Diagnosing Mother Teresa

[tzcho2]

I found the article where you got the quote above from. In case anyone cares to read it :)
Statement of Fr. Brian Kolodiejchuk, MC, Postulator of the Cause of Canonization of Blessed Mother Teresa

"Since Mother Teresa’s aims in serving the poorest of the poor in India and elsewhere have been questioned recently, I would like to make the following clarifications.

Mother Teresa offered tender, loving care to those most in need, the poorest of the poor, all over the world independently of their race, color, nationality, cast or creed. In each human being, she saw a child of God, created for greater things: to love and to be loved. Respecting this innate value and dignity of each person, she endeavored to bring this love where it was lacking, offering her humble service to whoever was in need, without considering their religious affiliation.

Mother Teresa believed that conversion is a work of God and that faith is a gift. She respected every person, including atheists or agnostics, and respected the faith they had or even lacked. Here is a short testimony of someone who was closely associated with Mother Teresa for 23 years: “I am a Hindu and I never saw the slightest evidence in all my 23 years of knowing Mother Teresa in the Missionaries of Charity, of converting. …

When I asked her (not Mother Theresa being asked this question <--- mine) whether she converted, she answered, ‘Yes, I convert. I convert you to be a better Hindu, or a better Muslim, or a better Protestant, or a better Catholic, or a better Parsee, or a better Sikh, or a better Buddhist. And after you have found God, it is for you to do what God wants you to do.’ ” She wanted people to come closer to God (however they understood Him) and believed that in this way they would also come closer to each other, love one another, and ultimately create a world that is better for everyone to live in.

The Constitutions of the Missionaries of Charity state: “We shall not impose our Catholic Faith on anyone, but have profound respect for all religions, for it is never lawful for anyone to force others to embrace the Catholic Faith against their conscience.” This reflects the intention of Mother Teresa herself, and the Missionaries of Charity follow in her footsteps."

There are also a ton of so called quotes attributed to her that she never said, from the same site as the article. Quotes falsely attributed to M. T.
Just some food for thought and we shouldn't say she was not saved, or agnostic either, Imho.

"we shall not impose catholic faith" there is one of the problems. She saw herself as being a roman catholic not Christian. We can't be naive, she did not give the true gospel , she was taught a "works" gospel that's more then likely why she was in Calcutta. She also let hindus and anyone else she met go straight into hell. This is more serious since she was a nun and some of these people in her care would of recognized her as having religious authority, and wrongly thought she had some spiritual knowledge to guide them on the path to heaven --but she obviously didn't. She believed in universalism , she obviously did not understand the scriptures and she did not have a relationship with the Lord Jesus and if you think she did then you are living in your own fantasy, I'm afraid. It is important to know sound doctrine, and to recognize when someone in a place of spiritual authority should know scriptures , christian doctrines and if she was saved she would have been using her opportunity serving the dying to tell them about JESUS CHRIST and what HE accomplished on the cross. But she did not, she did exactly the opposite, plus she was miserable which is an indication of where her heart and soul were feeling the absence of a relationship with God, not what you'd expect of by grace , repenting of sin, having salvation through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ finished work on the cross & receiving the Holy Spirit.

 

[atpollard]

[Matthew 7:21-23 NASB] 21 "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven [will enter.] 22 "Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?' 23 "And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.'

It is not her works that make her a child of God any more than our works make us children of God.

[Romans 10:6-13 NASB] 6 But the righteousness based on faith speaks as follows: "DO NOT SAY IN YOUR HEART, 'WHO WILL ASCEND INTO HEAVEN?' (that is, to bring Christ down), 7 or 'WHO WILL DESCEND INTO THE ABYSS?' (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead)." 8 But what does it say? "THE WORD IS NEAR YOU, IN YOUR MOUTH AND IN YOUR HEART"--that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, 9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus [as] Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, "WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED." 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same [Lord] is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; 13 for "WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED."

 

[Nancy]

"we shall not impose catholic faith" there is one of the problems. She saw herself as being a roman catholic not Christian. We can't be naive, she did not give the true gospel , she was taught a "works" gospel that's more then likely why she was in Calcutta. She also let hindus and anyone else she met go straight into hell. This is more serious since she was a nun and some of these people in her care would of recognized her as having religious authority, and wrongly thought she had some spiritual knowledge to guide them on the path to heaven --but she obviously didn't. She believed in universalism , she obviously did not understand the scriptures and she did not have a relationship with the Lord Jesus and if you think she did then you are living in your own fantasy, I'm afraid. It is important to know sound doctrine, and to recognize when someone in a place of spiritual authority should know scriptures , christian doctrines and if she was saved she would have been using her opportunity serving the dying to tell them about JESUS CHRIST and what HE accomplished on the cross. But she did not, she did exactly the opposite, plus she was miserable which is an indication of where her heart and soul were feeling the absence of a relationship with God, not what you'd expect of by grace , repenting of sin, having salvation through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ finished work on the cross & receiving the Holy Spirit.

First of all, she was not out there to "give" the Gospel but to LIVE it. The reason she was in Calcutta in the first place was to take a position as a teacher in a very well to do Catholic school for rich girls. It took allot of courage to continue to write the powers that be in Rome to allow her to live in those streets to help the people because she had compassion on the people she saw dying in the streets, from her bedroom window each night. I see that as her faith in action. She had no-one to console her and only sickness, despair and disease all around her, every day, all day, yeah, I would probably have felt that same emptiness after oh, like a couple days but she devoted her whole life -BECAUSE of her compassion for them. How in the world do you think YOU could KNOW that she is not with The Lord right now??!! She had compassion on them! Sound familiar?
You sound as though you would have fit right in with the friends of Job.

 

[GodsGrace]

You know, GG,
As much as I like learning what was going on inside her, I feel she was wronged in that the priest she so trusted with these very personal letters and, was asked by her not to ever share them did so anyway. I don't know...just were not her wishes.

I thought the same.
But we don't know why he did this.
I also feel he gave her wrong advice...
This is why I feel that it's important to trust God and not man.
I have a friend that won't make a move unless she speaks to her
spiritual adviser. Now, we might all need one every now and then,,,
but I believe God will tell us what to do if we listen carefully.
I don't really understand why she does this.

 

[GodsGrace]

[Matthew 7:21-23 NASB] 21 "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven [will enter.] 22 "Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?' 23 "And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.'

It is not her works that make her a child of God any more than our works make us children of God.

[Romans 10:6-13 NASB] 6 But the righteousness based on faith speaks as follows: "DO NOT SAY IN YOUR HEART, 'WHO WILL ASCEND INTO HEAVEN?' (that is, to bring Christ down), 7 or 'WHO WILL DESCEND INTO THE ABYSS?' (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead)." 8 But what does it say? "THE WORD IS NEAR YOU, IN YOUR MOUTH AND IN YOUR HEART"--that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, 9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus [as] Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, "WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED." 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same [Lord] is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; 13 for "WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED."

Hey A,
Nice to see you here.

Our works do NOT save us.

Are we supposed to do them AFTER we're saved?

 

[GodsGrace]

First of all, she was not out there to "give" the Gospel but to LIVE it. The reason she was in Calcutta in the first place was to take a position as a teacher in a very well to do Catholic school for rich girls. It took allot of courage to continue to write the powers that be in Rome to allow her to live in those streets to help the people because she had compassion on the people she saw dying in the streets, from her bedroom window each night. I see that as her faith in action. She had no-one to console her and only sickness, despair and disease all around her, every day, all day, yeah, I would probably have felt that same emptiness after oh, like a couple days but she devoted her whole life -BECAUSE of her compassion for them. How in the world do you think YOU could KNOW that she is not with The Lord right now??!! She had compassion on them! Sound familiar?
You sound as though you would have fit right in with the friends of Job.

What a great post!

 

[Nancy]

What a great post!

Why tanx GG
I just do not understand how some think they just KNOW the hearts of others?!!! I might not be Catholic but, I will NEVER say they are all going to hell, no more so than any other Christian. And, Mother Theresa has been such an inspiration to me over the many years so, it bothers me when I hear some speak about her the way they do. Can you imagine any of them having the kind of compassion she did?? HAHAHAHA!

 

[Nancy]

I thought the same.
But we don't know why he did this.
I also feel he gave her wrong advice...
This is why I feel that it's important to trust God and not man.
I have a friend that won't make a move unless she speaks to her
spiritual adviser. Now, we might all need one every now and then,,,
but I believe God will tell us what to do if we listen carefully.
I don't really understand why she does this.

Ha, spiritual advisers, huh? Yeah, putting faith in man rather than God. I can see every once in awhile consulting the clergy/spiritual advisers for things we don't understand AFTER bringing it to God first, or to pray with maybe. But, we have one another for encouragement and prayer and to tell our failings to. But to put God AFTER a man is not showing a lot of faith in God Imho. Yes, I too believe He will guide us if we listen carefully :)

 

[Hope in God]

From Mother Teresa's acceptance speech for the Nobel Prize comes this portion of it:
"But I am grateful and I am very happy to receive it in the name of the hungry, of the naked, of the homeless, of the crippled, of the blind, of the leprous, of all those people who feel unwanted, unloved, uncared, thrown away of the society, people who have become a burden to the society, and are ashamed by everybody. (Not in the name of Jesus).

In their name I accept the award. And I am sure this award is going to bring an understanding love between the rich and the poor. And this is what Jesus has insisted so much, that is why Jesus came to earth, to proclaim the good news to the poor. And through this award and through all of us gathered here together, we are wanting to proclaim the good news to the poor that God loves them, that we love them, that they are somebody to us, that they too have been created by the same loving hand of God, to love and to be loved. Our poor people are great people, are very lovable people, they don’t need our pity and sympathy, they need our understanding love."

The Good News is not that God and she loved the poor, but that Jesus laid down His life so that those who believe on Him can have eternal life. Being nice, even heroic in one's effort to serve the disadvantaged, is not the ministry of reconciliation, but is rather a good work filled with a positive thinking message to make others feel good, not the challenging commission to go into all the world and preach the gospel without compromise, which we are seeing today with the Pope's misguided actions. Her work is appreciated, but her reward in heaven is nonexistent.

 

[BreadOfLife]

.
If anyone should have been on intimate terms with God and with His son
Jesus Christ in the last century, surely it had to be Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu
(a.k.a. Mother Teresa) but curiously, that wasn't the case. It turns out
Teresa was a remarkable actor. Her public image bore no resemblance
whatsoever to the secret life of her inner being. Below are some complaints
she expressed in private letters to spiritual counselors recorded in:

Mother Teresa / Come Be My Light
The Private Writings of the "Saint of Calcutta"
Edited with commentary by Father Brian Kolodiejchuk, M.C.
ISBN 978-0-385-52037-9

"I am told God loves me; and yet the reality of darkness & coldness &
emptiness is so great that nothing touches my soul."

"The place of God in my soul is blank-- There is no God in me"

"I feel He does not want me, He is not there, God does not want me"

"When I try to raise my thoughts to Heaven, there is such convicting
emptiness that those very thoughts return like sharp knives and hurt my
very soul. How painful is this unknown pain-- I have no faith."

Teresa also complained of feeling abandoned by Christ-- referring to him as
"the absent one"

Teresa was never really convinced there's a God out there.

"The damned of Hell suffer eternal punishment because they experiment
with the loss of God. In my own soul, I feel the terrible pain of this loss. I
feel that God does not want me, that God is not God; and that He does not
really exist."

At one point Teresa actually prayed thus:

"If there be God; please forgive me."

A prayer that begins with "If there be God" is the prayer of an agnostic;
which Webster's defines as one who is not committed to believing in either
the existence or the nonexistence of God or a god. According to Jas 1:5-8,
agnostic prayers are pings.

To her credit, Teresa wanted a God to be out there, but her utter failure to
feel even the slightest glimmer of the Lord's presence prevented her from
being sure about it.
_

Here we go again with your moronic attacks on an exemplary Catholic Christian.

Mother Teresa cradled more dying people in her loving arms than YOU will ever meet. If Mother Teresa suffered from clinical depression – it is because she experienced the absolute worst side of disease, poverty and suffering 24 hours a day - while judgmental half-wits like yourself sit in the luxury of their homes in front of a computer screen spewing hatred for things they don‘t have the slightest grasp of.


She was absolutely a holy woman of God who exemplified the love and charity that YOU are supposed to have, yet SORELYlack.

Your time would be better spent sitting in judgement of yourself and your self-righteous hypocrisy instead of judging the hearts of others whose faith FAR surpasses your own . . .

 

[tzcho2]

First of all, she was not out there to "give" the Gospel but to LIVE it. The reason she was in Calcutta in the first place was to take a position as a teacher in a very well to do Catholic school for rich girls. It took allot of courage to continue to write the powers that be in Rome to allow her to live in those streets to help the people because she had compassion on the people she saw dying in the streets, from her bedroom window each night. I see that as her faith in action. She had no-one to console her and only sickness, despair and disease all around her, every day, all day, yeah, I would probably have felt that same emptiness after oh, like a couple days but she devoted her whole life -BECAUSE of her compassion for them. How in the world do you think YOU could KNOW that she is not with The Lord right now??!! She had compassion on them! Sound familiar?
You sound as though you would have fit right in with the friends of Job.

How is it that you have the need to launch into insult with snarky Job comment? so.... what was I thinking? that there was even a chance of a mature- minded, level headed , rational discussion of MT's life & her charity? The reality is that there were many contradictory reports on her mission work. Reported that all the millions $$$$ donated did not reach her missions, which were badly run, & they did not provide even basic hygenic medical care nor comfort care for the dying and that MT herself was militant and had a twisted view of dying and that suffering brought people closer to God. But I guess it's more important to deny reality and cling to what you wish to believe instead? Try to reflect if you are projecting your own mistaken views, sentimentalism & emotionalism on this subject?
Btw, what she chose for her life's work has nothing to do with her spiritual state, the gospel, working with the poor & dying didn't make her more godly, or righteous, nor a "Christian".
According to the Bible as Christians we are to testify of Jesus & give the gospel , and according to many MT did not "live it" as you wish to claim. Just what do you think is living it? seems shallow & not in keeping with what is written in scripture as to how to live it. How do I make the statement that I do not believe that MT was saved --by her words, her actions, the people she admired, by her fruit....there is nothing that shows that MT new what the Gospel of Jesus was , nor ever received HIM as her Savior. The reality just does not mesh with the portrait of this rc celebrity and the canonization of sainthood by the Rcc has absolutely nothing to do with Christianity, with the Lord Jesus nor with being a true believer either.

"The most significant challenge to the reputation of Mother Teresa came from Christopher Hitchens in 1995 in his book The Missionary Position. "Only the absence of scrutiny has allowed her to pass unchallenged as a force for pure goodness, and it is high time that this suspension of our critical faculties was itself suspended," he wrote, questioning whether the poor in her homes were denied basic treatment in the belief that suffering brought them closer to God. Hitchens's lonely voice also raised the issue of the order's finances, which in 1995 (and still in July 2005 when we were filming) seemed never to reach Kolkata's poorest.
Susan Shields, formerly a senior nun with the order, recalled that one year there was roughly $50m in the bank account held by the New York office alone. Much of the money, she complained, sat in banks while workers in the homes were obliged to reuse blunt needles. The order has stopped reusing needles, but the poor care remains pervasive. One nurse told me of a case earlier this year where staff knew a patient had typhoid but made no effort to protect volunteers or other patients. “The sense was that God will provide and if the worst happens - it is God’s will.”

 

[Nancy]

How is it that you have the need to launch into insult with snarky Job comment? so.... what was I thinking? that there was even a chance of a mature- minded, level headed , rational discussion of MT's life & her charity? The reality is that there were many contradictory reports on her mission work. Reported that all the millions $$$$ donated did not reach her missions, which were badly run, & they did not provide even basic hygenic medical care nor comfort care for the dying and that MT herself was militant and had a twisted view of dying and that suffering brought people closer to God. But I guess it's more important to deny reality and cling to what you wish to believe instead? Try to reflect if you are projecting your own mistaken views, sentimentalism & emotionalism on this subject?
Btw, what she chose for her life's work has nothing to do with her spiritual state, the gospel, working with the poor & dying didn't make her more godly, or righteous, nor a "Christian".
According to the Bible as Christians we are to testify of Jesus & give the gospel , and according to many MT did not "live it" as you wish to claim. Just what do you think is living it? seems shallow & not in keeping with what is written in scripture as to how to live it. How do I make the statement that I do not believe that MT was saved --by her words, her actions, the people she admired, by her fruit....there is nothing that shows that MT new what the Gospel of Jesus was , nor ever received HIM as her Savior. The reality just does not mesh with the portrait of this rc celebrity and the canonization of sainthood by the Rcc has absolutely nothing to do with Christianity, with the Lord Jesus nor with being a true believer either.

"The most significant challenge to the reputation of Mother Teresa came from Christopher Hitchens in 1995 in his book The Missionary Position. "Only the absence of scrutiny has allowed her to pass unchallenged as a force for pure goodness, and it is high time that this suspension of our critical faculties was itself suspended," he wrote, questioning whether the poor in her homes were denied basic treatment in the belief that suffering brought them closer to God. Hitchens's lonely voice also raised the issue of the order's finances, which in 1995 (and still in July 2005 when we were filming) seemed never to reach Kolkata's poorest.
Susan Shields, formerly a senior nun with the order, recalled that one year there was roughly $50m in the bank account held by the New York office alone. Much of the money, she complained, sat in banks while workers in the homes were obliged to reuse blunt needles. The order has stopped reusing needles, but the poor care remains pervasive. One nurse told me of a case earlier this year where staff knew a patient had typhoid but made no effort to protect volunteers or other patients. “The sense was that God will provide and if the worst happens - it is God’s will.”

" The reality is that there were many contradictory reports on her mission work."
We could say the same of Jesus.

 

[atpollard]

Are we supposed to do them AFTER we're saved?

Scripture says so ...

• [Ephesians 2:10 NASB] 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.
• [James 2:14-17 NASB] 14 What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and be filled," and yet you do not give them what is necessary for [their] body, what use is that? 17 Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, [being] by itself.

... so that's good enough to convince me.

 

[tzcho2]

" The reality is that there were many contradictory reports on her mission work."
We could say the same of Jesus.

Really lame , Nancy.
The above seems to be the type of " go to " response when you have no actual concrete facts to base your opinions on---but feelings....nothing more then feelings.....lalalalalalala....

 

[atpollard]

Here we go again with your moronic attacks on an exemplary Catholic Christian.

Mother Teresa cradled more dying people in her loving arms than YOU will ever meet. If Mother Teresa suffered from clinical depression – it is because she experienced the absolute worst side of disease, poverty and suffering 24 hours a day - while judgmental half-wits like yourself sit in the luxury of their homes in front of a computer screen spewing hatred for things they don‘t have the slightest grasp of.


She was absolutely a holy woman of God who exemplified the love and charity that YOU are supposed to have, yet SORELYlack.

Do you have a degree in IRONY? ;)

 

[tzcho2]

Scripture says so ...

• [Ephesians 2:10 NASB] 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.
• [James 2:14-17 NASB] 14 What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and be filled," and yet you do not give them what is necessary for [their] body, what use is that? 17 Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, [being] by itself.

... so that's good enough to convince me.

so not knowing what MT's life was , and not Correctly dividing the word doesn't lead to knowing the godly truth... We don't take scripture out of context and treating individual scripture like it is a fortune cookie. :)

 

[atpollard]

so not knowing what MT's life was , and not Correctly dividing the word doesn't lead to knowing the godly truth...

I admit to not quite following what point you are making here ...

We don't take scripture out of context and treating individual scripture like it is a fortune cookie. :)

... However this part I completely agree with. Now if this was any sort of a challenge to the verses that I quoted, then I am confident that an examination of those verses in their larger context will support my conclusion that people that are saved are expected to manifest good works post-salvation. I would be happy to defend my position from an exegesis of the biblical context of those verses.

However, even a "fortune cookie" scripture quote is better than an unsupported opinion. At least it gives the people somewhere to begin a conversation.

 

[GodsGrace]

Do you have a degree in IRONY? ;)

He has a PhD in many feelings.
I've spoken to him about this...
but does he listen?
NOOOOOO!

 

[GodsGrace]

so not knowing what MT's life was , and not Correctly dividing the word doesn't lead to knowing the godly truth... We don't take scripture out of context and treating individual scripture like it is a fortune cookie. :)

It's nice and Christianly to feel sorry for the poor and sick...
But it's a lot better to do something about it.
I do believe James spoke to this.
James 2:15-17
15If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food,
16and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?
17Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, beingby itself.

Let's say YOU were one of those poor persons...
Would you rather someone felt sorry for you.
or would you rather that they clothed you, fed you, and took care of you?

What do you think GOD prefers?

 

[tzcho2]

I admit to not quite following what point you are making here ...


... However this part I completely agree with. Now if this was any sort of a challenge to the verses that I quoted, then I am confident that an examination of those verses in their larger context will support my conclusion that people that are saved are expected to manifest good works post-salvation. I would be happy to defend my position from an exegesis of the biblical context of those verses.

However, even a "fortune cookie" scripture quote is better than an unsupported opinion. At least it gives the people somewhere to begin a conversation.

Hi atpollard,
...because the argument that because MT set up a charity in Calcutta for the dying & poor means she was therefore a believer? means that she it was an example of "good works" no, it doesn't. So, do you know anything about Mt's life & work aside from the media and rc hype that surrounded this media created celebrity?
If you examine MT you will not come to the same conclusion. There are a lot of atheists that volunteer are they Christian also because by someone's opinion they are also producing good works?