Saints and sinners

A couple of weeks ago the front page of the National Post featured a large photo of the late Mother Teresa, topped with the headline “I HAVE NO FAITH”.

This headline is of course far removed from it’s original context and sensationalized to sell papers (oooo, Lindsay, Britney, Ma Teresa). Recently a collection of her letters, sent to a confidante, were discovered, letters she’d requested destroyed upon her death. The letters, some dating back 40 years, indicated that this saintly woman had, on several occasions, faced a dire crisis of faith.

Personally I find these revelations to be a more comforting version of faith than had she been steadfast in her convictions. Mother Teresa was a human being, certainly a more compassionate and dedicated human being than I and maybe you, but a human being all the same, one who wore the flaws and the bonds of original creation. She was not perfect, and I find this reassuring because none of us are. She worked amongst the poorest of the poor, the sickest of the sick, people with no hope in a city that could pass for hell. And she experienced a lapse of faith? Who’d have thought! Slacker.

Whether you believe him to have been the messiah (Christianity), a prophet (Judaism) or just a mortal man, it’s well documented that Jesus Christ underwent a major crisis of faith on the eve of his crucifixion. I think we can cut soon-to-be-a Saint Mother Theresa some slack here folks.