Mother Teresa’s canonisation has served as a celebration of the thousands of lives she touched throughout her lifetime, including one former Lesmurdie parishioner who was so inspired by her that he decided to join her order.
Missionaries of Charity Father, Stephen McGuckin, reveals the impact the Catholic Church’s newest saint made on him in a new video interview with Archdiocesan Communications Manager and The eRecord Editor Jamie O’Brien.
Fr McGuckin said he first encountered Mother Teresa when he travelled to Calcutta to volunteer with the Missionaries of Charity Sisters in his early twenties.
“We would work with the sisters during the day and join them for Mass in the morning and Adoration in the evening and so whenever we would go to Mother House, Mother Teresa would be there, present for Mass and the Adoration,” he said.
“I think what first really struck me about Mother Teresa was just how normal she was and how she made everyone feel very much at ease in her presence.
“I think my favourite time to see her was at the end of Adoration; if there was no priest, she would be the one to repose the Blessed Sacrament back in the tabernacle and just to see her love and devotion for the Blessed Sacrament, that was the most impacting experience that I had with her in that time.”
Mother Teresa would address the volunteers regularly Fr McGuckin added and would never do so without mentioning the words of Jesus, “You did it to me”.
The quote comes from Matthew 25:40, when Jesus is foretelling the Final Judgement and speaking to those who have fed the hungry, sheltered the homeless and healed the sick.
“Today Jesus is experiencing all the pain and the joys of the poor and maybe that’s something very timely for her canonisation in this Year of Mercy: that those corporal works of mercy and those spiritual works of mercy are not only about touching our neighbour, my brother, my sister, but also as a means to touch Jesus,” Fr McGuckin said.
“So probably that would be one of the messages of Mother Teresa today in this Year of Mercy, repeating the words of Jesus, ‘You did it to me’.”
In the video, Fr McGuckin also recalls the moment he was lucky enough to speak with Mother Teresa one-on-one.
He was discerning his vocation to the priesthood at the time and said that she had some simple, yet meaningful, advice for him.
“She asked me, ‘Do you love Jesus?’ and I said, ‘Yes’. Then she said, ‘Do you want to love Him more?’ I said, ‘Yes’. Then she said, ‘Well, then just drop your nets like the apostles, put your hand to the plough and don’t look back’,” he recalled.
Fr McGuckin went on to join the Missionaries of Charity Fathers and has since spent time with the order in Mexico, Italy, India and Guatemala.
Reflecting on what made Mother Teresa inspire so many thousands of people across the globe – including a young man from Perth – he said it was her “simplicity and detachment from the world.”
“She’s one very much dedicated to her mission of serving the poor,” he said.