You Don't Have to Go FAR to Serve Christ

0:00Welcome to the morning offering. You're daily called a prayer. Pray with us every day right here on the podcast and in your inbox. Learn more at morningoffering.com. Hey y'all, welcome to your morning offering. My name is Father Brad Doyle and today is September 5th, St. Teresa of Calcutta, Mother Teresa. Isn't it cool when some saints just get a pass like you don't have to say they're like Padre Pio who calls on Pete St. Pio of Piotr Tina. No one says that to say Padre Pio or Mother Cabrini. I'll say sister St. Cabrini. I think it's because they were so with the people. It's like we knew them. You know, let's pray. And the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. O Jesus through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I offer you my prayers, works, joys and sufferings of this day for all the intentions of your sacred heart and union with the Holy

1:01Sacrifice of the Mass throughout the world. For the salvation of souls, the reparation of sins, the reunion of all Christians, and in particular the intentions of the Holy Father this month. Amen. And the name of the Father and of the Son of the Holy Spirit. So this one priest in our diocese, Father Bahi, he had a life. He was like, you know, like in forced gump, forced gump shows up at like all these main events and like he just is there. Father Bahi's like that, not in his mental capacity. He's very smart. But he always just seems to be where things are happening. You know, he's recorded an album with Aaron Neville if you're from Louisiana. You know what that is on the stations of the cross and the rosary. And he once met Mother Teresa and happened like this. He was actually the chaplain of the LSU basketball team and he heard some of the basketball players. This one's Shaq was a part of the team. And he heard some of the basketball players saying, man, I'm going to be famous and I'm

2:03going to be successful. And then he was like, hey, do you want to know what true success is? Come with me to India. We'll go visit Mother Teresa. And he didn't expect all any of them to say yes. And then some of them did Shaq didn't go. But some of them said, okay, I'll go. And now he's like, oh, I got to figure this out. I got to talk to Mother Teresa. Can I even do this? So he calls up India. This is before like internet and everything. He had to like find a number to like the diocese. And like, hey, can I talk to Mother Teresa? They're like, okay, call the comment. So he calls the comment. He's like, hey, I'm talking to Mother Teresa. And he doesn't think this is going to work. And all of a sudden this little voice gets on. Hello. I don't know if that's what Mother Teresa sounds like, but it's not. Hello. Is that, can I speak with Mother Teresa? She is speaking. And then he was like, I'm speaking to Mother Teresa. So he asked, they went, Ma, they're there. She said to the basketball player something that she often said. She often said, so I'll read what she wrote. But this is what she told the basketball players, because they were blown away.

3:05But she said, stay where you are. Find your own cowcutta. I love that. It almost sounds like she's like kicking them out, you know, like go back home. Find your own cowcutta. This is my cowcutta. What does she mean? She goes on further. Find the sick, the suffering, and the lonely right where you are in your own homes and in your own families, in your workplaces and in your schools. You can find cowcutta all over the world. If you have the eyes to see everywhere, wherever you go, you find people who are unwanted, unloved, uncared for, just rejected by society, completely forgotten, completely left alone. Basically what Mother Teresa was saying is that you don't have to go to cowcutta in India to find people who are Christ in the poor. Sometimes we even rather go to India. We'd rather travel across the pond, go to India,

4:09and serve people there, than talk to the aggravating parishioner in the pews. Oh, Mother Teresa says that's your cowcutta. We're sitting right next to you. They're sitting across from you at the breakfast table. That's your cowcutta. Find your own cowcutta. This has been your reflection for today. If it was helpful for you, go to morningoffering.com and sign up. We'll be in your inbox every morning. This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be gladin' it. Thanks for listening today. Be sure to like, share, and subscribe to our YouTube channel. The Morning Offering is a production of Good Catholic, the Media Division of the Catholic Company. For more faith-filled podcast and videos, visit goodcatholic.com.