Diagnosing Mother Teresa

tz620q · Jul 5, 2019

bmjackson said:
@WebersHome

Yes l agree with you to an extent but not the bit about designated spiritual counsellors who according to my extensive reading about Theresa, was able to chose for herself, who she would consult, and John of the Cross tried to correct her faulty thinking but she chose not to regard his advice.

One of the things that he repeatedly told her, was not to put much value on manifestations and subjective experience, but she did put too much value on them. I will try to locate the essay l wrote on the subject and JotC's quotations.

This thread has me confused. You make it sound as if St. John of the Cross was actually alive to give Mother Theresa spiritual advise. Am I misunderstanding you?

bmjackson · Jul 5, 2019

He was alive and they knew each other.

zippy2006 · Jul 5, 2019

WebersHome said:
Teresa let her feelings override her knowledge;

You raise an interesting question about the role of religious experience, but your conclusions are inevitably superficial. It is simply mistaken to say that she or her spiritual guides were overly feeling-based. After all, despite all the darkness she experienced, she continued to believe in God, to pray, to do her mission work of charity, and she eventually died a Christian. There are probably very few people who have lived on this earth who put less stock in feelings than Mother Teresa.

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

If we apply your proof texts consistently then Christ himself also fails your test (Matthew 27:46).

zippy2006 · Jul 5, 2019

bmjackson said:
He was alive and they knew each other.

No, they did not. This thread is about Mother Teresa, not Teresa of Avila.

bmjackson · Jul 5, 2019

okay thanks

zippy2006 · Jul 5, 2019

bmjackson said:
okay thanks

You're welcome.

I will say that your points about Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross' differing opinions on the value of locutions are rather interesting. If you were to start a thread on that topic I would be happy to read your thoughts. In the case of Mother Teresa the better Carmelite parallel may be Therese of Lisieux, who also had strong feelings of abandonment.

WebersHome · Jul 5, 2019

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● Matt 27:46 . . And about three o’clock Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

Jesus resided in the land of Israel for roughly 33 years. Other than six hours on the cross, he was connected to God the whole time.

● John 8:29 . . He that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please Him.

Jesus was deserted for a special purpose; which he fully understood.

● John 11:27 . . I am troubled now. Yet what should I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But it was for this purpose that I came to this hour.

Whereas Teresa could not see any discernable purpose in her own situation.

"Sometimes-- I just hear my own heart cry out-- "My God" and nothing else comes-- the torture and pain I can't explain"

Jesus' abandonment didn't last even one whole day; whereas Teresa's lasted nigh to five decades, i.e. 18,250 days; viz: their respective abandonments are not even close to a reasonable comparison.

In addition: Jesus' prayers are always heard, even the ones he prayed on the cross.

● John 11:41 . . Jesus raised his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you for hearing me. I know that you always hear me

Teresa's prayers were pings.

"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."

Jesus eventually went to heaven. In point of fact, Jesus knew his afterlife destination before it came to pass.

● John 17:11 . . And now I will no longer be in the world, but they are in the world, while I am coming to You.

Teresa wasn't even confident that a God exists, let alone confident about her afterlife destination.

"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."

Jesus was confident that God loved him.

● John 17:24 . . Father, you loved me before the foundation of the world.

Teresa was not so sure about it.

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

WebersHome · Jul 8, 2019

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● Rom 8:16 . .The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.

The Greek word for "bears witness" means to corroborate; which Webster's defines as: to support with evidence. So then genuine children of God know so because the Spirit has gone to the trouble of proving it to them beyond a shadow of sensible doubt. In other words: the real children of God are confident that their names are written in heaven.

Here's an item of interest that isn't talked about much.

● Rom 8:15 . . For you have not received a spirit of slavery again to fear; but you have received a spirit of adoption, whereby we call out: Abba, Father!

Abba is an Aramaic word. It refers to one's male parent but not as an ordinary noun. It's a filial vocative.

For example: When my son points me out to one of his friends and says "That's my dad over there." he's not using dad as a vocative. But when he shouts "Hey dad, I'm over here!" then he's using dad to get my attention. That's a vocative.

Rom 8:15 is saying that the spirit of adoption compels "we" to call out to a father rather than a mother. So then, people in the habit of calling out to Jesus' mom instead of his Father, are not the Father's children because the spirit of adoption would never compel them to do that.

The spirit of adoption, as it turns out, is the spirit of God's son.

● Gal 4:6 . . As proof that you are children, God sent the spirit of His son into our hearts, crying out: Abba, Father!

The spirit of His son compels the children to pray to Jesus' Father, never to his mother because Jesus never prayed to his mother. So then, people compelled by the spirit of His son will address their prayers to Jesus' Father same as he did.

What does that tell us about Mother Teresa and her devotion to Jesus' mother? Well obviously the reason she was comfortable addressing prayers to Mary was because didn't have the spirit of His son in her heart; and she knew it too.

"The place of God in my soul is blank-- There is no God in me-- He is not there-- God does not want me"

People lacking the spirit of His son are not His son's sheep.

● Rom 8:9 . . If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.
_

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Diagnosing Mother Teresa

tz620q

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