Catholic Review: Come Be My Light

Come Be My Light: The Private Writings of the Saint of Calcutta by Mother Teresa, edited by Brian Kolodiejchuk, September 4, 2007. 404 pages. Published by DoubleDay Religion. Source: Blogging for Books.

“If I ever become a Saint–I will surely be one of “darkness.” I will continually be absent from Heaven–to light the light of those in darkness on earth.”
–Mother Teresa of Calcutta

During her lifelong service to the poorest of the poor, Mother Teresa became an icon of compassion to people of all religions; her extraordinary contributions to the care of the sick, the dying, and thousands of others nobody else was prepared to look after has been recognized and acclaimed throughout the world. Little is known, however, about her own spiritual heights or her struggles. This collection of letters she wrote to her spiritual advisors over decades, almost all of which have never been made public before, sheds light on Mother Teresa's interior life in a way that reveals the depth and intensity of her holiness for the first time. A moving chronicle of her spiritual journey–including moments, indeed years, of utter desolation–these letters reveal the secrets she shared only with her closest confidants. She emerges as a classic mystic whose inner life burned with the fire of charity and whose heart was tested and purified by an intense trial of faith, a true dark night of the soul.

First Sentence:

"Put your hand in His [Jesus'] hand, and walk alone with Him..."

At this moment, I am so close to finishing Mother Teresa's Come Be My Light, yet after much thought I have decided to start my review before being one-hundred percent done. While this isn't my usual fashion of writing reviews, there were things I wanted to say about the book that I didn't not want to forget.

As I started down the path of reading Come Be My Light, I came to see just how much o Mother Teresa's journey through the 'dark night of the soul' and her call to start the Missionary of Charity I did not know.  Time and again, it is her trust in the Lord and her humility hat kept me bringing me back to this book. As with a few other books I've read recently, I have found strength and a deeper trust in the Lord by reading the writings of some of the Catholic faithful that have gone before. Their struggles, be it to find a better way to serve the Lord, to show humility during their troubles, words have been a great help to my own journey of faith.

When you get down to it, the call that Mother Teresa answered to serve the poor in the slums of India and her yes to that call is pretty remarkable. What really, I guess you could say, spoke to me would have to be her love of Jesus and the Blessed Sacrament. Even from her writings during her spiritual dryness, you could still see her immense love for God and her continual yes to all that he asked of her; which, was really surprising because it seemed that she herself could not see that even during the dryness, that lasted from the founding of the Missionaries of Charity until her death.

While reading Come Be My Light, there was one quote that stuck out to me...so much so, that it jumped out at me. That quote that struck me, while listed on the back of my copy of the book is alluded in many of her personal letters as she tells her spiritual advisers of the darkness enveloping her.

"If I ever become a saint-I will surely be one of 'darkness.' I will continually be absent from Heaven-to light the light of those in darkness on earth."

That quote right there, will, it pretty much sums up quite neatly her mission to bring Jesus to those who don't know him and to bring the light of His love to even just one soul.

I could probably go on-and-on about this book, but alas, it's late and my brain is telling me that it is high time that I called it a night. With that I bid y'all all a goodnight; and also recommend picking this one up if you a) want to learn more about Mother Teresa and the founding of the Missionaries of Charity, as well, as her struggles with spiritual dryness; b) would like to learn more about her through her personal writings and that of those who worked with her during the early stages of the founding of the society.

Final Verdict: Come Be My Light- An excellent guide to keep one searching for and following the will of God, even, when things seem to be going awry.

Come Be My Light earns

  this book was received in exchange for an honest review