INTRODUCTION TO ST. TERESA OF CALCUTTA

Our two part series on Mother Teresa--now, St. Teresa of Calcutta-- will begin at the end of August. This brief sketch simply introduces a modern day saint whose name and life became familiar to many.

BRIEF BIOGRAPHY

“Mother Teresa believed her life mission was to care for ‘the hungry, the naked, the homeless, the crippled, the blind, the lepers—all those people who feel unwanted, unloved, uncared for throughout society, people that have become a burden to the society and are shunned by everyone’. For 17 years she sought to alleviate girls’ poverty through education, before she experienced [this,] her second call from God.”…

“…During the last 50 years of her life, privately Mother Teresa experienced spiritual dryness, believed to be spiritual tests; however, she continued to participate in charitable works up until just months before her death on September 5, 1997, at the age of 87. In 1999, Pope John Paul waived the customary five-year waiting period after death before the start of the canonization process.”

The above two paragraphs of the previous brief biography are taken from one published in Our Sunday Visitor on August 24, 2016, in anticipation of her upcoming canonization on September 4^th of that year. The article was called, “MOTHER TERESA CANONIZED SOON”. The Our Sunday Visitor 2016-2017 CATALOG, on page 5, encouraged re-publication, saying: “Display this story on your bookstore website…” We gladly do so again this year as we approach her feast day. We will follow up with a two-part series of our own on Mother Teresa’s life and struggles.

OUR NEXT TWO BLOGS WILL COVER DETAILS OF ST. TERESA OF CALCUTTA’S LIFE AND STRUGGLES in PART I AND PART II of our SERIES called “STILL SERVING GOD”.

Our next blog is “Part I”—of the series “STILL SERVING GOD” and is called“SHAKEN FAITH AND TESTED LOVE”. In it we will consider some underlying issues regarding feelings of darkness as it affects our faith and love walk… what all this could mean… what can bring life to these struggles… what we can still do during trying times…

The upcoming “Part II” of our current series is called, “PASSIONATE LOVE: LIGHT AMID DARK NIGHTS”It focuses on Mother Teresa’s life and some interior wrestling she experienced. Part I has captured some of the elements that are specifically exemplified in her life. We will continue with particular details of her life and call, and some heart and mind-wrenching conflicts within her soul.

After Mother Teresa’s death, there were some notes and letters released which she wrote, including many to a priest-friend confessor. These letters reveal some internal struggles and pain that Mother Teresa suffered silently. She still chose to love God and others. We will particularly examine the “darkness” that Mother Teresa felt for so many years, as she expressed in her “letters”.