Mother Teresa - "Come Be My Light" - Introduction

I've been trying to read Mother Teresa's "Come Be My Light," a collection and discussion of her letters, but with all the great stuff going on, like PBS's "The War," my son's football game, other kids activities, and my chest infection last week, I just haven't had time or strength.

I finally have a few moments which I hope to spend by beginning my discussion of this important book.

Mother Teresa's "mission statement," says the book is:

If I ever become a Saint -- I will surely be one of 'darkness.' I will continually be absent from Heaven -- to light the light of those in darkness on earth" (:1).

The book is an exploration of Mother Teresa's interior life (:2), not a theological study. The author/compiler Brian Kolodiejchuk focuses on three important aspects of her life. 1) A private vow she made while a nun; 2) mystical experiences prior to the founding of the Missionaries of Charity; 3) her experience of many years of spiritual darkness.

The book is structured around these three aspects. First (chapters 1-2), we read of her initial devotion to Jesus and her internal life. Second (chapters 3-7), we read of her "call within a call," i.e., after her devotion to missionary work, she received, she believed, from Christ a more narrow call, namely to found a new mission. This time of her life was apparently characterized by experiences of particular inspiration (I haven't read these chapters yet). Finally (chapters 8-13), we will read of what it cost Mother Teresa to obey this "call within a call."

Some Random Comments:

1) Brian K. (:4) mentions Malcolm Muggeridge's observation that Mother Teresa glowed with a kind of "luminosity," yet at the same time, suffering intense spiritual darkness privately. I find it amazing that this follower of Jesus did not understand that her public perception did not match her own internal experience. I wonder if there is some kind of spiritual principle at work here. Does God hide from a believer the aroma of Christ that s/he might be spreading? Is there something that would perhaps detract from the glory that redowns to Christ if the believer had a clear understanding of how her/his life testifies to God's grace? If so, perhaps we should be slower to doubt God's work in our lives.

2) I was struck by one statement she makes in a letter to her spiritual director. She asks for all the documents she had given to him in which she had expressed her deepest thoughts. She writes, "I want the work to remain only His" (:5). I admire this passion to bring credit to God alone.

3) A final issue to think about, at least, is the ethics of publishing the letters and documents of someone who had no desire to have them published, and in fact, specifically requested that they NOT be published. It is true that some people who attempt to look "humble" are in fact not so humble; Mother Teresa's life certainly argues against that interpretation. Others are genuinely humble, but don't understand that their exprience(s) could benefit many, many other believers. Those in authority in Mother Teresa's case decided something else: she belonged to the Church, not just to herself. I wonder if she would have agreed. Do YOU agree? In what sense do we as individual believers "belong to the Church?" How would we live differently if we really believed that?