong entirely to the Heart of Jesus.' Small of stature, rocklike in faith, Mother Teresa of Calcutta was entrusted with the mission of proclaiming God's thirsting love for humanity, especially for the poorest of the poor. 'God still loves the world and He sends you and me to be His love and His compassion to the poor.' She was a soul filled with the light of Christ, on fire with love for Him and burning with one desire: 'to quench His thirst for love and for souls.'..."
("the Vatican")

Like I said, I can see the Albanian government's point. There are a number of reasons why they'd like Calcutta's nun buried in their soil: sentimental; economic; and probably political.

Personally, I hope her bones remain in India. But, happily, I have nothing to do with that decision-making process.

Mother Teresa of Calcutta was Beatified When?

BBC is of the opinion that Mother Teresa of Calcutta was beatified in 2002. Pope John Paul II and the Vatican record that she was beatified on October 19, 2003. I think I see where the BBC got their idea:

"...Pope John Paul II permitted the opening of her Cause of Canonization. On 20 December 2002 he approved the decrees of her heroic virtues and miracles."
(the Vatican)

That "approved the decrees" business isn't something you hear in everyday English on either side of the Atlantic.

If I'm reading the Vatican's biography of Mother Teresa of Calcutta right, the Vatican gave the official go-ahead to investigating whether Mother Teresa of Calcutta qualified as a recognized saint less than two years after her death in 1997. By late 2002 paperwork on the results of the investigation to date was in place for her being beatified.

Mother Teresa of Calcutta was beatified later, though: on October 19, 2003, though: that year's World Mission Sunday. (the Vatican)

'You're Known by the Enemies You Keep'

Even before she died, Mother Teresa of Calcutta was being spoken of as a 'living saint.' I'm a practicing Catholic, and don't anticipate the final decision of the Church: but she does look like a slam-dunk certainty for sainthood.

Not everybody sees her that way, of course. I discussed what some of the world's more, ah, sophisticated and earnest people think of Mother Teresa in another blog. (August 7, 2007) At that time, the remarkably long and deep 'dark night of the soul' which Mother Teresa had experienced was becoming public knowledge. People who apparently equate 'being spiritual' with an experiencing an emotional high assumed that she was, at best, a hypocrite.

Doing research for this post, I found that Showtime aired "Holier than thou" sometime around 2005. Two entertainers showed what I suppose is a strong sense of social justice - or something - by saying of Mother Teresa: "She had the f—king coin and pissed it away on nunneries," and referring to the nuns of her order as "f—king c—ts."

Mother Teresa: She's No Princess Di

I think can see the entertainers' point of view. Unlike, say, Princess Di, Mother Teresa didn't act at all like a proper celebrity-philanthropist. She actually got up close and personal with the poor, lived with them, and was responsible for running a global organization to benefit them.

Don't get me wrong: I can try to understand the point of view of another person, without accepting it. When studying anthropology, I learned about the philosophical and religious significance of human sacrifice: but that doesn't mean I think the Aztecs or Phoenicians were on the right track.¹

Like the people who were clueless about what a dark night of the soul is, these entertainers were (I hope) abysmally ignorant of what suffering means in Catholic teaching.

"...'...But when they [the entertainers] mock the Catholic Church's teaching on the meaning of suffering, and when they say of the poor that "They had to suffer so that Mother F—king Teresa could be enlightened," then they are behaving like monsters.'..."
(Catholic League President William Donohue, Catholic News Agency)

As the subhead says, 'you're known by the enemies you keep.' These entertainers expressed about the same opinion of Mahatma Gandhi and the Dalai Lama.

I suppose "Holier than thou" could be what is called 'sophisticated' entertainment for those of discerning tastes. Or maybe it was that version of malicious 'social justice' that I ran into from time to time in the sixties and seventies: which seemed to consist primarily of spiteful diatribes against people and organizations which were actually doing something for others.

Related posts:

• "Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta: Born August 26, 1910"
  (August 26, 2009)
• "Mother Teresa of Calcutta: She's No Princess Di"
  (May 8, 2009)
• "Mother Teresa of Calcutta"
  Apathetic Lemming of the North (August 31, 2007)

In the news:

• "India rejects Mother Teresa claim"
  BBC (October 14, 2009)

Background:

• "Beatification of Mother Teresa of Calcutta"
  The Holy See (the Vatican)
  Including
  • "Mother Teresa of Calcutta (1910-1997)"
• "Pope beatifies Mother Teresa"
  CNN (October 20, 2003)
• "Pope Beatifies Mother Teresa in Front of 300,000"
  ZENIT (October 19, 2003)
• "Catholic group calls Showtime's mockery of Mother Teresa, vicious, monstrous"
  Catholic News Agency (May 26, 2005)
• "John Paul II's Anniversary and Mother Teresa's Beatification"
  L'Osservatore Romano Weekly Edition in English (October 22, 2003), via EWTN
• "Will Mother Teresa be sainted?"
  Answers.com
• "Making Saints"
  United States Conference of Catholic Bishops backgrounder

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¹ I'm reminded of a Scientific American article, several decades ago, which earnestly stated that human sacrifice had never occurred: and that when it was practiced, it was not as done as often as was reported.

Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta: Born August 26, 1910

Gonxha Agnes Bojaxhiu was born on August 26, 1910, in Skopje (now part of Macedonia). The Albanian girl received her First Communion at the age of five and a half, and died at the age of 87, on September 5, 1997.

During those eight decades she

• Joined the Sisters of Loreto, in Ireland
• Changed her name
• Was assigned to Calcutta, India
  • As part of the city's Loreto Entally community
• Taught at a girls' school there
• Took her Final Profession of Vows
  • After which she was called Mother Teresa
• Founded the Missionaries of Charity
• Cared for " 'the unwanted, the unloved, the uncared for' "
  (Vatican)

Mother Teresa of Calcutta is no Princess Di of England. She wore the same uniform as the rest of her religious community, a white sari, and lived a simple life among "the unwanted, the unloved, the uncared for" and won a Nobel Peace Prize (1979). Princess Di was against land mines (CNN), and helped get a Nobel Peace Prize for anti-land-mine activists twenty years later. (CNN)

Mother Teresa's Letters and the Dark Night of the Soul

About two years ago, if you believe what you read in the press and the blogosphere, we found out that Mother Teresa was an atheist, a fake, a fraud - not spiritual at all.

That's because letters were made public, showing that for a very long time, she didn't feel all that uplifted and peppy about Jesus. She went about her work and prayers, relying on her will, not her feelings.

As far as some people are concerned, a person just isn't spiritual without that HALLELUJAH! feeling.

Catholics recognize a prolonged dry period like that as the dark night of the soul - a name that comes from "The Dark Night," by St. John of the Cross, which described and discussed this part of a soul's growth. I discussed the letters, and clueless reactions to them, in another blog. (August 31, 2007)

Many saints, and many Catholics who haven't been canonized, went through that experience. I can't think of one who was given as long a dark night of the soul as Mother Teresa's, though.

I see a spiritual dryness, a lack of emotional uplift, as something like Special Forces training: rigorous; definitely not for everybody; reserved for those few who can handle it.

Calling Mother Teresa a hypocrite or an atheist because she went through an unusually long dark night of the soul is like saying that a Green Beret isn't a real soldier because he's had training most GIs don't get.

Related posts:

• "Mother Teresa of Calcutta: She's No Princess Di"
  (May 8, 2009)
• "Mother Teresa of Calcutta: Not a Plaster Saint"
  Apathetic Lemming of the North (September 5, 2007)
• "Mother Teresa of Calcutta"
  Apathetic Lemming of the North (August 31, 2007)
• "Princess Diana of England and Mother Teresa of Calcutta"
  Apathetic Lemming of the North (August 27, 2007)

Background:

• "Mother Teresa of Calcutta (1910-1997)"
  Vatican
• "Beatification of Mother Theresa of Calcutta"
  Homily of His Holiness John Paul II, Vatican (October 19, 2003)

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Correction (August 26, 2009)

I extend sincere thanks to Sr Constance, lsp, Little Sisters of the Poor, for pointing out an error in this post.

Little Sisters of the Poor was founded by Jeanne Jugan.

Mother Teresa of Calcutta founded the Missionaries of Charity.

Jeanne Jugan was beatified in 1982, and will be canonized by Pope Benedict XVI on October 11, 2009.

Several pages of information about Jeanne Jugan are on the Little Sisters of the Poor website (www.littlesistersofthepoor.org) Briefly, she was born October 25, 1792, and formed Servants of the Poor in 1842. The group was re-named "Sisters of the Poor" in 1844 and "Little Sisters of the Poor" in 1849. There's a great deal more information on the Little Sisters of the Poor timeline.

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Updated (January 21, 2010)

Another resource about the dark night of the soul, and related topics:

• "On Becoming a Christian: | Insights from Scripture and the Patristic Writings | With
  Some Contemporary Reflections"
  Report of the Fifth Phase of the International Dialogue Between Some Classical
  Pentecostal Churches and Leaders and the Catholic Church, The Holy See (1998-2006)
  Particularly
  • Paragraph 178

Mother Teresa of Calcutta: She's No Princess Di

I ran across a post about Mother Teresa of Calcutta earlier today, while writing an early Mother's Day post in another blog. I wrote the Mother Teresa post just before the 10th anniversary of her death. That was when, for some people, Princes Di was a "wonderful humanitarian" and Mother Teresa of Calcutta was a hypocrite.

Her letters were being published around that time, and revealed that she hadn't been on an emotional high while serving the poor. I wrote, at the time -

"Some of the more colorful headlines:

• 'Was Mother Teresa an atheist?'
• 'Mother Teresa: In Heaven or Hell?'
• 'Mother Teresa's Struggle With Faith Revealed'
  (With Slideshows! 'Public Figures With Religious Pride,' 'Divine Signs: Holy, Hoax, Or Just Hope?,' and 'Religious Sightings: Divine Or Delusional?')

Mother Teresa of Calcutta's letters, some of them, at least, have been made public. She asked that they be destroyed after her death, but the Catholic Church decided that they should be preserved."
("Princess Diana of England and Mother Teresa of Calcutta" Apathetic Lemming of the North (August 27, 2007))

I think I can understand how people steeped in contemporary Western culture might assume that Mother Teresa of Calcutta was a hypocrite, after reading (or hearing about) her letters. For many in the west, religion is an emotional experience: something a person feels. The assumption is that if a person doesn't 'feel religious,' that person doesn't have faith - or needs to shop around for something that will crank up that 'religious' feeling again.

There's nothing wrong with emotions. They're not good or bad - by themselves. What we do about the emotions we feel is something else.

Dark Night of the Soul

As for Mother Teresa of Calcutta keeping up her work and prayers without an emotional buzz - that sort of thing is called a dark night of the soul. More about that in another blog: (August 31, 2007)

Mother Teresa of Calcutta died on September 5, 1997. In less than a week, we'll see the 10-year anniversary of the event. Many people seem to think of her as a social worker, but this contemplative nun was just that: a contemplative nun.

I think her failure to drop into one of the dominant culture's pigeonholes is a big reason why her chief claim to fame in today's news is the recent publication of her letters. These letters show that she

• Lost her faith and was a hypocrite (secular view), or
• Had a major-league dark night of the soul (informed Catholic view)

I'll get back to that.

Mistaking Mother Teresa for a social worker is understandable. She, and her order, have cared for the very poor in Calcutta for decades. They've also set up similar operations worldwide, including a home for AIDS patients in San Francisco, California. What sets them apart from social workers is their motivation.

One of her critics, Christopher Hitchens, said that:

"It was by talking to her that I discovered, and she assured me, that she wasn't working to alleviate poverty, ... She was working to expand the number of Catholics. She said, 'I'm not a social worker. I don't do it for this reason. I do it for Christ. I do it for the church.' "
("The Debate Over Sainthood," 60 Minutes, CBS (October 9, 2003)

Shocking, and quite true. She wasn't the standard-issue social crusader, out to free the masses from their oppressors. British interviewer Polly Toynbee was particularly impressed that Mother Teresa lacked the rage or indignation of many social critics. Mother Teresa

"did not find it necessary to attack the economic or political structures of the cultures that were producing the abjectly poor people she was serving. For her the primary rule was a constant love, and when social critics or religious reformers chose to vent anger at the evils of structures underlying poverty and suffering, that was between them and God. Indeed, in later interviews Mother Teresa continued to strike an apolitical pose, refusing to take a stand on anything other than strictly religious matters. One sensed that to her mind politics, economics, and other this-worldly matters were other people's business. The business given by God to her and her group was simply serving the very poor with as much love and skill as they could muster."
(Polly Toynbee, via Answers.com)

An interview with Malcom Muggeridge revealed that "Mother Teresa had virtually no understanding of a cynical or godless point of view that could consider any human being less than absolutely valuable." (Encyclopedia.com)

"The Hindu priests at a Kali temple were unhappy when Mother and the Sisters began their work at Nirmal Hriday in Kalighat close to the temple. Then something happened that brought about a complete change of heart. Mother heard that one of the priests of the temple was dying of an infectious disease and nobody would touch him. She collected his emaciated body in her arms and brought him to her home. The local people asked her to stay. A Hindu priest of the temple said to her with folded hands, "for thirty years I have worshipped the goddess Kali in stone, but today the goddess Mother stands before me alive." (quotes from Answers.com)

Mother Teresa is now Blessed Mother Teresa, as of October 19, 2003. In 2002, Monica Besra, an Indian woman, was cured of a tumor through the intercession of Mother Teresa. Ms. Besra says that light coming from a locket with a picture of Mother Teresa cured the cancer. Some doctors insist that it must have been the medical treatment she was receiving.

Following Catholic rules, one verified miracle puts a person in the "Blessed" category. Another verified miracle, and Mother Teresa will be an officially recognized saint of the Catholic Church.

Back to those letters.

I'm not at all surprised that Mother Teresa had times when she did not feel God's presence, when she felt spiritually dry, and felt that God was ignoring her. It's called "dark night of the soul." Many saints, and many others, go through it. the phrase, dark night of the soul, comes from "The Dark Night," by St. John of the Cross, which described and discussed this part of a soul's growth.

For some people, lack of an uplifting, "spiritual," feeling means it's time to find a new religion. Catholics, at least those who pay attention to what the Church teaches, don't work that way. "Faith isn't what you feel, but what you will."

Mother Teresa's faith was running on her will, rather than her feelings, for something like a half-century. In the two thousand years that the Catholic Church has been cataloging the biographies of saints, this stands out. As a devout Catholic, I have no intention of anticipating the decisions of the Church, but I wouldn't be surprised to learn that Mother Teresa is found to be responsible for a second miracle.

If some of this seems familiar, you're observant. I wrote about Mother Teresa and Princess Di in another blog.

Related posts:

• "Mother Teresa of Calcutta"
  Apathetic Lemming of the North (August 31, 2007)
• "Princess Diana of England and Mother Teresa of Calcutta"
  Apathetic Lemming of the North (August 27, 2007)

Background:

• "Mother Teresa's suffering"
  Beliefnet (August 29, 2007)
• "Was Mother Teresa an Atheist?"
  Neatorama (undated, comments start August 25, 2007)
• "Shocka: Mother Teresa’s letters reveal she had moments of doubt"
  Hot Air (August 24, 2007)
• "Mother Teresa's Dark Night Unique, Says Preacher"
  Pope Benedict XVI Blog (August 28, 2007)
  • "A blog on our Pope," not a blog by Pope Benedict XVI
• "Mother Teresa: In Heaven or Hell?"
  Don Boys, Ph.D., Press Releases Online (August 26, 2007)
  • This piece is my favorite: a mixture of astute observation and abyssal ignorance of basic Catholic teachings. As a sort of punchline, he's International Director of "Common Sense for Today."

Much of the information for this post came from the Answers.Com article on Mother Teresa and EWTN's Mother Teresa.

"MOTHER TERESA OF CALCUTTA - Official Site of the Cause of Canonization" requires pop-ups for viewing, so some browsers must be re-set before using this site.

And then there's the "People's Princess," "Princess Di."

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