Mother Teresa's Secret Fire

Once in a while, if we are lucky, we come across a face that radiates such beauty, it penetrates our very core. The beauty that shines forth is not a physical beauty in the conventional sense, but something much deeper - something we cannot even articulate. It strikes a cord with us that is spiritual, making us realize that we must have a spiritual dimension inside of us, or else we wouldn't be so drawn to it. When I think of an image that emits this type of beauty, Mother Teresa's face immediately comes to mind.

And this was the case even before I read Mother Teresa's Secret Fire, the recent book written about her life by Father Joseph Langford, the founder of her priests' community. Perhaps that is what drew me to the book in the first place. As part of the Catholic Company's reviewer program, I am given a list of books and/or items which I can choose to review. After seeing the image of Mother Teresa on Fr. Joe's book, it occurred to me how little I knew about this saint, and how much I needed to know about this saint. 

It is precisely this feeling of being drawn to her that Fr. Joe captures in his book so well. In it, he communicates so eloquently what so many people feel but cannot describe - mainly, a deep feeling of being drawn to Mother Teresa's beauty. Why is it that her image provides us with such a feeling of comfort? Why is it that her very presence on television restores our hope in mankind, if only for a second? 

In Secret Fire, Fr. Joe answers this question as follows: "To answer the "why" of Mother Teresa's power of attraction, and to understand her relevance in our post-modern world, we need to examine both her and ourselves more deeply. We need to ask what it was in her that moved us so, and what it was in us that responded so readily. What hidden chords of soul was she touching? What was God touching in us, through her?" (p.15)

Fr. Joe divides his book into three sections. The first section tells the story of the "inner fire" that changed Mother Teresa forever. The second section illustrates the "festival of light" that illuminated from her, and the final section tells us how her "consuming fire" transformed a young and timid Mother Teresa into the saint we know and love. If there is an underlying message in Secret Fire, it is that we are all capable of achieving this level of sanctity by loving one another. In her life, Mother Teresa observed that man's greatest hunger was his hunger to be loved.

If you're like me, you may wonder how on earth Mother Teresa was able to radiate such sanctity while caring for the dying and being immersed in such poverty on a daily basis. Fr. Joe answers this question by quoting Mother Teresa herself:

"We cannot let a child of God die like an animal in the gutter," she declared. When asked how she could face this agony and serve these suffering people day after day, she answered, "To me, each one is Christ - Christ in a distressing disguise." (p.23)

So if you're deciding on what to get your loved ones for Christmas this year (Catholic and non-Catholic alike), consider sending them Secret Fire, a gift that will surely change their lives forever. 

*This review has been written as part of The Catholic Company product reviewer program. Visit The Catholic Company to find more information on Mother Teresa's Secret Fire.