Lectio et Oratio

Episode 148 -- Come Be my Light ch 13.7 -- People Are So Hungry for God

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.

Episode 147 -- Come Be my Light ch 13.6 -- Tell Mother Teresa that I Thirst

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!

Episode 146 -- Come Be My Light ch 13.5 -- A Witness to the Primacy of Love

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.

Episode 145 -- Come Be My Light ch 13.4 -- Where is 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.

Episode 144 -- Come Be My Light ch 13.3 -- Conviction of My Nothingness

Episode 143 -- Come Be My Light ch 13.2 -- Jesus is the Light...I Light

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.

Episode 142 -- Come Be My Light ch 13.1 -- No Longer Me but only Jesus (and Mary)

Episode 141 -- Come Be My Light ch 12.13 -- Whose Thirst is Greater His or Mine

Episode 139 -- Come Be My Light ch 12.11 -- A Much Greater Disease is to to be Unwanted and Unloved

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 gradually realized that even those with the worst physical diseases are not the greatest sufferers.  

Episode 138 -- Come Be My Light ch 12.10 -- You Did it to Me

Episode 137 -- Come Be My Light ch 12.9 -- Helpless yet Daring

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.

Episode 136 -- Come Be My Light ch 12.8 -- Not I live But Christ lives in Me

What did Mother especially admire in others?

Understanding love. Mother Teresa never separated truth and love. Love normally depends on knowledge. We cannot love what we do not know. But once we know someone, we can grow in our understanding of the person. We can understand better what motivates the person, for example. We can better understand how to help someone. Mother loved the phrase, understanding love. It captured the fact that our love for others, our willing good to others, in rooted in understanding of the person.

Episode 135 -- Come Be My Light ch 12.8 -- Let the People Eat you Up

Did Mother Teresa think we need human support?

Yes. She especially thought we needed the help of prayers from others. She begged for prayers. She prayed for others. But also she knew that we needed encouragement. She understood that Christ is our great support, but Christ acts through our fellow members of the Mystical Body.

Episode 134 -- Come Be My Light ch 12.7 -- Sorrow Suffering and Loneliness are a Kiss of Christ

What comparison did Mother use for understanding our sufferings? 

A kiss. She said that the sufferings that Christ allows are signs of his love. They are like kisses from him that show us how much he cares for us.

Episode 133 -- Come Be My Light ch 12.6 -- God’s Tenderness for Me and My Nothingness

How did Mother handle the increasing number of crowds that wanted to see her?

With prayer. She felt the crowds in places like Philadelphia were a huge cross. She did not enjoy the publicity, the police, the speeches. But she begged God to give her the grace to accept everything with a smile. She even compared these smiles at Jesus to the difficulties spouses have in dealing with the trials of their marriage.  

Episode 132 -- Come Be My Light ch 12.5 -- Keep the Light Jesus Burning

To what did Mother like to compare herself in relation to Christ? 

An oil lamp. He is the light of the world. She never wanted to think of herself as an independent light. Her light was from Him. But she did think that she would be able by her fidelity to keep oil in the lamp so that Christ could shine through her.

Episode 131 -- Come Be My Light ch 12.4 -- I Want Him…Not to Mind Even the Darkness That Surrounds Him in Me

What did her life in the 1970s look like?

Incredibly peaceful and serene. In the 1960s she had especially made her peace with her darkness and isolation. But in the 1970s her forgetfulness of self, her complete focus on the Lord grew and grew. Peace of soul is the result of being one with God. 

Episode 130 -- Come Be My Light ch 12.3 -- So Helpless, So Empty, So Small

Where did Mother Theresa keep all her awards and special honours?

In a cardboard box. She won the noble prize. She was honoured by so many countries. But the awards did not matter to her except insofar as they helped her serve the poor.

Episode 129 -- Come be My Light ch 12.2 -- Remember my Face before Jesus

How did Mother react when she met a new person?

It depends. Mother lived in the presence of God. She could assess a situation very quickly. She could form a judgment of a person’s good qualities with little time spent. With the help of the Holy Spirit, she tried to treat each person as God wanted her to do so.

Episode 128 -- Come be My Light ch 12.1 -- God Uses Nothingness to Show His Greatness

What was her prayer like?

Uncompromising. Full of intercession. Mother Teresa was incredibly faithful to her times of prayer, especially her holy hour. She could be flexible with the time and place. But she knew He wanted her there. And so she answered His call. Her prayer was sometimes simply the bringing before Him of the faces she had met on the streets.