A Dark Night of Mother Teresa

Off-and-on, when I go through the aisles of Walmart, I see a little child who is crying because he has lost track of his mother. The feeling of being abandoned by one who loves us is one of the most distressing human feelings. One feels alone, unloved, and neglected. Life seems empty and meaningless without the awareness that we are loved and that we can love someone. One of the images that we can describe this feeling is that of a 'dark night of the soul' as St. John of the Cross wrote in his poetry.

Where have you hidden Beloved, and left me groaning?

You fled like a stag having wounded me;

I went out in search of you, and you were gone.

This is how God seems to us, a dark night. We cry out to Him when we lose our loved one or when we face an overwhelming situation, yet He seems to be unresponsive. Is He even there? We are not so unlike the child 'abandoned' in the Walmart aisle. Nevertheless, we search for Him in the dark night. We are assured only by our faith that He is Emmanuel--'God with us.' And somehow, we become aware of the constant presence of Our Lord in the Eucharist who waits for us everyday in the tabernacle of our church. Jesus cried out from the cross at the final moments, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” Jesus loved us so much that he even experienced being abandoned by His Father. Love until it hurts. That's how far Jesus went to experience the plight of our separation from God. And Our Lord bestows this cross on extraordinary souls who is able to bear it for the sake of the conversion of souls. Mother Teresa is one of them. She has experienced the dark night of the soul in which she felt totally abandoned by the Father. As she suffered feelings of abandonment by the One who loved her, countless souls who have separated themselves by choice from God experienced conversion and repentance. This mystery cannot be captured by CNN cameras or New York Times journalists. Only those with faith can see this marvelous fruit of carrying a cross for the sake of saving others. Only the friends of the Cross can truly know what it took for Our Lord and Mother Teresa to go through such dark nights.