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Darlene
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| Joined: | Mon Oct 9th, 2006 |
| Location: | Pocono Mountains, Pennsylvania USA |
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| First Name: | Darlene | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | Christian, trusting His love and forgiveness |
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Posted: Fri May 4th, 2007 11:52 pm |
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Today I was chatting with a close friend of mine, who is a former Catholic turned Evangelical Protestant. During the conversation, she brought up Mother Teresa in a negative light. She said that Mother Teresa was an aesthetic and had the carpets removed and the hot water taken out of the building where the sick people lived. She went on to say how ridiculous that was since it would have been far more advantageous for the sick and dying to have carpeted floors and hot water. I said I had heard or read about this myself, but that I think it was only in the building where she and her sisters lived that they did this. She retorted, "No, that isn't so. I've been reading Randy Alcorn's book and this is what he said." Well, I commented that I didn't know how reliable Alcorn's book would be on Mother Teresa, but I'd rather go to the real source and find out directly from something that Mother Teresa wrote herself as to what the truth of the matter is.
She then said rather flippantly that she realizes I want to think the best of Mother Teresa but the truth is she had her weaknesses just like the rest of us. Not of course that she wasn't a saintly woman. But she insisted on informing me that she was an aesthetic.
Anyway, I did my best to get off of the M.T. subject because I had a sense it would turn into some anti-Catholic diatribe.
So, does anyone know about Randy Alcorn? I've heard of him but don't know if he is anti-Catholic or not.
Darlene
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The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. II Corinthians 13:14
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CajunRick
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Posted: Sat May 5th, 2007 12:10 am |
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Darlene wrote: She said that Mother Teresa was an aesthetic and had the carpets removed and the hot water taken out of the building where the sick people lived.
I don't know about hot water, but certainly she would have wanted carpet removed. Carpeted rooms can't be disinfected. It would be highly irresponsible to have carpet in any room where sick people were treated. That's why hospitals, doctors' offices, and emergency rooms have such beautiful wall to wall shag carpeting.....
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StephenC
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| Joined: | Fri Sep 29th, 2006 |
| Location: | Dallas, Texas USA |
| Posts: | 54 |
| First Name: | Stephen | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Catholic, SBC, Nothing, Back home in 2006 |
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Posted: Sat May 5th, 2007 12:54 pm |
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Another thing to ponder about Mother Teresa…..She devoted her entire life (body and soul) caring for the disatute terminally ill souls in Calcutta. Giving them a dignified death. As well caring for the Orphans. Her entire life! (body and soul) That was her ministry. That was what she was called by God to do.
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maryjean
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| Joined: | Sat Feb 24th, 2007 |
| Location: | York County, South Carolina USA |
| Posts: | 45 |
| First Name: | Jean | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | Presbyterian to non-practicing to Catholic |
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Posted: Sat May 5th, 2007 01:39 pm |
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My favorite Mother Teresa story is one Father Benedict Groschel told. He said that once when someone had disparaged her, he offered to refute the guy and defend her in the press. She replied 'No, It's not between me and him, it's between me and GOD and him and GOD!'
jean
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Psalm 4
jean
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sewnsew
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| Joined: | Mon Oct 9th, 2006 |
| Location: | Arizona USA |
| Posts: | 913 |
| First Name: | Kim | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | cradle Anglican, Episcopal /Catholic-04/07/07 |
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Posted: Mon May 7th, 2007 01:28 pm |
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| I met Mother Teresa in 1974. I worked in Bangladesh, India and Somalia during school breaks from 74 to 78 and the full time until1984. I met her at an orphanages run by her order. She was a little tornado of a woman. Rick asked me sometime ago to write about meeting her but it started so much thinking it was hard to organize my thoughts. It was the first year I worked overseas and I was almost 18, I was given all the not so nice jobs by the volunteers I worked with and was struggling- one of my jobs was to pass out clean linens, basins of bath water and meals to patients in a leprosy ward 3 days a week ( Not Mother T's). I was terrified that one of them would lose a finger or something ( I had been told lots of stories by the volunteers in hindsight there was quite a bit of " scare factor" in them vs the truth), the smell of gangrenous tissue was pretty awful ( not to mention the sight) and Every day I prayed- don't let me flip out here" any how one of my other little jobs was to go down to her orphange a couple of times a week to visit a child that my agency was placing for adoption. The trip down was harrowing by rickshaw into Old Dhaka, the middle of conservative Islam- I got hassled a lot for not being in purdah. Anyhow this one time she stopped and we talked a little and she told me " the pretty ones are easy- and there will always be be to take care of them it is the others who need love too") Those words must have sunk in because as I matured I found my self fighting for the kids that were special needs, overseas, those kids were pretty much ignored, didnt receive therapy services or anything more that the most basic attention. As for the carpet story In all my years over there I never saw wall to wall carpet before I moved to the states. Even the richest people had tile, or terrazzo flooring and the lesser had coloured cement floors or dirt. The orphanages that I worked in had tile, cement and one that had been an old house had terrazzo. If you didn't wear a belt or sandals in a few days then you would have to wipe this fine green mildew off of them- it makes me shudder to even think of carpet! As for the cold water- quite frankly I never lived ANYWHERE that had hot water- we wer lucky to have running water sometimes. Only the rich and foreigners had hot water. Even electricity wasn't always guaranteed. Mother T. could be very sharp tongued, never to me in the times that I talked to her ( Always at a run and pretty brief) but I did over hear some pretty sharp answers to others. That doens;t make her any less of a Saint it just makes her human which every Saint was. Also from my work as a volunteer in third world countries I have to tell you the most dedicated people were also the most difficult to deal with- they had a calling that the world better take note of or they had no use for them. People like this had no time for "frivolous" or petty concerns that the rest of us do- they are driven. That is why the achieve so much in their lifetimes. Yes Mother T. lived a life of poverty but I think that if tomorrow every one had enough love, food and care and all their needs were met then she would have had a different out look on life. Did she do with out because she liked to- no she did with out because she couldn't live with luxuries ( in the 3rd world some of our basic ARE luxuries) when so many others lacked even basics. I can't imagine her taking hot water away from her patients if they had it, I can imagine her taking it away from herself and the people who worked with her- volunteer, nuns or whatever if she deemed that the money could be better spent on their patients in a heartbeat.
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CajunRick
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Posted: Mon May 7th, 2007 02:02 pm |
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kimdyuma wrote: I met Mother Teresa in 1974.
Thank you for your story, Kim. I wish every young person had an opportunity like that. I think the world would be a quite different place if, say, Paris Hilton spent a summer in Bangladesh instead of 6 weeks in jail.
I went to Haiti in 2001, but it was a different kind of trip, which I recounted online on my Retreat Into Reality. We were there to observe, and did little actual work with the poor. We did serve food at a soup kitchen, and visit orphanages, schools, hospitals, homes for the elderly, etc. Those Haitians we met were generally those who had survived the worst that society offered them, and been rescued by organizations like Food for the Poor, our trip's sponsor.
As for what we saw, most people and places didn't have roofs. Water was so bad that even in our four-star hotel, someone who made the mistake of rinsing her toothbrush in supposedly safe running tap water got sick on the trip home, and a priest who ate fresh vegetables in the remote mountain village we visited was hospitalized for a week and nearly died. "Running water" meant you ran to the creek or well or ditch to get it, and "hot water" meant it was summer. It was an incredible experience, but it would have been quite different to have spent a summer working at 18, rather than a week observing at 50.
Of course, we did not meet Mother Teresa. We did visit an AIDS hospice operated by her order and funded by Food for the Poor. Perhaps the strangest facilities were a medical clinic operated by a group of nuns from Spain who spoke no English or French, requiring a "chain translation" for communication, and a hospital with a doctor who looked and sounded exactly like James Earl Jones. We also visited several orphanages for handicapped children who had been "discareded" by their parents, so I know what you mean about falling in love with the disabled children.
No doubt you've gotten many blessings from your experiences, Kim. I hope you'll take the opportunity to share more of them with us.
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sewnsew
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| Joined: | Mon Oct 9th, 2006 |
| Location: | Arizona USA |
| Posts: | 913 |
| First Name: | Kim | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | cradle Anglican, Episcopal /Catholic-04/07/07 |
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Posted: Mon Mar 31st, 2008 08:37 pm |
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Okay Rick found the post so here it is resufacing the talk about Mother Teresa- My overseas work was challenging and rewarding. If I hadn't of been such a dumb teenager maybe I would have asked more profound questions but really my conversations with her were everyday also believe it or not I was a very shy QUIET kid- truly I was!
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CajunRick
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Posted: Mon Mar 31st, 2008 09:03 pm |
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kimdyuma wrote: If I hadn't of been such a dumb teenager maybe I would have asked more profound questions
Eastern Christian icons always are shown with very big eyes and ears and very small mouths. There's a lesson there.
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rbo4u2
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| Joined: | Tue Jan 16th, 2007 |
| Location: | Sunnyvale, California USA |
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| First Name: | Rich | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Formerly Christian & Missionary Alliance then became Presbyterian |
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Posted: Mon Mar 31st, 2008 09:12 pm |
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Darlene wrote:
So, does anyone know about Randy Alcorn? I've heard of him but don't know if he is anti-Catholic or not.
Darlene
Hi Darlene, In direct answer to this question, Randy Alcorn is "hot" right now in evangelical circles. He is head of "Eternal Perspectives" which is his personal evangelistic ministry. (in Catholic terms, it's his apostolite I guess) His book on Heaven has made an extraordinary splash in the Evangelical community and has been made into small group studies, children's groups, videos etc. He has written 27 books and 7 novels. You can find him easily on the web. He belongs to the Good Shephard Community Church outside Gresham, Oregon, which I believe is a suberb of Protland. He's taught at Western Bible College and Mutltnomah Bible College. He's an easy read and is committed to Christ. I would put him solidly in the Baptist way of theology.
Rich
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sewnsew
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| First Name: | Kim | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | cradle Anglican, Episcopal /Catholic-04/07/07 |
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Posted: Mon Mar 31st, 2008 10:53 pm |
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Reading these posts has made me reflect on history- mine . Overseas all those years it was the Catholics -the sisters, the brothers and the Priests and Bishop who welcomed me and made it possible for me to attend church safely in Muslim countries by always making sure that I had safe transportation etc even though I was not Catholic. The Evangelical missionaries welcomed me to their home churches but I had to get there my self which could be dangerous in Muslim countries since I had no access to a car and as a woman was not allowed on the bus so therefore had a 4 or 5 mile walk. It was also the Catholics who were by far the most generous without questioning whether something was really needed or not. The protestant missionaries for the most part gave qualified assistance ( there were some that were more giving and helpful but they were a minority) and the fact that I didn't have a "born again" point in time but could only say that I had been baptised Anglican as an infant and had always gone to church and believed in Jesus which didn't seem to cut it for the protestant crew
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CajunRick
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Posted: Tue Apr 1st, 2008 01:18 am |
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kimdyuma wrote: Reading these posts has made me reflect on history- mine.
Your statement makes me proud to be a Catholic! 
Seriously, the comment I've heard most frequently in RCIA is that Protestants preach the Gospel message, and Catholics live the Gospel message. I think that summarizes what you've said as well.
Your statement makes me proud to be a Catholic!
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sewnsew
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| First Name: | Kim | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | cradle Anglican, Episcopal /Catholic-04/07/07 |
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Posted: Tue Apr 1st, 2008 01:40 am |
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Considering my history don't ask me why I didn't become Catholic all those years ago except that I honestly thought born Anglican die Anglican- because of growing up in small area in Canada we were either Anglican ( or a few united church, or presbyterian- though I never met any) , Catholic or Jewish- people just didn't "church sop" like they do down here in the Bible belt of the States. There was an Anglican or Catholic church every few miles vs. one united church a few miles away but no other church that I could . I think if anyone had TOLD me I could become Catholic I would have- but the Catholics I met all those years ago just helped without question and it probably didn't occur to them either.
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