Father Bob Maguire, A.O.

I was indeed blessed to meet Father Bob Maguire in Melbourne, Australia...but he would probably make fun of me for thinking so! Father Bob, as he is affectionately known, had been serving South Melbourne for 35 years when I caught up with him during my 2009 journey to attend the Parliament of the World’s Religions.

Father Bob lost both of his parents during grade school and he joined a friend who signed up for Catholic seminary since he wasn’t sure how else he would survive. His journey as a social activist started with being trained for ‘the Church of the future,’ as Vatican II had just been finalized and, after some time serving in the bush, he became a chaplain in the Australian Army, teaching character development to help soldiers resist brainwashing if captured.

Father Bob’s greatest wish is the end of clericalism. His message from his own life is that we need to work out the purpose of our lives and, by so doing, we are inviting God into our lives. I will always remember this interview and the cheeky way in which Father Bob Maguire challenges us to be all of who we can be, most notably for each other.