With all the hubbub about the anniversary of the passing of Princess Diana, the upcoming 9/11 anniversary, and the recent Katrina anniversary, I'm surprised nobody's mentioned anything about the 10 year anniversary of the death of Mother Theresa, except to spotlight her recently discovered crisis of faith.
I remember finding out from my family in France that she had died and being amazed that I hadn't heard anything about it till then. That family was Catholic and had a major admiration for Mother Theresa. I remember my host mother saying something so profound that I still remember it - she said that her passing just after Diana was a huge act of humility. She didn't want people to make a big fuss over her, so she just died while everyone was looking the other way. That's still the case today.
I was annoyed when I saw the big stink over her questioning her faith and the existence of God. How many of us have done it? I've had a pretty shaky relationship with God for the past 3 years, and I haven't experienced anywhere near as much as Mother Theresa did - the woman witnessed amazing horrors. I don't understand why everyone was tripping about it. She's human. She reacts in desperate anger just as much as any of us would.
What a strange thing we are, humans. Instead of concentrating on the unbelievable amount of good Mother Theresa did during her life, we have to concentrate on her all too human flaws. She could've cured cancer and people would be all "OMG like she questioned God's existence. FRAUD!"
Please read Mother Theresa's wikipedia page. Read about the charity she founded. Remember her, and pray for her.
7 months ago
4 comments:
yes, yes, yes. You are so right.
I was starting a post on Mother Teresa. I had trouble w/ it. I hate the negative attention that the media gave her new book, yet at the same time, I appreciate the "new info". It really sheds light on how "normal" she was, in the sense of I feel I can relate to her even more now. You know, like WOW-even MT at times felt like God didn't hear her prayers!
Maybe one day I'll get my post up. Right now, though, I'm still thinking about what your host mother said her passing just after Diana was a huge act of humility. She didn't want people to make a big fuss over her, so she just died while everyone was looking the other way.
Amazing.
My mom was saying the same thing the other day. I would imagine people like Mother Theresa would feel so hopeless at times considering the desolate situations she witnessed on a daily basis. Even Thomas the disciple doubted Jesus! We ARE all human and Christians of all religions walk by faith, not by sight.
1. It's not new info. It came out just after her death, or possibly even before - I don't remember - and we talked about it a lot in college.
2. She didn't doubt God's existence or her faith. If that were true, then the Church would not have beatified her, because a decree of beatification requires a prior decree that the person possessed "heroic virtue". She suffered with having no sense of the presence of God, and had many difficulties maintaining her beliefs, but she never doubted. That's what makes her virtue heroic. It's akin to the "Dark Night of the Soul" of which St. John of the Cross spoke. I'm sure that's on Wikipedia too.
3. Don't forget that India gave her an official state funeral, which the UK denied to Diana. There are more people in India than in the US and Europe combined. So she didn't exactly die in obscurity.
4. Never trust the media to get anything right about religion, particularly the Catholic religion. Mystery and mysticism don't fit into their templates, and they can't make sound bites and headlines out of it, so they always butcher it.
Even if she DID "question" her faith...we ARE human. Jesus in "human-form" even got angry...
I'm with Sharon, still stuck on the comment your host mother said....how do you learn that depth of humilty...can I sign up for it somewhere....I need to learn to be more humble.hmmmm...
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