Lavinia reviewed Mother Teresa's Secret Fire by Joseph Langford
Review of "Mother Teresa's Secret Fire" on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
I must admit that I was somewhat hesitant to read this book at first. I am not a religious person, quite the opposite I would say. Furthermore, growing up in a religious environment I know that people who talk or write books on religion and faith can be very preachy and over-zealous in their views. I was further sceptical by the fact that the author of the book was Rev. Joseph Langford, the co-founder of Mother Teresa's priest's community, a man who spent much time in Mother Teresa's company.
I decided to give it a go. About Mother Teresa I knew what most people know. A Roman Catholic nun from Albania, who lived with, and indeed devoted her life to the poorest of the poor in Calcutta and elsewhere. For her work to overcome poverty and distress, she won the Nobel Pease Prize in 1979.
This book is not a …
I must admit that I was somewhat hesitant to read this book at first. I am not a religious person, quite the opposite I would say. Furthermore, growing up in a religious environment I know that people who talk or write books on religion and faith can be very preachy and over-zealous in their views. I was further sceptical by the fact that the author of the book was Rev. Joseph Langford, the co-founder of Mother Teresa's priest's community, a man who spent much time in Mother Teresa's company.
I decided to give it a go. About Mother Teresa I knew what most people know. A Roman Catholic nun from Albania, who lived with, and indeed devoted her life to the poorest of the poor in Calcutta and elsewhere. For her work to overcome poverty and distress, she won the Nobel Pease Prize in 1979.
This book is not a biography, though; I would rather say that it is book about the spiritual event, the “encounter” she had with God on the Darjeeling train on September 10th 1946. It was this event that changed Sister Teresa’s life forever. She left the comfort of her Covent and went out to live with the poorest of the poor in Calcutta. It is also about the source of her power and the struggle (or I should probably say, the “dark night”) to undertake her work and desire, to bring the poor who are forgotten by the society, to see themselves as God see them – as beloved.
What the author tries to show was that Mother Teresa’s work was accomplished through the grace of God. Either believe it or not, the fact is that Mother Teresa had this incredible strength and grace to live under extremely difficult conditions, to inspire people to follow her example and most importantly to help and give hope to thousands of people by comforting them, trying to make them feel useful, appreciated and most of all beloved.
This is an example that is missing from our today individualistic world. Her message “I Thirst” is really powerful regardless of one’s religion, or faith. As a non-believer, I find difficult to believe that all this strength and endurance came from God. The inner power and passion were there all the time; faith was the motive to transform a simple nun to this extraordinary woman, Mother Teresa.
I can see that this book is a product of love and admiration. It is well written and simple to read. If its purpose is to communicate Mother Teresa’s message and inspire people, I would say that it has succeeded it. Definitely, the edition’s quality could and should be better.
Finally, I was really moved by Mother Teresa’s quote:
"Yesterday is gone; tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin".