Unfortunately, the image of Mother Teresa that comes across in "Reaching Out in Love" is that of a Delphic oracle crossed with a Hallmark card factory. What are we to make of the tale of the man who lost his passport? Mother Teresa pulled every possible bureaucratic string to help him get a new one--and when the new passport came through, she attributed it to the power of prayer alone. Particularly strange is Mother Teresa's medical advice. There's one story in which she strongly advises a priest with an ulcer against having surgery, recommending instead that he drink milk and eat biscuits. He does so, and the ulcer disappears. Is this supposed to be a miracle--or can it simply be attributed to the curative power of milk and biscuits?
When Mother Teresa died three years ago, she had written nothing for
publication, and though she had given countless speeches, she never spoke
from notes. This collection of her stories, as remembered by one of her
followers, is one of the few documents we have containing the wisdom of
the missionary leader.
