Today's Wisdom

Those who do not pass from the experience of the cross to the truth of the resurrection condemn themselves to despair! For we cannot encounter God without first crucifying our narrow notions of a god who reflects only our own understanding of omnipotence and power
Pope Francis

Friday, July 27, 2018

Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta on Suffering

In an interview on Irish TV in 1974, St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta revealed her suffering because of the apparent absence of God as she constantly prayed and received holy Communion for so many years. Her mission to love and save the abandoned and dying in the streets of Calcutta had already been approved by the Holy See since 1950. Her Congregation of the "Missionaries of Charity" counted thousands of young sisters and other co-workers as well as many sponsors who adopted unwanted children instead of aborting them or wasting them as in the West. Yet, at the time of the interview, she had already experienced the "Darkness of the Night" and doubts that were experienced by great saints such as St.Teresa of Avila. Her response was to cling to Jesus the Saviour and love Him; for in her opinion suffering was the way in which souls are purified by God - If sufferings are accepted and existential doubts are brought to the light of Christ, the rest of temptations can be treated...The reader may wish to listen to this contemplative nun who dared to act in the world and "make the ocean one drop less" every time she went about helping the human person:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Th2QzJwy8tI
She said she was an instrument in God's hands which reminds us by the hymn of St. Francis of Assisi "Make me a channel of your peace": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZI1Gst7pEqc
During the 1975-1976 civil war in Lebanon, Mother Teresa wanted to cross from one side to the other in Beirut in order to care for the injured. As she prayed, the response of heaven was immediate and she could cross...In 1979, I was attending her talk and was seated near her in the first row at the Jesuit hall in Cairo. As she finished her talk, I had the privilege of a handshake by Mother Teresa!
A great saint whose missionaries are active in most countries, one of my cousins is a sister in her Missionary of Charity congregation in Congo...

Today's Quote

"Behold I make all things new." (Revelation 21:5)







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