XXVI. Mother Teresa did not allow her nuns to fast. In many
religious communities, fasting is a normal part of the spiritual development of
the individual, and monks and nuns, and even lay persons have a long tradition
of voluntary fasting in reparation for sins. Mother Teresa, however,
categorically forbade any voluntary fasting. So here you have one of the
holiest women of the last century forbidding a practice that centuries of
spiritual directors have regarded as essential for the pursuit of spiritual
growth. Mother Teresa, however, was well aware of the pedigree of this
discipline, and had practiced it herself during her pre-MC days. She forbade it
not because it is bad, but because it was not what they were called to. The
charism of the Missionaries of Charity is service to the poorest of the poor
and to accomplish this they needed to be healthy and strong. The diet of the
MC’s is plain to the utmost, but Mother Theresa insisted that whenever possible
it be enough to sustain the sisters for a full day out in the street, and no
nun was allowed to turn away her portion in the name of spiritual growth. They
were meant to find spiritual growth in the exercise of their vocation, and
nowhere else.
I did not realize that the MC did not fast regarding food, but it makes perfect sense. Obedience is probably a greater sanctifier, as is living out one's vocation. Sometimes that is the most difficult thing to do!
ReplyDeleteBy the way, your last post brought up some interesting points about love of God, and how our love of others and ourselves is part of loving God. Great analogy about the hugs, it is so true that parents are honoured by the love between siblings. I never though of it in terms of "I hug my siblings/parents/friends, I am hugging God," but what a though... and it really makes you think twice about how you treat/respond to other people.
Happy Feast of St. Joseph!
God bless,
Frances
P.S. If you don't mind me asking, who are Fr. Dwight Longenecker and Charles Williams? I found a bit online about them because I was curious, but I had never heard of them before.
Wow, great point about the nuns. I'm convinced that choosing between objectively good things (that is, choosing one and revoking the other, i.e. choosing the good of being healthy and well-fed over the good of fasting) is the hardest thing to do, one that requires the most trust. It's so easy to listen to an inner voice say "but fasting is good, shouldn't you just suck it up and fast and then offer the additional difficulty it adds to your daily service up to God?" This is the principle difficulty of my life right now - choosing between good things. It's pretty deadly because it can paralyze you.
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