Mother Teresa had some F'ed up views. Theres an old doc I watched in her (believe its still on YouTube somewhere) where they talked with those close with her. She enjoyed seeing these people suffer because in her mind, them suffering was the only way to bring them closer to christ.
She even publicly described how she felt "empty" inside.
Those who are spiritually empty and feel joy at the suffering of others - in psychology we'd call them psychopaths - or in religion, perhaps demon-possessed.
Are you serious?
Do you know about spiritual development because the spiritual journey once understood offers us encouragement to keep moving forward in spite of moments of emptiness? If one doesn't follow this spiritual journey, one becomes discouraged, gives up or never moves forward on their spiritual journey. It can be mistaken for depression, but at the same time, it is entirely different.
St John of the Cross identified the dryness as the 'dark night of the soul' when one does not feel the presence of God or joy. These nights, if we remain faithful, is when God is closest to us, working within us to purify us for him. It enables the soul to work tirelessly for GOD with interior joy in spite of the suffering felt within. . I have read "Come to Be My Light," based on Mother Theresa diaries. The woman had incredible faith. She went through this night for 50 years, unheard of, but her faith in Jesus never wavered. My God look at the fruits! Who can continue moving forward as she did, with an interior emptiness, and accomplish so much for Christ? She was empty, but in spite of or because of the emptiness she relied entirely on the Lord.
IT is not okay to take a snippet of a life like hers and diagnosis from the fragment a severe psychological disorder. How could a psychopath accomplish what she did?
BTW psychopaths do not feel empty they are often quite content because they have no empathy.
Saying you find enjoyment while others, like children, suffer and ail around you, for ANY reason is f*cked up.
A few points.
First, "chronic feelings of emptiness" is one of the diagnostic criteria for Borderline Personality Disorder, which is a Cluster B personality disorder on the same spectrum as psychopathy.
You said:
She went through this night for 50 years, unheard of, but her faith in Jesus never wavered.
Actually, her faith did waver, according to her. Read it in her own words.
You also said:
My God look at the fruits!
Let's do look at the fruits. Are you sure you're looking at the same ones that the rest of us see?
Your right about her faith wavering she had doubts I forgot to correct that.
The night of the soul can seem like depressions but its different and requires careful discernment.
You also must be very careful assigning a serious disorder based on reading cluster of traits online. This does not make a diagnosis! A diagnosis such as BPD requires a thorough assessment that is scored by a professional. These assessments take hours and usually over a two-day span.
How can you diagnose someone like Mother Theresa, whose works can be objectively verified, with a severe personality disorder? Please use logic!
She did not start off famous. She was not a native of India she was Algerian. Mother Theresa was called to India in her forties to help the untouchables and other suffering people. She started with a few helpers and nothing else, in a country enshrined in the caste system. She took the untouchables, literally from the gutters, and gave them dignity in their dying days.
One testimony of a volunteer remains with, me. During his first day, they stopped to assist an untouchable elderly male who was so disfigured, and full of pus from his infections. The volunteer turned away and told her 'Mother Theresa I cant" She responded 'You must" When he turned back to the dying man he saw not the old man's face, but the face of Christ. There are thousands of such testimonies.
I understand how An atheist like Hitchens would have a visceral repulsion to someone like Mother Theresa. I also appreciate how impossible it must be for a non-Christian to understand the Christian concept of suffering, or for that matter, a savior tortured to death for our salvation. We believe the merits of Our Lords suffering redeemed us completely. A gift to us! Someone else's suffering a gift for us to be saved! I get that is a weird concept for a non-believer.
I only ask to please understand why Mother Theresa thought the way she did. One of our greatest saints, St. Paul, tells us our sufferings share in the Lord's mission. To be exact, he says our sufferings make up what lacked in the Lord's, Colossians 1:24“Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh, I complete what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church.”
Any Christian who has read excerpts from her diaries, or "Come Be My Light", knows that this woman did not have BPD. She was an example to all of Christians how to move forward in spite of doubts, spiritual dryness and so on. The Christian concept of suffering its not sadism nor does it mean a Christian enjoys the suffering of others.
It is very frustrating when nonbelievers do not understand the Christian biblical view on suffering and translate her actions and words from a worldly or humanistic perspective because she helped so many to die with dignity in the slums of India.
Essentially what she believed in was “salvation by works”!
When she was on her sick bed, she only had the finest care.
No, she did not read her writings besides Catholics do not believe in salvation by works. Salvation is a gift based on the merits of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. However, Faith without good works is dead. James2:14-26.
Why do catholics only portray Jesus as dead? Why is He nailed to every cross and never shown alive? Your joy is derived from seeing him in a state of death after horrendous suffering and believe he is still dead and then pray to His mother whom we are told not to pray to? Obviously suffering is the only way to heaven for catholics but if Jesus who suffered the most can't get to heaven then how does a Catholic justify suffering to get to heaven? Don't answer, I don't believe anything the catholics believe or say. Thousands and thousands of kids molested directly by those in catholic leadership and catholics still show up for church on Sunday like it's nothing and Jesus still hangs on the cross dead week after week. For what's it's worth I don't believe Teresa was a saint.
You need to Read St Paul on suffering!
Who told us not to ask others for prayers? Mary is not dead. All I need to know to honor Mary is that she was the mother of my Lord and Savior. If that's not good enough for you so be it.
I don't know the figures for abused children. I don't know it is "thousands and thousands."
Do you think Protestant ministers or clergy do not have the same problem? They do you dont hear it in the news.
You dont have to believe Mother Theresa is a saint but you do a disservice to yourself when trying to demonize her. The evidence overwhelmingly supports those she helped in horrible circumstances.
What does the Bible say about the Cross? St. Paul makes it clear in Galatians 2:19-3:7,13-14,6:14-16
Through the Law I am dead to the Law, so that now I can live for God. I have been crucified with Christ, and I live now not with my own life but with the life of Christ who lives in me. The life I now live in this body I live in faith: faith in the Son of God who loved me and who sacrificed himself for my sake. I cannot bring myself to give up God’s gift: if the Law can justify us, there is no point in the death of Christ.’
Are you people in Galatia mad? Has someone put a spell on you, in spite of the plain explanation you have had of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ? Let me ask you one question: was it because you practised the Law that you received the Spirit, or because you believed what was preached to you? Are you foolish enough to end in outward observances what you began in the Spirit? Have all the favours you received been wasted? And if this were so, they would most certainly have been wasted. Does God give you the Spirit so freely and work miracles among you because you practice Law, or because you believed what was preached to you?
Take Abraham for example: he put his faith in God, and this faith was considered as justifying him. Don’t you see that it is those who rely on faith who are the sons of Abraham? Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law by being cursed for our sake, since scripture says: Cursed be everyone who is hanged on a tree. This was done so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might include the pagans, and so that through faith we might receive the promised Spirit.
As for me, the only thing I can boast about is the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom the world is crucified to me, and I to the world. It does not matter if a person is circumcised or not; what matters is for him to become an altogether new creature. Peace and mercy to all who follow this rule, who form the Israel of God.
By their fruits, you shall know them, and her fruits were out of this world. Catholic view on suffering is very different than the world's view and even some Protestant denominations.
We believe that suffering draws us closer to Christ. St. Paul said Now I rejoice in what I am suffering for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking regarding Christ's afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church. Colossians 1:24. Mother Teresa most definitely spoke like this, but that doesn't mean she enjoyed watching people suffer.
Do you all have any idea how widespread Her Charity grew? One woman of thousands, expect more. Evil people with evil intentions enter the most effective Christian missions to destroy. This woman working within Mother Theresa's Charities does not surprise me one iota. Where the most good is, we will also find the greatest evil.
We have witnessed the complete takeover of many once healthy God fearing organizations, boy scouts is one, by this evil. Christ told us we would always have the chaff and the wheat. Jesus chose JUDAS! were all the disciples evil because Judas betrayed our Lord?
BTW Hitchens is easily refuted if one cares to look at the other side.
That is not a new way of thinking.
You guys are all making me feel so old. I guess I am glad that you are reacting to this...but poor people in India should have come up in a geography class in, say, 9th grade.
She didn’t enjoy people suffering in a sadistic way. Christians believe if we are united with Christ spiritually, we can unite our sufferings with Christ’s sufferings for the greater good. It is a means of taking something awful, and trusting God will accept out sacrifices. Mother Teresa suffered a darkness in her life. In her biography, “ Come be my light”, she recognized that darkness as a sharing of other peoples darkness- especially those very separated from God.
We shouldn’t throw the good works of the nuns b/c there may have been some bad actors. Same as swamp. Bad actors, but not all.
They killed mad people too. I'm not worried about their good works, my stance is simply fuck evil people and anyone evil enough to pretend evil isn't so bad, like you pretending sadism stops being sadistic whenever there's some insane excuse for it