In thinking about Mother Teresa's long dark night, it may surprise some that a saint would feel the absence of God. However, once one has tasted the immediacy of the divine, then that union, which a human being cannot endure and still live, feels lost in a dark night until that union is finally achieved in heaven. That darkness emphasizes that holiness is not a feeling, but an endurance in what is good and true even without the support of the emotion of closeness to God. If "being good" were rewarded constantly by "feeling good" then what endurance, indeed what achievement, would there be in that? The emphasis in the growth in holiness is total reliance on God, even when the emotions do not sustain that growth in holiness. What's called for is "naked faith", faith unsupported by anything, but only by faith in God. The 21st century French philosopher, Simone Weil, may have some wisdom to learn from:
"The man who has known pure joy, if only for a moment... is the only man for whom affliction is something devastating... But, after all, for him it is no punishment; it is God holding his hand and pressing rather hard. For, if he remains constant, what he will discover buried deep under the sound of his own lamentations is the pearl of the silence of God."
-- Simone Weil, Gravity and Grace
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