Honest to God Saints

Today marks the tenth anniversary of the death of an honest saint. Most of us know the story of Mother Teresa of Calcutta. An east European nun, Teresa felt a call to ministry to the poor in India. She had virtually no resources or financial backing in the beginning but she first established a mission to lepers, then to those living with AIDs, the modern-day leprosy. She emphasized the radical call to love which is the gospel of Christ.

We have heard recently that Mother Teresa expressed doubts in her correspondence with others and for decades struggled to experience the presence of Christ. Yet she perservered in her work and encouraged others to join her.

In this day of media scrutiny it is next to impossible to be "saintly" in the old sense. There have never been perfectly Godly people but in other eras images were rehabilitated and amplified. Today all public figures are revealed as real human beings with flaws and personal crises. I admire Mother Teresa of Calcutta for living the gospel as a follower of Christ who wrestled with the pain of this world. In that respect we are all the saints and we all have a mission.