Lectio et Oratio

Did her fellow MCs realize the extent of her interior torments? No. Her closest collaborators did not know. They saw the fruitfulness of her work. They saw her joy. They saw her prayer. They had no idea of the intense interior trial of her heart. They did not know that her intimacy with Christ had been veiled in Mother’s own sense that God was absent.

What made Mother Teresa unique among God's saints? The length of her interior darkness; the way she grasped the "'painful thirst' in the Heart of Jesus for the poorest of the poor." Her special way of sharing in Christ’s own thirst on the Cross.

What made Mother comfortable and quiet in hospital? Her Hindu doctor could not explain it. But when the priests brought the box to the room, Mother, even in her greatest final illnesses would be quiet and calm. The doctor told the priests, bring her the box. What box was he talking about? The tabernacle. 

Did Mother take advice in her later years? Yes. In 1995, she made a trip to the USA. When she was in Charlotte, she met her old  friend Bishop Curlin. They spoke about her interior emptiness. She liked the advice he gave her.

Did anything change as she got closer to death? Her letters got shorter. One of Mother’s great tasks as Superior was communication with all the houses and various leaders in the Church. She also had much personal correspondence to keep up with among those who loved her. As she got closer to death, her correspondences were more brief. She loved to tell people to make “something beautiful for God.”

How did Mother live towards the end of her life? Like a simple sister. She was still the Superior General, but she did not give herself exemptions. She was up early. She was the first to the chapel. She washed the dishes. She lived a humble life.

As Mother Teresa got closer to the end of her life, did she continue to be helped by priests? Yes. In fact, one of the most inspiring helps she received in 1993 was through the writings of the Pope himself, the Bishop of Rome. Around the same time, she received her last letter from her long time spiritual director, Fr Van Exem, S.J.  

What did Mother Teresa do about the 1990 US-Iraq war? She prayed. She pleaded. She wrote a letter to George Bush and Saddam Hussein. She went to Iraq and opened a house there. Her reaction to being in the Middle East is remarkable.  

How many words did Mother Teresa use to summarize the Gospel? Five. You-did-it-to-me. She took these words from St Matthew's Gospel. Our Lord said that he will separate the sheep from the goats based on these five words. As a Mother and a teacher, St Teresa of Calcutta found ways to plant this truth deep into the hearts of her followers.  

How did Mother react after she got her pacemaker? She kept going strong! This medical procedure coincided with the fall of the iron curtain. Suddenly formerly Communist countries were open to missionaries. Mother visited and brought her sisters. What she found was an intense hunger for God.

Did Mother long to hear the voice of Jesus again? Yes. On September 10, Mother Teresa had her inspiration day.  In a way similar to St Paul, she heard Christ speak to her. He asked her repeatedly to bring His light to the slums. Years later, a priest was told by Christ to give her a message. Mother’s reaction is very interesting!

How did Mother keep going? She loved. Her life is a witness to the primacy of love. Despite all feelings, she chose to follow the path she knew pleased Jesus.

Did Mother ever consult priests in North America about her interior darkness? Yes. She was close friends with a priest and later bishop of Charlotte, William Curlin. Bishop Curlin testified especially to her sense of being far from God even when praying before the Blessed Sacrament.

Why did Mother Teresa long to open so many house in the world? To conquer the world for love. She wanted to place a tabernacle in all these countries so that she and her sisters could bring Jesus everywhere. She wanted Our Lord to be loved. Mother longed to hand on to others the One she loved with all her heart. The secret to being a missionary is one’s own love for Christ.

What did Mother Teresa discover was worse than physical disease?  The feeling of being unloved and unwanted. The more Mother travelled, the more she discovered different kinds of sufferings. She had begun the work of the Missionaries of Charity with the poorest of the poor in Calcutta. She wanted to quench the thirst of Christ in these poor. Christ was in them thirsting to be loved. But Mother gra...

Did Mother Teresa see good in others? Absolutely! She was amazed at what God was doing in others. She saw the gifts that her beloved Lord gave to others. In her own spiritual poverty, in our sense of being unwanted, she was led out of herself. She was led to rejoice in the good she found. And she had a special gift for discerning the gifts God gave others.