Editorial

Today marks the 10th anniversary of the death of the legendary Mother Teresa.

From an early age, this remarkable Albanian woman yearned to spread the love of Christ and joined a religious order at the age of 18. Three years later she was sent to India to teach in a Catholic school. After 17 years, the unbelievable poverty and suffering outside the convent walls impelled her to leave and start her new mission to serve the poorest of the poor. Her single-minded dedication to alleviate the misery of the downtrodden mirrored that of others who, driven by their faith, lived to the full the Christian vocation of love.

Mother Teresa's charisma was exceptional in that she rapidly drew to her an increasing number of disciples who embraced her new Order's unconditional commitment to prayer, frugality and hard work in serving the underprivileged. Besides the traditional vows of chastity, poverty and obedience, they had to take up a fourth vow, demanding "wholehearted and free service to the poorest of the poor".

Her work with the poor and dying in the slums of Calcutta came to the world's attention through people such as British media personality Malcolm Muggeridge and French writer Dominique Lapierre. Her work multiplied and members of her religious order now work worldwide in the harshest and most unforgiving situations backed by thousands of co-workers who support her mission in various ways.

Yet now, 10 years on, the faith that underpinned her Christian vocation is being brought into doubt by the forthcoming book about her inner life revealed in her personal diaries and letters to her spiritual director, published under the title of Mother Teresa. Come, Be My Light. In her written communications, Mother Teresa lays bare the torment of her struggle with faith, where she feels her life is empty of God's presence.

Fr Raniero Cantalamessa, Preacher to the Papal Household, says this experience of Mother Teresa is a classic case of what scholars of mysticism, following St John of the Cross, usually call "the dark night of the soul". He adds: "Far from undermining the stature of Mother Teresa's holiness, these new documents will immensely magnify it, placing her at the side of the greatest mystics of Christianity".

In mysticism, we are entering the realm of interiority... the realm of meaning, of knowledge of oneself, grappling with the mystery of truth, goodness and love. In this dramatic journey, Mother Teresa eloquently underscored that the first step towards changing society is to change oneself.

Through her work, Mother Teresa faced up to a world of crass inequality marred by the widespread prevalence of injustice and greed that are the root causes of social evil. Her wholehearted commitment was an effrontery to the indifference and complacency of those who refuse to put aside self-centeredness and work for a just society.

She had no time for theorising. Her life and her statements reveal a down-to-earth pragmatism that translates love into concrete actions. As she said: "If you cannot feed 100 people, then feed just one" adding that "Jesus said love one another. He didn't say love the whole world".

Mother Teresa was not born a saint. She was born a human being who strived with extraordinary energy to live the gospel value of love for one's neighbour. Love till it hurts, she used to tell her colleagues. This is the legacy Mother Teresa bequeaths to a troubled society torn apart by hatred, greed, arrogance and every other form of egoism that scars humanity.