Christians, your thoughts, please, on Mother Teresa's crisis of faith...?

Question

She claimed she heard God tell her to go to Calcutta, and laments God never spoke to her again. How could she be blind to the significance of hearing God even once! Most people are never spoken to by god, and any time a person is contacted by God is a rare and significant miracle! How could she help so many people and not realize NONE of them ever received a message from god at any time in their lives except her?

I don't believe in temporary insanity.

Answer 1

She she's realized in her old age, that she missed out on so much fun, like partying and getting high. she spent all those years denying herself because she believed Jesus would take care of her. But now, human primal instinct has now taken over her and now she's beginning to hate herself for not enjoying life like she should have!

Answer 2

+PAX

I think that all of the great Saints as well as us every day folks have crisis in faith now and again. Something will happen that will make you question your faith. Perhaps she simply longed to hear the Lord's voice once more. I can understand that. To hear the voice of the one that you love with all your heart soul, mind, strength and being...and never to hear it again. I know I would pray daily to hear it again. I do pray daily to hear His voice...to hear him speak...and he does, through Scripture and people that he places before me- but I have never heard his actual voice which I would love to hear.

I do think that there is a lot of nothing that is being made out of this. In the process of canonization everything that the person has ever written is gone over with a microscope. It is obvious, that even if she did doubt her faith for a time, she did not doubt in the Lord at all simply based upon the work she did all of her life.

I was blessed to be in her presence once, and heard her speak once. My heart knew, I was in the presence of a living saint at that time. I will never forget it as long as I live.

Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, pray for us.
j.

Answer 3

Well, in some cultures, it's not unusual for religious people (shamans, for instance) to think they hear God. (In studiies though, it seems that the part of the brain that's being stimulated is not where you would be listening to something but rather where you would sort of "talk" to yourself. I remember a new employee I was training - this is in a psych hospital - said, "How can you tell the difference between a normal person who hears voices and a patient?" I told him I supposed that if it wasn't causing him any problems in his life, it was okay. (The new employee was recently from somewhere in Africa.) I don't think that's what is being referred to as her "crisis." It's more of a "dark night of the soul" a la John of the Cross. Which, to me, (and probably I shouldn't count since I'm Buddhist) makes her less of a superstitious fanatic and more like she really thought about it.

Answer 4

We do not know the feeling of hearing god. Some might say, for example, it is better to have loved and lost, than it is never to have loved at all. Consider this to be similar to hearing the voice of God, or having a glimpse of Heaven. Most people declared dead, and are then revived are not happy when they are brought back. They want to stay in Heaven, and some are even angry when they first are revived. I know this not from a professional of medicine, but I know of those who have departed and returned. For her to follow God's single guidance, and then to have faith that all the rest is done according to his will requires a strong and devoted follower.

Answer 5

I truly think God was preparing her for what she is going to find on the other side of this life. In order for her to find the truth she may have to have had the Holy Ghost leave her for a short time. In order for her to be able to rethink her religion and listen to the Prophets of old as they teach her things that may go against what she may have learned here in this life. I have no doubt she is headed for the highest honers in the kingdom of heaven.

Answer 6

Some Roman Catholics act like they have to worship the woman. I am glad that she is showing her 'humanness'. She was just a human who had doubts. Any of us can have that. Maybe there won't be Roman Catholics worshiping her like an idol. Maybe they will wake up and see that all those people do not need "saint" attached to their name.

MAYBE, just MAYBE, they will start treating God with some respect by not praying to those who were just other sinners like us? Even if only a few.

Answer 7

I've questioned for many years whether or not she even was a Christian. I've also questioned a lot of Popes on that issue.

I also question if she heard from God the first time.

Obviously I've never met her, so I can only guess from what she has written and from what others have written about her.

I've also never met a Pope.

But the last Pope made a big deal to thank Mary for saving his life when someone tried to kill him many years ago.

I've always wondered, "Why didn't he thank God?"

Or did he consider Mary to be God?

Pastor Art

Answer 8

So, in other words, she once was insane and heard voices, recovered, but continued to PRETEND she was insane just to satisfy her bosses?

I never thought much of her before the article. Now I know she was a hypocrite too....

Answer 9

What people seem to forget is that Mother Teresa was human and had human feelings and human thoughts. I do not know why this is so hard to understand.

Answer 10

i agree that she must have seen the people she had brought to God.
but i think she must have stopped listening some where along the way, cause God wouldn't ignore her without a good reason.

Answer 11

She was human.
Most people have times in there life where they have a "Crisis of Faith"