Author encourages faithful to change world as saintly ‘Mother’ did

SOMERVILLE — Admired by generations and lauded as the “saint of the gutters” during her life, St. Teresa of Kolkata, better known as Mother Teresa, was “wonderfully, beautifully human,” according to Jim Towey, who came to know her as a friend.

Towey, an attorney by trade who has also worked in government and education, first met Mother Teresa, or Mother as he affectionately refers to her, during a trip to India in 1985.

His book, “To Love and Be Loved — A Personal Portrait of Mother Teresa,” released Sept. 6 last year, just one day after the 25th anniversary of Mother Teresa’s death in 1997, documents his friendship with the saint. On Dec. 9, he served as the headline speaker of a diocesan event by the same name.

“It’s a mistake for us when we think that saints are superhumans that are made a different stuff than us,” he said to those gathered in the theater of Immaculata High School. “Saints aren’t perfect. They are perfected in holiness through the grace of the Holy Spirit.”

Talking about his time with Mother Teresa, he recounted her heart for others, her infectious laughter, her joyous sense of humor, and her love of chocolate. “But she also wasn’t perfect,” he said pointedly. “She was famously stubborn and impatient, but those weaknesses of hers, the Lord used for his purposes.

“God called her to leave the confines of the cloister and go out into the streets, into the slums, to serve the poorest of the poor,” the author continued. “Think about what kind of courage, tough-mindedness, and perseverance she needed. Well, this was fueled by that Albanian grit and stubbornness that she had, and God used it for his purposes,” adding she often held her ground when confronted by those who opposed her missionary work.

“In the midst of our own humanness, God approaches us and invites us to new life, to greater life, to become better, and Mother answered that call.” It was the qualities she held, those human qualities, that made her loveable, human, and real, he said.

Sharing stories of his 12-year-long friendship and advisership with Mother Teresa, Towey recalled his everyday interactions with her and his favorite memories of her, including the time she hurriedly ran to his car to give him a peanut butter and banana sandwich since he had not eaten breakfast before leaving, or how, in her motherly way, she would reach her hand into her purse and pull out candy to give to those accompanying her on her travels.

“She didn’t have children biologically, but what she did throughout her life was teach us how important it is to grow, to move from being self-centered to other-minded,” he said.

His years of working alongside the now-saint, who was canonized in 2016, just 19 years after her death, taught him lessons about human life and dignity, service to others, the plague of loneliness, and aging. Equipped with those lessons, and with Mother Teresa’s prompting and encouragement, Towey started Aging with Dignity in 1996, a nonprofit dedicated to advocacy for senior citizens, where he serves as chief executive officer.

“Mother truly teaches us about aging, and at the heart of it is prayer,” said Towey. “It doesn’t have to be fancy prayer; it has to be a disposition. There has to be an awareness of God’s presence and a willingness to be with God and to experience that same voice you heard at your baptism in your soul: ‘You are my beloved and in you I am well pleased.’”

Before concluding his talk, which preceded a showing of “Mother Teresa: No Greater Love,” a documentary film produced by the Knights of Columbus on the life and legacy of Mother Teresa, Towey encouraged those present to make a change.

“We may not get the Nobel Peace Prize or change the world like Mother did, but we can change the world around us. ‘What you are doing I cannot do, what I’m doing you cannot do, but together we are doing something beautiful for God,’” he said, invoking the famous quote by Mother Teresa. “That’s the invitation for us tonight.”

Smith is Director of Marketing and Communications for Immaculata High School