Mother Teresa’s Birthday 100 Years Ago

Mother Teresa (26 August 1910 – 5 September 1997), born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu

I have a quote from Mother Teresa’s Business Card on my business card.  “The fruit of LOVE is SERVICE.  The fruit of SERVICE is PEACE.”  Today is the 100th anniversary of her birth.  A special in the Tampa Tribune reminds us of the simplicity of her faith and the meaning of her service to others. 

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2010/aug/25/na-the-lessons-of-mother-teresa/news-opinion-commentary/

By LUIS VIERA

Special To The Tampa Tribune  Published: August 25, 2010

The late Rabbi Abraham Heschel once remarked that a “religious man is a person who holds God and man in one thought at one time, in all times.” Mother Teresa’s Christianity was a humble faith that was revealed in how one treated the victims of crippling disease; how one responded to intolerance and isolation; and how one treated the young, old, poor and disabled.

And yet, what has recently become most fascinating about this inevitable Roman Catholic saint is just how human she was. Recently discovered private writings revealed that Mother Teresa struggled, like so many who bear the burden of a saintly life, with isolation and even doubt. This great woman once wrote that she “felt no presence of God whatsoever” and asked “What do I labor for? If there be no God, there can be no soul. If there be no soul, then, Jesus, You are also not true.”

Some sought to downplay publicity from these writings, fearing they would undermine faith. However, one cannot truly appreciate Mother Teresa without appreciating her doubt, and her inevitable resilience in moving beyond that doubt, and reaffirming her faith.

For many, the idea of an activist God, who plays a detailed role in the affairs of mankind, seems a distant memory best left for childhood. To quote the ethically challenged physician in the film “Crimes and Misdemeanors,” such a God is a luxury that many cannot afford.

As a Roman Catholic, I accept the tenants of my faith and hope to pass this faith to my son. However, like everyone, I have doubt. In a world defined by war, poverty and suffering, it is reasonable, even necessary, to ask how one cosmic, collective force can have the power to intervene. The words of Job in the famous Archibald MacLeish play ring true: If God is God, He is not good; if God is good, He is not God.

However, in some moments, faith is restored by the acts of charity and justice by those whose faith holds “God and man in one thought at one time, in all times.” My faith has always been affirmed by the work of nuns who, like Mother Teresa, affirm the values of the Sermon on the Mount and care for the damned, persecuted and maligned of the world. When I read about the late Father Mychal Judge, whose faith led him to charge into the fire of the falling Twin Towers and minister to the victims of the Sept. 11th attacks, and died, my faith is restored.

When I read about heroes like Medgar Evers and Fannie Lou Hamer, Christians whose faith led them to fight for equality in Mississippi and were persecuted, my doubt is challenged. On a personal level, when I see the countless numbers of people of faith who are so challenged by their faith to care for persons with developmental disabilities, such as my oldest brother, I have no doubt that such compassion must be inspired by a truly loving God.

And this brings me back to Mother Teresa. Hers was not the Gospel of Wealth faith lauded by Joel Olsteen or the vulgar swagger of the intolerant Elmer Gantrys of today. Her faith was a simple, yet revolutionary, gesture. In an era when her church stands mired in scandal, the memory of Mother Teresa, and those who carry on her work today, serves as a reminder of the significant distinction between the faith and those fallible, often morally scrupulous individuals, who bring shame on a 2,000-year-old institution. Probably the greatest thing one can say about Mother Teresa is that hers truly was the faith of Jesus of Nazareth.

Maybe many of us, including more than a few bishops in the Dublin, Ireland, area could learn a thing or two from this simple and yet complex legacy.

Luis Viera is a Tampa attorney. Thursday is the 100th anniversary of the birth of the late Mother Teresa.

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