News Post
Fides et Scientia Speaker Jim Towey Inspires Students
On Monday, December 2, close friend of Saint Mother Teresa and author of her biography “To Love and Be Loved,” Jim Towey, spoke to Visitation students as part of the Fides et Scientia speaker series, sponsored by the St. Jane de Chantal Salesian Center. Fides et scientia means “faith and knowledge,” and it serves as the school’s motto.
“I wanted the Fides et Scientia speakers to speak to their faith and knowledge in the ways that they are loving God and serving His people in the world,” said Kati Hylden Krueger ‘99, who added that she appreciated how Towey used his role as a lawyer to help Mother Teresa as well as his direct service to those Mother Teresa also served.
Towey spoke to the year-long Salesian theme of “Abide in Love,” which paired well with what he had learned from his years in close contact with Mother Teresa. In fact, Mrs. Krueger considers Mother Teresa to be a spiritual granddaughter of St. Francis de Sales and St. Jane de Chantal.
Towey “exudes the kind of relationship with God and service to others that we try and hold up in Salesian Spirituality,” she said. “He speaks beautifully to his own humanity and Mother Teresa’s humanity, and how God works through that humanity to sanctify us, which is very much what St. Francis speaks about in his Introduction to a Devout Life.”
“Whenever you care for someone in need, you are helping them abide in love,” said Towey.
Towey spoke to students about Mother Teresa’s life: “She trusted that God would equip her … If you are going to give your life to others, you need strength to do it,” which came from the Eucharist, he said.
“Mother Teresa was a woman. She was funny. She liked to laugh. She liked to make her Sisters laugh,” Towey said. “She became a saint through her humanity - through her gifts, through the womanly courage she had.”
He advised students, “Don’t think you have to be perfect to be a saint … That’s not how God sees you. He’s more interested in your love than your sins.”
Mrs. Krueger hoped students would “be inspired to consider how their own relationship with God and how their own personality and talents can be used as a source of hope, service and lifting up of other people,” from Towey’s story.
“I better understood our school's motto by realizing that I too can use my ‘ordinary’ talents and gifts to try and do extraordinary things. Hearing Mr. Towey tell Mother Teresa's simple stories really helped me realize that these incredible saints, at the end of the day, are all humans made in God's image and likeness, just like we are as Visitation student,” said senior Izzy Carosi. “And so we have the opportunity to make an impact, whether big or small, as long as we love one another and utilize the unique gifts that God granted us.”
“One takeaway I have from Mr. Towey's speech was his emphasis on the importance of loving the small things and living gratefully in the small moments of life,” said Chloe Morton ‘25. “I was inspired by his stories of Mother Teresa's genuine selflessness as well as his own faithful testimony.”