Father Kolodiejchuk is the current Director of the Mother Teresa Center, the Postulator for her canonization and the editor of this book. During the course of his work he has had cause to collect all the information he can on Mother Teresa. This includes decades of letters she had written to her confessors. He has done an excellent job of compiling and editing this book, which has the approval of the Vatican. It lets us look at her inner feelings and conflicts as she walked the path that God called her too. It is interesting to note that she had requested that all these letters be destroyed upon her death.
The book shows how she was called by Jesus to start up her great work that we are all now familiar with, the Missionaries of Charity. While with the Sisters of Loreto she had communion with Jesus and heard his call. She answered it and eventually, with strong faith, received permission to go out and live and serve the poor with great compassion.
We see through her letters that as she moves down the path God chose for her she starts to find that she can no longer communicate with Jesus. And the more successful her ministry becomes, the darker the night becomes. She was living in a spiritual darkness were she felt a total absence of God. This Dark Night of the soul has been well documented and experienced by Saint John of the Cross. Many throughout the ages have felt this feeling of the complete absence of God as one progress through their spiritual path. But most, though some have lived in this state of darkness for many years, had eventually recovered.
Blessed Mother Teresa's Dark Night though is the longest in recorded history. By her own account it appears to have lasted almost five decades of her life with the Missionaries of Charity. Her letters reveal the depth of her loss and suffering. Like all who experience this Dark Night she could not feel God's presence at all. Everybody at one time or another experiences some doubt, but this darkness take sone deeper then just doubt.
How much pain do you feel when you believe that your God has abandoned you. Yet it is in the darkness were Jesus brings us the closes to Him. It is through strong faith in Jesus and love that one moves forward. For though we feel He may not be present, He is always with us. Mother Teresa's faith and love for Jesus was so strong that she was able to keep her commitment to Christ as she learned that His love for her was infinite. Her letters show us a life of true faith as she still prayed to get closer to Jesus. And as she learns to accept His love without experiencing it she continued to walk the path chosen for her and embraced the darkness.
This book takes you on an interior journey of sacrifice, dedication and love. The book is inspirational. It also shows us that everyone needs to have access to a spiritual director. This is a book you will want to keep in your collection. You will read it more then once.