Holding On to Faith

Do you ever have days when you just wish you could disappear? I've been having one of those days today. It wasn't that anything particularly terrible happened - just a lot of little things that made me wish I could run away, or at least hide under my bed covers for a while.

It can be a challenge to keep the faith on days like this. It is tempting to ask God, "Is this really where you want me to be? Things are such a mess!" This is where Blessed Mother Teresa can be such an inspiration.

Mother Teresa went to her eternal reward 10 years ago today (September 5th). A new book, "Come, Be My Light" by Father Brian Kolodiejchuk probes deeply into the dark night of the soul that Mother Teresa endured for fifty years. In spite of all her wonderful works of charity and even with the very personal call that she had received from Jesus to serve the poor, she then spent most of her long life feeling that God had abandoned her. If anything, this makes her faithfulness all the more impressive. She kept going day after day even when it hurt. She believed even when she couldn't feel God near her.

In 1946, Mother Teresa offered the following description of how Jesus called her: "You are afraid. How your fear hurts me. Fear not. It is I who am asking you to do this for me. Fear not. Even if the whole world is against you, laughs at you, your companions and superiors look down on you, fear not. It is I in you, with you, for you."

She held on to her in faith in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. What a lesson for all of us!