The scandal of Mother Teresa

The Scandal of Mother Teresa

Rev. Jerry J. Pokorsky

A short YouTube clip presumes to list the most corrupt religious personalities in history. A couple of Catholic prelates are among them – with a few more in the pipeline. Judas is not included, although he was the first Catholic bishop to break bad. But it was surprising to see Mother Teresa on the list.

Christopher Hitchens provides the perspective. He couldn’t wrap his highly educated mind around Mother Teresa’s admiration of the suffering of the poor. (The voice over intones, “She wished to advocate suffering not to save people from the hardships of poverty.”) From his worldview, Catholic veneration of human suffering in union with the sufferings of Jesus doesn’t make a lick of sense.

Hitchens, now deceased, was perhaps the most formidable atheist polemicist of our time. His atheist philosophy is easy to grasp and has a certain appeal: We are born. We die. During life, we choose pleasures when we can, and avoid pain as much as possible. Clearly, for an atheist, intense suffering is the ultimate evil.

In contrast to atheism, Christians hold that God gives every person an inestimable dignity from the moment of conception. Unlike the atheist, we believe in life after death. This life is very short; eternity is very long and God will give us eternal life only if we choose Him in freedom. It’s a test with the most serious of consequences.

Our first parents, Adam and Eve, failed the test. They succumbed to the “ye shall be as gods” temptation of the Serpent, a temptation that continues throughout history. Scripture reveals the mysterious consequences of their disobedience: suffering and death.

But God is not the author: “…God did not make death, and he does not delight in the death of the living. For he created all things that they might exist, and the generative forces of the world are wholesome, and there is no destructive poison in them….” (Wis. 1:13-14)

Like our first parents, we are also tested in life with the challenge to “do good and avoid evil” as found in the Ten Commandments. Of course, there is no conflict with the legitimate God-given pleasures of life. But after Adam’s fall, the test necessarily includes the fact of pain and suffering in our struggle.

Only man can be an agent of evil in this life, subject as he is to the temptations of the Evil One and the sinful inclinations of his now-fallen nature. But after the Fall, God continues to respect human freedom as His grace abounds. He intervenes in history by way of man’s conscience. We remain free to choose good and evil. A properly formed conscience – a noble aspiration for all -- is the nervous system of the soul. But if consciences fail, God uses suffering as a means of grace.

By nature, we are created in God’s image. Sin violates our nature. We often inflict suffering on others with evil choices. But we also bring suffering upon ourselves. God confounds the Devil and uses the suffering we bring upon ourselves to bring us to our senses. A burned finger reminds us to stop touching the hot stove. So behavior-related suffering – suffering directly connected to our sins -- is always a call to conversion.

The newspapers are filled with accounts of the suffering of innocents at the hands of wicked people. But some suffering – the decline of health in old age, for example -- is also mysteriously linked to a world disrupted by the effects of Original sin. Hence, we begin to discover opportunities for merit and grace that human suffering provides.

The great healing miracles of Jesus in the Gospel not only establish His authority as Messiah, they are a great sign to us. We have the same mission according to our state of life. Jesus chooses us to be His holy instruments, as members of His Mystical Body. Regardless of the source of our suffering, it is holy and good to be agents of Jesus in comforting the sick, healing them with the miracle of modern medicine, and assisting those who suffer. It’s the hard work of compassion, "suffering with" those who suffer. Suffering with Jesus is the stuff of discipleship. “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” (Lk. 9:23)

God wants us to confront evil by doing good, and with every confrontation with evil, we suffer. The suffering of a just man reflects his goodness. And a just man recognizes he is a minister of life, not a master, with a holy resolve to do good and avoid all forms of evil. Hence, God may require that we endure, with His grace, immense suffering while holding fast to His law. Such is the great witness of the martyrs who would not be budged in their fidelity to Jesus. Their suffering is a beautiful witness to the truth of Christ.

Mother Teresa knew this truth in faith. In the suffering of the poor, she saw the sweet face of Jesus. She saw the Cross. And just as the Father did not delight in the suffering of Jesus but delighted in the obedience of His Son in His confrontation of evil, Mother Teresa recognized the noble dignity of those who suffer with Jesus. Their suffering motivated her to continue to minister to the poorest of the poor.

Jesus teaches, “No one is good but God alone.” (Lk. 18:19) Even atheists are created in the image of God and have a flicker of His goodness within them. But that prospect might be more disturbing to a thoughtful atheist than his contempt for Christians who rejoice in the Cross.