September 1, 2007
I DIDN'T CATCH THAT:
Pope says Mother Teresa felt "God's silence" (Reuters, 9/01/07)
Pope Benedict said on Saturday that even the late Mother Teresa of Calcutta "suffered from the silence of God" despite her immense charity and faith.The Pope, addressing a youth rally in central Italy, referred to a new book that reveals that the Roman Catholic nun was deeply tormented about her faith and suffered periods of doubt about God.
It is significant that the Pope mentioned Mother Teresa's torment about God's silence as not being unusual because there was some speculation that the letters could hurt the procedure to make her a saint.
"All believers know about the silence of God," he said in unprepared remarks. "Even Mother Teresa, with all her charity and force of faith, suffered from the silence of God," he said.
He said believers sometimes had to withstand the silence of God in order to understand the situation of people who do not believe.
As the most important thing He ever said was: "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?" The most revealing thing was His response. Posted by Orrin Judd at September 1, 2007 6:53 PM
If you're hearing voices in your head, it's probably not God.
Posted by: Pete at September 1, 2007 7:25 PMSorry Pete, the entire Bible was written by people and about people who heard from God. And I think it is pretty safe to say that many important (and even unimportant) people have since heard from God.
Jesus said: "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:" (John 10:27)
Posted by: Randall Voth at September 1, 2007 10:48 PMPete, to find out all about voices, read The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind by Julian Jaynes
It appears to be on line! I love the internet.
Posted by: erp at September 1, 2007 11:23 PM"All believers know about the silence of God".
Very true. It breaks us. It is supposed to.
I forget if it was Maritain or Barzun who said - "In order to hope in that which does not disappoint, we must first lose hope in all that which does disappoint."
Seek first the kingdom. But we don't do that naturally.
Posted by: jim hamlen at September 2, 2007 11:16 AM