An Online Journal of Ideas and Controversy. Published By Flying Ostrich Press. John F. Triolo, Editor.
Review of Mother Teresa's Secret Fire by Fr. Joseph Langford
Anne R. Triolo is a regular columnist and contributing editor at The Contrarians' Review.
15 October 2008-- Anne R. Triolo
My little brother Edward spent 4 months in India last winter working with the Missionaries of Charity. I thought he was nuts. The kinds of nuts that you respect and think is admirable but never want to BE. All I had heard about Mother Teresa and her nuns in Calcutta was that they worked with the poorest of the poor. The grossest of the sick. The maimed, the retarded, the hopeless, the outcasts of a dirty and wretched city. A city that is so dirty that people die every day simply from the pollution that they breathe. As far as I could see, there was no hope of actually fixing this problem, and it would be miserably dirty and depressing to try.
But my brother was determined. Like so many others he felt drawn to the work of mother Teresa and her nuns. This was another thing I did not understand. People speak of Mother Teresa with hushed tones. She is used as the ultimate example of charity and kindness. I knew that she had started a great work of charity and that people from around the world congregated to join in her work but I did not know why.
Father Joseph Langford, in his book Mother Teresa's Secret Fire, explains Mother Teresa's charism in a personal way, with the understanding that only a close friend could have had. He explains that her impetus was to comfort the lonely. He parses out the great importance that Christ's words "I thirst" held for Mother Teresa. She had a deep understanding of God's love, desire, thirst for each of his people, and she knew that in turn each of his people has a deep desire and thirst for Him. Sadly there is a disconnect. People do not understand God's love, so they can not understand much less fulfill their own desire or God's.
Mother Teresa's mission was simple. She wished to show everyone that she met that God has an undying love and solicitude for every low down, dirty sinner. That no matter how insignificant, gross, maimed and unlovable we are, God has a tender affection for us, loves us passionately and indeed delights in us. She did this not through words but through her example, by herself loving and taking delight in every person that she met.
Mother Teresa brought this message specifically to the poor of Calcutta, but it is a message that is meant for everyone. We are so used to the words of this message in the context of the gospels that we can hardly hear it anymore. To hear it anew through Father Langford's testimony about Mother Teresa is an inspiring and renewing opportunity. Although this is not the best written book of all times, it is a easy and worthwhile read. I believe that it offers a uniquely personal insight into one of the greatest saints of our times and into the God who was her inspiration and love.
