Fr. Benedict Groeschel on Blessed Mother Teresa


Fr. Benedict Groeschel, in First Things blog:

"The unfortunate publicity and distortions to the point of calumny that have surrounded the publication of the book Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light, edited by Fr. Brian Kolodiejchuk, M.C., the postulator of her cause, have caused confusion to many and much pain to the Missionaries of Charity and their close friends. One leading news magazine even published a long article by Mother Teresa’s most severe and profane critic without any other commentary. The author attempted to psychoanalyze Mother Teresa’s experiences, which is both insulting and absurd. He never knew Mother, never had the chance to observe her behavior or life, and he has no serious training in psychology. As a psychologist who knew Mother Teresa for thirty years, I feel I must make some response to this absurdity and offer some helpful explanations for those who were surprised by the darkness revealed in Mother Teresa’s personal letters."

"Although I was not privy to her spiritual darkness, and I never received the kind of letters from her that her spiritual directors received, I was well aware that there was a seriousness, even a somberness, about her. I assumed that this sorrow was occasioned by what happens every day in the world. When there were tragedies, she would talk about them and encourage us to turn trustingly to God to bring good out of evil."

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Comments

  1. Anonymous9/12/07, 5:54 PM

    This is great, Jean. Thanks for sharing it. Fr. Groeschel is another living saint, as far as I'm concerned. He was so tactful and coherent in his comments. God bless him! Lisa

    ReplyDelete
  2. Jean Heimann9/12/07, 9:23 PM

    I agree with you, Lisa!
    This photo is from the Midwest Catholic Family Conference in Wichita in August of this year. I met him prior to this at a conference at Notre Dame several years ago and at an evangelization conference at ISU in Normal, IL. It's always such a joy to listen to him speak. Despite all the obvious pain and discomfort he has from the accident in which he was nearly killed, he is so articulate and is such a dynamic speaker!

    Yes, he is very tactful and coherent. He makes sense, whereas the person he is referring to doesn't.

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