Richard Umbers | Saturday, 1 September 2007
Mother Teresa’s agony
Despite her smile and cheerful confidence Mother Teresa felt inner desolation for years. What does this mean?
Ten years after her death, Mother Teresa of Calcutta still fascinates a world which fails to share her faith. Last week she appeared on the cover of Time magazine with the headline "the secret life of Mother Teresa". But the article contained, not reminiscences of her self-sacrificing care for the poor, but startling documentation of inner spiritual desolation decade after decade.
“I am told that God loves me – and yet the reality of darkness & coldness & emptiness is so great that nothing touches my soul”. These words are taken from correspondence between Teresa and her confessors and superiors over 66 years, which is being published as Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light.
But the lives of people like Teresa show the abiding wisdom of this embrace of pain, even spiritual pain. They radiate peace and joy even while undergoing their own hidden Calvaries.
They are not sentiments that one expects from a saintly nun who spent hours each day in prayer and the rest of her time in tending the sick, the poor and the abandoned. While no adult should think of God as a celestial Santa Claus, ever ready to indulge our most selfish petitions, are we meant to address as "our Father" an entity that would allow this much interior pain in his "beloved"? The atheists of the global village were quick to say "I told you so." They used Teresa's desolation as another proof that believers are deluding themselves. Christopher Hitchens, author of a nasty biography of a woman whom everyone else on the planet loved, had a simple message to the faithful in his column in Newsweek: God is not great and Teresa is not His prophet.
According to Hitchens and his fellow apostle of atheism, Sam Harris, Christianity is a figment of the human imagination so powerful that its adherents have no eyes to see its flaws, nor ears to listen to his refutation. It leads people to believe flat contradictions in the very teeth of the evidence. Exhibit A in their debunking tirades is Mother Teresa, who preached God to others, even though she felt racked by doubt herself.
There are more things in heaven and earth than in your philosophy, my dear fellow, but let us take a closer look at your reasoning.
To begin with, such arguments are largely circular: precious little evidence is given for claims that there is no evidence. Dismissing the work of brilliant thinkers like Thomas Aquinas or Elizabeth Anscombe, as Sam Harris does, as “strenuous and unconvincing theology” is a bit rich. Even flakier, however, is the notion that if Mother Teresa wrestled with her faith, then Christianity is clearly baloney. This is a clear example of the logical fallacy called "affirming the consequent".
This is how it runs: If Christianity is baloney, then its adherents will have trouble believing it. Christianity’s finest adherents have trouble believing it. Therefore Christianity is baloney.
But other causes could have been involved. Consider the following counter-example: If it is raining the lawn will be wet. The lawn is wet. Therefore it is raining. Clearly this is wrong. Someone could have turned on the sprinkler.
So too, Mother Teresa’s “doubts” in the existence of God could have had other causes than God's non-existence. Doubt and certitude are subjective reactions to the evidence. The father of modern philosophy,René Descartes, doubted the existence of his hands but was sure about the existence of his soul. But the reality of the existence of either hands or soul does not stand or fall on any one person’s emotion-charged assessment of the evidence for and against this particular proposition.
Atheists will be quick to say that there is no God; no wonder Teresa had trouble appreciating His existence. But this is simple to the point of being simplistic. For a pop psychologist like Hitchens all saints are basket cases: hearing voices means schizophrenia, spiritual elation followed by aridity means manic depression. But this ignores the facts about the lives of men and women like Teresa.
Atheists may scoff at the Christian belief that happiness comes not from health, success, money or self-esteem but from the cross. But the lives of people like Teresa show the abiding wisdom of this embrace of pain, even spiritual pain. They radiate peace and joy even while undergoing their own hidden Calvaries. Theologians refer to this phenomenon as a "dark night" of sense or of spirit. The removal of pride and attachments is part of a long and painful chemotherapy of the soul. Catholics believe that God uses purgatory to prepare sinful souls for the joys of heaven. Teresa may have bypassed purgatory by being purified here below.
Saints like the recently-canonised Josemaría Escrivá often averred that they were constantly going against the grain in their service of the Lord. Far from being a senseless exercise in self-deception, this purification from the dangers of wallowing in smug altruism leads to greater self-knowledge and dedication. It has a familiar parallel in the sleepless exhaustion of mothers and fathers caring for a wailing infant. They may not feel the glow of love at 3am -- but it is there all the same.
Does the revelation of Mother Teresa's inner agony mean that she should be promoted as the patron saint of sceptics?
No -- because she was no sceptic. When a mystic writes about experiences for which language barely has words she will inevitably say things that cannot be taken literally. Hallelujahs on the lips do not necessarily imply faith. What showed the sincerity of Teresa's faith was that she both said Hallelujah and worked doggedly, tirelessly, perseveringly for Christ. If she spoke of a lack of faith and dryness in her prayer, these were protests directed to her God in her prayer. She knew that Christ had redeemed souls by suffering a similar desolation on his cross. And she wanted nothing less than to imitate her Lord. "If this brings You glory — if souls are brought to you — with joy I accept all to the end of my life," she wrote.
Mother Teresa’s good works were proof of her faith. What more evidence do you need?
Dr Richard Umbers is a Catholic priest. He lectures in philosophy in Sydney.
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John H. Armstrong said...As a non-Catholic evangelical theologian I can agree with most of what Fr. Umbers writes. Clearly Mother Theresa knew “the dark night” and the absence of God’s smile, or presence (as the Psalmist), put it. This experience is not simply Catholic but universally Christian. For reasons we shall not know in this life God withdraws from us at times, not to abandon us but to ultimately reveal to us the mystery of his ways and of Christ’s cross. Skeptics know nothing of this, indeed most Christians know far too little of it or have a category for understanding it happening to such an imminent Christian. In this case it would appear Mother Theresa was allowed this experience in order to cast her soul upon God in a powerful way and to glory in him alone. I do not, therefore, expect the world to ever understand this Christian mystery.
United States | Sunday, 2 September 2007 at 12:00 am
Janet Secluna Thomas said...This experience of Mother Teresa shows that love lies primarily in the will not feelings and all Christians, whether married, single or celibate, should learn the lesson from what Mother Teresa did not from her hidden feelings. She continued to show her love for Christ by seeking and finding him in ‘the least of His brethren’and did not wallow in the pain of her feelings. The world would be a better place if we could all at least try to follow her example. It’s not so surprising that she suffered this dark night of the soul, did not her namesake St Therese of Lisieux also experience similar feelings?
United Kingdom | Sunday, 2 September 2007 at 12:57 am
Chris said...Working with all thoses suffering souls in INdia everyday would bring any human being to cry out to God, where are you?
Canada | Sunday, 2 September 2007 at 1:53 am
Kevin Aldrich said...When Transcendentalist freethinker Henry David Thoreau said that “The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation,” I don’t think he discovered this after speaking with thousands of men who bared their inner lives to him. He just looked inside himself and found the alienation and pointlessness of existence apart from God. If believers experience desolation does that mean non-believers do not? Far, far from it.
United States | Sunday, 2 September 2007 at 2:36 am
Mariusz Wesolowski said...This is just another example of the abysmal ignorance of, and automatic prejudice against, Catholicism in the media.
The best comment so far has been made, interestingly, by Andrew Greeley:
“Was there no one in the deep sub-basements of ABC who knew about the Dark Night of the Soul—an experience in which someone on the road to sanctity feels abandoned by God and has to cling to faith and vocation by sheer stubborn faith? Could not someone at a local chancery call ABC and say, hey, you idiots, that feeling of abandonment is one more proof that she was a saint?…
I suspect that some Catholic source tried to explain these matters to the ABC reporter, but the reporter’s paradigm for all things Catholic is scandal and had been given that paradigm by his news editor, who already had the lead for the story in mind. How could the clip have begun with ‘’Catholic experts on sanctity said today that the revelation of the secret letters of Mother Teresa of Calcutta were simply one more proof that she indeed was a saint and a very great saint at that.’’
http://www.suntimes.com/news/greeley/532056,CST-EDT-GREEL29.article
Canada | Sunday, 2 September 2007 at 3:08 am
ck :-) said...Hi Fr. Richard!
Your clarification brings to mind, that in spite of today’s conveniences, and all that science and technology can bring, it is still possible to be a saint in the 21st century.
At the end of turning all the circumstances and events of her life into opportunities to love and serve, which in Mother Teresa’s case meant being and living with the poorest on earth, does not exempt anyone of a most basic element of being a saint.
Everyone is given that chance and responsibility daily. Mother Teresa shows us the way silently, in a life of prayer, on how to deal with that “inner most struggle,” day and night.
This article is a challenging good news. Thank you Fr. Richard!
ck :-)
Philippines | Sunday, 2 September 2007 at 9:55 am
R. Edmundson said...The author (Hitchens) clearly reveals his concept of God, which is interesting coming from one who professes He does not exist.
United States | Monday, 3 September 2007 at 7:06 am
Gigi said...Thanks for a very enlightening response to the TIME article which can lead to false interpretations… HOpe many read it.
The best proof of Mother Teresa’s sanctity still lies in this: “By their fruits, you will know...”
Philippines | Monday, 3 September 2007 at 9:11 am
Timothy said...If Mother Teresa lacks faith, she could have died wearing layman clothes but she died wearing a nun’s outfit. If the writer is desperate to keep his/her job, a better article could be his/her salvation.
Malaysia | Monday, 3 September 2007 at 1:42 pm
Jared said...I see two principles of everyday life that I see in this article:
1. “Calm waters don’t make good mariners!” - Mother Teresa looked at her sufferings as stepping stones rather than stumbling blocks which strengthened her.
2. “The closer you are to the light, the larger your shadow becomes!” - For someone who believes in God, I also believe in the devil. Although he may not be as powerful as the Lord, he is still the first of the fallen angels. I’d expect this same desolation from anyone who follows the Lord’s path. I’d be more afraid if I’m no longer tempted to stray. It would mean that the evil one no longer needs to pull me away from God.
Thanks Father Richard
Philippines | Monday, 3 September 2007 at 8:49 pm
Prof Slayer said...She loved her suffering. The more suffering *now* the lest time spent in purgatory.
Prevention is *always* better than the cure…
United Kingdom | Tuesday, 4 September 2007 at 5:48 am
Joseph said...I can see Fr Richard’s mind is still sharp and clear and hasn’t passed yet through its dark night.
Australia | Tuesday, 4 September 2007 at 6:14 pm
Fr Richard Umbers said...Speaking to young people Benedict XVI has just referred to the dark night of Mother Teresa and mentioned the following “we have to endure this silence of God, partly in order to understand our brethren who don’t know God.”
Australia | Wednesday, 5 September 2007 at 10:07 am
EdwardMartin Rwarinda said...Dear Fr. Richard,
The story of Mother Teresa’s agony leads to a reflection on the Cannanite woman in Matthew 15:21-28. Whereas mother Teresa is from the regions of India, the Canaanite woman is from the regions of Tyre and Sidon. Both women had great faith.
In the lives of the two women united with the Woman of greatest faith, Mary Mother of God, Our Lord Jesus wants to teach the world that:
1. if we have insurmountable, visible and invisible problems, we should insist on asking for His Mercy
2. He may seem to be ignoring us, not listening to us just to show the world how much we trust in Him
3. even if the powers close to Him oppose our persistent petitions, we should all the same show how desparately we need His help
4. the more we shout, bow down or, talk in order to get His help the more we show the depth of our faith to the world
Following in the foot steps of Mary our Mother, the Canaanite woman and many saintly women in the history of our salvation, Mother Teresa of Culcatta experienced the so called silence of God. This, in part, happened so that our Lord reminds the modern world about His teaching on Mt 15:21-28.
Mother Teresa insisted on asking for God’s Mercy, She trusted our Lord, She persistently petitioned our Lord and obtained our Lord’s help.
Oh women of great faith, thank you and pray for us to emulate you.
Uganda | Wednesday, 5 September 2007 at 7:44 pm
Martin said...Chesterton once said that it was the fact that the critics of Christianity accused it of opposite defects that eventually brought him to convert to Catholicism. The wealth of the Catholic Church was a target, and so was its upholding of vows of poverty. It was at once accused of being the friend of the powerful and the friend of the poor. Now that the inner suffering of Mother Theresa has been revealed, those that berate Christianity for not understanding mature, modern dramas like inner demons, existential angst and the all atoning feeling of self-loathing, also want to criticise Christianity precisely when its members admit that they too can suffer from these modern maladies, and that their faith is not all happy-clappy here and pie in the sky when you die. Christians are patronized for being people in need of the comfort of certitudes in one breath, and hypocrites for having doubts and forging ahead despite them in the next.
Australia | Friday, 7 September 2007 at 4:28 pm
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