“This is Jesus that you are serving the chocolate pudding to! Everyone that comes through this door is Jesus.”
—A nun to seminary students volunteering at a soup kitchen
Friday morning, St. Patrick’s Cathedral livestreamed a memorial mass for Mother Teresa. The priest administering the mass was Father Enrique F. Salvo. Though he tends to ramble a bit, I enjoy his remarks. Today, I felt the homily running away from him, until he quoted the nun above. In that moment, the sermon came into crystalline focus. This is the Christianity so many of us claim to desire!
Earlier in his life, Father Salvo was a seminary student volunteering at a soup kitchen, preparing cups of pudding for a long line of people. Boys will be boys. They became sloppy and irreverent in how they prepared the dish. A Sister reproved them. Years later, Father Salvo recounts this moment in a heartfelt sermon devoted to Mother Teresa’s ministry and legacy.
Please watch the below clip and then return here to share your reaction:
If you have any trouble viewing the embedded video, it may be found directly at YouTube on the St. Patrick’s Cathedral NYC Channel. For this post, the relevant portion of the mass starts at 11:30 in the runtime and goes until 18:30.
Questions for Discussion
What was your reaction to Father Salvo’s story? Have you ever had a similar experience while providing charity? What are your thoughts on Mother Teresa’s life and example?
Wheat & Tares 
I liked the homily (the sermon). Here’s what resonated with me: He taught a principle using a real and personal story. The principle was paramount, not the story, but the story taught the principle.
It would be interesting to have a statistical comparison between stories like this one and stories about financial success after paying tithing in our local LDS wards.
Teresa of Calcutta has never resonated with me. Probably because of her stand (I know it’s a Catholic belief) on reproductive and bodily autonomy . But this story made me reconsider, After all, I’m not picking dying beggars off the street nor am I directly feeding the hungry. Mote/Beam. Excuse me while I get something out of my eye.
Thanks to each of you for your reflections. Have a great Sunday!
My immediate thought was to contrast teaching “Everyone that comes through this door is Jesus” with “Substitute the word Savior or Lord or Jesus Christ in place of “the Church”[1].”
I like one of those a lot more than the other one.
[1] Kevin Hamilton, BYU devotional, Jan 2023.