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Title details for To Love and Be Loved by Jim Towey - Wait list

To Love and Be Loved

A Personal Portrait of Mother Teresa

by Jim Towey
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From a trusted advisor and devoted friend of Mother Teresa comes a "powerful" (The Washington Free Beacon) firsthand account of the miraculous woman behind the saint and a book that is "rich in reflection on contemporary sanctity" (George Weigel).
Mother Teresa was one of the most admired women of the 20th century, and her memory continues to inspire charitable work around the world. She believed the greatest need of a human being is to love and be loved. In 1948, she founded the Missionaries of Charity to work directly with the very poorest of Calcutta. From the efforts of one woman entering the slums of Entally, the Missionaries of Charity grew into an organization operating soup kitchens, health clinics, hospices, and shelters in 139 countries, at no cost to any government or to those who served. In 2016, she became Saint Teresa of Calcutta.

Author Jim Towey had been a high-flying Congressional staffer and lawyer in the 1980s until a brief meeting with Mother Teresa illuminated the emptiness of his life. He began volunteering at one of her soup kitchens and using his legal skills and political connections to help the Missionaries of Charity. When Mother Teresa suggested he take up shifts at her AIDS hospice, Towey realized he was all in. Soon, he gave up his job and possessions and became a full-time volunteer for Mother Teresa. He traveled with her frequently, arranged her meetings with politicians, and handled many of her legal affairs.

To Love and Be Loved is an "inspiring and joyful" (Kirkus Reviews) firsthand account of Mother Teresa's last years, and the first book ever to detail her dealings with worldly matters. We see her gracefully navigate the opportunities and challenges to leadership, the perils of celebrity, and the humiliations and triumphs of aging. We also catch her indulging in chocolate ice cream, making jokes about mini-skirts, and telling the President of the United States he's wrong. Above all, we see her extraordinary devotion to God and to the very poorest of His children. Mother Teresa taught Towey to be more prayerful, less selfish, more humble, less worldly, move in love with God, and less in love with himself. Her lessons are here for all to share.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    September 6, 2022

  • Formats

    • Kindle Book

    • OverDrive Read

      • ISBN: 9781982195649

    • EPUB ebook

      • ISBN: 9781982195649
      • File size: 74968 KB

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Kirkus

      August 15, 2022
      One man's memories of the iconic saint. Towey is a former president of Saint Vincent College and Ave Maria University, and he served as director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives under George W. Bush. However, he begins this combination of memoir and biography during his days as a Senate staffer, a role that gave him the opportunity to meet Mother Teresa (1910-1997). For the next 12 years, the author developed a close friendship with her, and that relationship fundamentally changed the direction of his life. He also acted as her lawyer and as legal counsel for the order she had established, the Missionaries of Charity. This position provided Towey with a rare level of access to Mother Teresa and unique insight into her interactions with the world around her, whether in her home in Calcutta or in the halls of power around the world. Towey's primary narrative focus is the profound impact Mother Teresa and the Missionaries of Charity made on him throughout his life. In a short amount of time, after having witnessed and taken part in the work of the nuns, the author began to feel his goals and direction changing. "I could feel the sisters setting a new trajectory for my life, and I liked where I was heading," he writes. "They were making me a better man." Though Towey's personal, transformative relationship with Mother Teresa forms the central theme, he also offers a fascinating inside look into Mother Teresa's daily life. He paints a picture of an aging woman who has survived tremendous ordeals, ranging from hunger and disease to revolution and warfare. Despite this, the Mother Teresa he knew was unfailingly kind, loving, and--in a theme he returns to throughout the text--maternal. Critics may read Towey's work as a hagiography, but it is nonetheless inspiring and joyful.

      COPYRIGHT(2022) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

    • Booklist

      August 1, 2022
      Towey's life was transformed by Mother Teresa. He first met Mother Teresa, later canonized Saint Teresa of Calcutta, while traveling in India with a U.S. senator. Missionaries of Charity sisters befriended him, captivating him with their joy and wholehearted service. The sisters expected the same from him, immediately sending him to wash a dying man. When Towey later offered the sisters a washing machine to save time, he was reminded that their vow was "a vow of poverty, not efficiency." Mother Teresa is shown as the tireless and influential leader of a talented, multinational force of mostly women. These sisters joined Mother Teresa in loving Calcutta's poor, sick, and otherwise disregarded residents. Towey portrays Mother Teresa in trademark sandals and sari, and also as a human who experienced loneliness, wrestled with doubts, and loved sweets. She was far from a plaster saint. This personal portrait is by turns autobiographical, biographical, and devotional. Especially moving are the stories of Mother Teresa's vivid calling through a vision, her dark night of the soul, and her final decline.

      COPYRIGHT(2022) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Formats

  • Kindle Book
  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB ebook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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