Posted on 08/26/2007 2:55:47 PM PDT by Salvation
London, Aug. 25 (PTI): A day after it was revealed that Mother Teresa had a deep crisis of faith in God for the last four decades of her life, the Vatican has said that her path to sainthood will not be affected by the controversy.
"Mother Teresa has already been beatified. For her canonisation as a saint, she now requires one more verified miracle," 'The Daily Telegraph' reported here today, quoting Monsignor Robert Sarno, in charge of her case at Congregation for the Causes of Saints, as saying.
The 'Saint of the Gutter', who died on September 5, 1997, nine days after her 87th birthday, is likely be canonised as a saint by the Vatican later this year. Admitting that Mother Teresa had, at times, turned away from God, Mgr Sarno said, "It's really very simple. People have to realise that the Church does not canonise God. She was a human being... she faced reality. Even the saints are faced with the difficulties of life."
The Vatican has more than 35,000 pages of documents attesting to the virtues and shortcomings of Mother Teresa. Mgr Sarno said he had to close the investigation because of the enormous amount of evidence that poured from Mother Teresa's supporters. "Over 100 witnesses, far more than in any other case for sainthood, have testified."
According to some of the letters within her file, Mother Teresa began to struggle with her belief in God at roughly the same time as she started caring for the poor and sick in Kolkata in 1949.
The Catholic Association of Bengal, the largest lay organisation in Calcutta, has mounted a constant prayer for the last two weeks to push her cause forward at Rome. It has also nominated 2007 as the 'Year of Mother Teresa's Sainthood', since Sept 5 will mark her 10th death anniversary.
Jesus on the cross cried to the Father .. why have you foresaken me .. why wouldn’t a mere mortal have a crisis of faith?
i saw john allen on CNN talking about this. CNN, of course, was pretty bad. I never thought John Allen was very brilliant but he certainly did a very good job on this I thought.
Well, as she did unto the “least of these,” so she did unto our Lord. Mother Theresa is in good hands!
Even the best saints struggled with the faith.
The fact that a miracle was attributed to Mother Theresa is very telling.
**Even the best saints struggled with the faith.**
In fact I have heard it said, that the more holy one is, the more the devil tempts them.
Think about it in your own life.
**The fact that a miracle was attributed to Mother Theresa is very telling.**
Yes, a lot of people are unaware, aren’t they?
From my limited reading of the saints, it seems that everyone of them went through “dark night” experiences, struggling with doubts and aridity; it seems to be a part of what all Christians go through in their walk. God tests us to see if we will exercise Faith, Hope, and Charity even when we have no sensible consolations, to see if our love for Him is real. I have never met a Christian yet (of any denomination) that hasn’t had those “dark night” times in their lives.
Mother Theresa’s life witness puts her critics to shame.
Spiritual aridity is almost one of the hallmarks of sainthood.
Our parochial vicar (the wild one - Fr. Krunk) touched on this in his homily. I told him afterwards that when the Today Show started in on Mother Teresa, it was a good thing I didn't have access to them and a two by four because I would have knocked somebody upside of the head. His response: 'Please pray for me.' < g > 'Course I will!
Why do you suppose this story is being given so much headline and attention on tv and in the media?
The liberal news media hates the Catholic Church and will do anything to destroy it. As Laura Ingraham said last week, "They won't even let us have Mother Teresa."
Yep, that is true, the closer you or me to God, the more likely one has to fight it out with the devil. But also it is when God can come to one’s help. :-)
Good grief, the msn cannot even leave well enough alone Blessed Mother Teresa, they have to try to savage her and by extention, the RCC. But in the end, be it either this year or next, expect her to be made an offical saint. Hey she can even be made an offical saint today and I would be happy because of these recent news stories about her.
The level of debate on this issue has been pitiful and painful to watch as the secular media has picked up on some details of Mother's spiritual journey and run with them in totally the wrong direction. Those who have piled on have likewise displayed a spectacular ignorance of the spiritual life.
The truth is that Mother Teresa's doubts were a severe trial permitted by God in the fashion experienced by all the saints. The critical point is that Mother Teresa experienced this trial amidst her heroic work to the poor and of founding a religious order in which she persevered to the end. This requires real faith and her perseverance in the face of these doubts marks her work as heroic and saintly. Had she desisted and left the religious life as many have done, it would be a different story. However she faced this trial humbly and courageously and ran her race to the end.
Likewise, St. John Vianney battled all his life with a temptation to flee Ars and his work as a confessor because he believed he was obstructing God's work and doing nothing good. He was tempted to retire and live a solitary life.
Sunday's second reading from the Letter to the Hebrews is particularly relevant to all of this: "Whom the Lord loves he chastises and puts to the test".
Mother Teresa was tested and tried by God and not found wanting.
The length and depth of this trial only confirm her saintliness. The ultimate “dark night” was Jesus’ death on the cross. I don’t think we can appreciate the intensity of one member of the triune God “abandoned” to Death by the Father. There aren’t words to describe that. The severity of this test upon Blessed Teresa united her that much more intensely to the suffering, abandoned Christ upon the Cross, than those who suffered less.
I really get a kick out of the media’s attempts to wield a theological stick at a subject they are utterly clueless about. As usual, God will take their feeble attempt and use it to illustrate how worthy this woman is of sainthood.
The length and depth of this trial only confirm her saintliness. The ultimate “dark night” was Jesus’ death on the cross. I don’t think we can appreciate the intensity of one member of the triune God “abandoned” to Death by the Father. There aren’t words to describe that. The severity of this test upon Blessed Teresa united her that much more intensely to the suffering, abandoned Christ upon the Cross, than those who suffered less.
I really get a kick out of the media’s attempts to wield a theological stick at a subject they are utterly clueless about. As usual, God will take their feeble attempt and use it to illustrate how worthy this woman is of sainthood.
Mother Teresa persevered to the end despite doubts and temptations, and thus demonstrated her sainthood.
I don't believe the media is ignorant of this. Nobody could be that stupid.
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