St. Catherine of Siena and the Truth

St. Catherine of Siena prayed to know eternal truth. St. Catherine was often challenged and at times ridiculed. She was even called an "ignorant little woman." One day a Franciscan scholar and an Augustinian Brother decided to challenge her as they felt it their duty "to speak to her so that she may see her errors.." The two theologians decided to question her, in the midst of a large group. And so the story goes:

Now Master Gabriele lived in his convent in the style of a cardinal. He had had the walls taken down between three cells to make himself a spacious room; his bed was provided with curtains and rugs of silk; he possessed books and many other things worth many hundred ducats. Catherine knew this and suddenly she upset all the snares which the Franciscan had prepared for her and told him to be ashamed of the life that he, a son of St. Francis dared to live. 'How is it possible for you to understand anything of that which pertains to the Kingdom of God....you who live only for the world and to be honored and esteemed by men? Your learning is of but little use to others and only harms yourself, for you seek the shell, not the core. For the sake of Jesus Christ Crucified, do not live this way any longer'!

Her words struck the heart, mind and soul of the learned Franciscan. He took the keys from his belt and handed them to Catherine. He looked around the room and shouted, "Is there no one present here who will go to my cell and take everything he finds there and give it to the poor?"

Both of those learned men changed their lives dramatically from that day on. They both gave away all their possessions to the poor and lived humbly for the rest of their lives.

They had been challenged by a living saint and a doctor of the Church and by God's piercing truth.

NJA

O eternal Trinity, my sweet love! You light, give us light

You, wisdom, give us wisdom, You, supreme strength,

strengthen us,

Today, eternal God, let our cloud be dissipated so that we may

perfectly know and follow your truth, in truth, with a free and simple heart.

St. Catherine

The Royal Wedding-The Power of Love & Hope

I woke up at 5:30 this morning to watch the Royal Wedding. What a wonderful feast day William and Catherine chose to wed on-the feast of St. Catherine of Siena-mystic and saint extraordinaire. That will bring extra blessings to their already very blessed lives. To see such a beautiful couple, so in love, married in a majestic church wedding in Westminster Abbey lifted my mood and gave me hope.

I needed to experience hope this morning after watching the devastating news the night before. I know I shouldn't watch tragic news late at night, because then I can't sleep. I was overwhelmed with sadness for the tragedy that struck so suddenly and changed the lives of so many in the southern part of the United States. I couldn't sleep thinking about the tragic loss of life, from the random, killer tornados. Such destruction, senseless chaos and loss is difficult to comprehend. One minute, these people affected by the destruction, had a normal life and within minutes everything they've worked for was gone, in the cruelest of fate. For some, their lives were taken from them. Images like that, can keep me up for hours at night, when I think of the real people living through that "hellish nightmare", a "nightmare" the survivors won't soon wake up from. I tossed and turned and prayed for them.

I had set my alarm for 5:30 and I was determined to watch the Royal Wedding in real time, as it was happening. So with a few hours sleep, I turned on the TV to watch a true celebration of love, a union in Christ and with Christ and I once again regained hope. In the words of Scripture that were read, in the wise reflection by the minister, in the meaningful hymns (which were sung to perfection), in the loving glances Prince William and Princess Catherine gave to each other, in the celebration playing out throughout England, there was hope and I needed to see those happy, joyous, faith-filled images early this morning. (I thought of the memory of Princess Diana and imagined her smiling down from Heaven, proud of her sons........). I needed to see and hear the depth and beauty that religion can bring to any tradition, ceremony or event, regardless of how much pomp and pageantry is present. If God is part of the celebration it has depth, meaning and grace, beyond what human beings can plan for or hope for. Jesus taught how much power there is in genuine love and in hope. Whenever Christ is present, hope thrives.

I was reminded and it was reinforced for me, that the power of love, hope and compassion will help to rebuild lives in the southern United States. Many of the people from the stricken areas of Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia and other states, were people of deep faith and belief. Their faith will serve them well, as they rebuild their lives and damaged structures. They will hold their faith tight, because in their belief and hope, they will gain the strength they need to go on......and good people everywhere will help them.

NJA

In your nature, eternal Godhead, I shall come to know my nature. And what is my nature, boundless love? It is fire because you are nothing but a fire of love.........

O eternal Trinity, my sweet love! You light, give us light, you wisdom, give us wisdom, you supreme strength, strengthen us. Today eternal God, let our cloud be dissipated, so that we may perfectly know and follow your truth, in truth, with a free and simple heart. St. Catherine of Siena

My Lord, what do you want me to do? I will do it! St. Catherine

Doctor Ecclesiae-Doctor of the Church

I gave a talk recently on St. Catherine of Siena, so once again I had to research the life and writings of this great saint. She was one of the women saints that I spoke about, a couple of weeks ago. As I was preparing for the talk, I thought to myself that I have to re-read the writings of these extraordinary women saints, whose lives have impacted so many, including me. Their writings are so rich, so filled with wisdom, love and truth that everytime I go back to them, I realize I've stayed away too long.

The first person to arrive the evening of my talk was a retired fire department lieutenant. To my surprise he knew a lot about St. Catherine of Siena and the other saints I was going to speak about. He had read many of the writings of the saints and he could have given the talk himself. Never underestimate the faithful! As you can imagine, he had a lot of good comments and contributed much to the discussion. 

In 1970, Pope Paul VI, declared St. Catherine, a Doctor of the Church (as well as St. Teresa of Avila). The title dates back to the Middle Ages and honors the extraordinary holiness of a saint as well as important writings and doctrine. A woman had not received the title before 1970. 

(There are only 3 women Doctors of the Church. The two others are Carmelites-St. Teresa of Avila and the youngest doctor who is St. Therese of Lisieux).  

In his homily, declaring Catherine a Doctor of the Church the Pope mentioned, "Catherine's lucid and profound absorption of divine truths." For an "unschooled" woman to receive this honor is quite amazing. Once again, I think of Scripture, "With God all things are possible." What other explanation could there be, other than God guiding St. Catherine and enabling her to know divine truths. 

St. Catherine often repeated these words, which might be good for us to recite as well, "My Lord, what do you want me to do. I will do it." The central theme in Catherine's writing is the love of God for all of us and the love shown through Christ's sacrifice on the Cross. These themes appear over and over again in the writings of the saints.

Here is one of her beautiful prayers that I read that evening. As I read the prayer, I could sense the divine inspiration that Catherine had, enabling her to write such a simple, yet profound and deeply moving prayer. What a gift to the Church! What pure love she had for the Trinity!

NJA

O eternal Trinity, my sweet love!

You, light, give us light.

You, wisdom, give us wisdom.

You, supreme strength, strengthen us.

Today, eternal God, let our cloud be dissipated

so that we may perfectly know and follow your truth, 

in truth with a free and simple heart.

St. Catherine of Siena 

The Great St. Catherine

Since March is National Women's History Month and this is the last day of the month, I thought I would share a reflection from a remarkable Catholic woman, who was bold, intelligent and creative. She was a Dominican laywoman-St. Catherine of Siena.  She is a canonized saint and one of the three women Doctors of the Church. She is a woman I greatly admired along with St. Teresa of Avila and St. Therese of Lisieux, the other two women Doctors. The following words were a Meditation of the Day in Magnificat, the daily missal, that I couldn't live without. I recently met Fr. Peter Cameron, O.P., the editor of Magnificat and I told him how much Magnificat means to me. He told me that he chooses the reflections. The reflections help make Magnificat the great resource that it is. I recently read this piece at a retreat day that I gave and as I was reading it, I realized how powerful it is. And so that is why I am sharing it today. 

Living the New Wine of Christ

Love God not for your own sake, for your own profit, but love him for his sake, because he is the highest Good and is worthy of being loved. Then your love will be perfect and not mercenary. You will be unable to think of anything except Christ crucified and the wine you have drunk-that is, the perfect charity which you see God has shown and given you before the creation of the world, since he was in love with you before you even came to be. If he had not so fallen in love with you he would never have created you. But because of the love he had for you as he saw you within himself, he was moved to grant you being. How your thoughts will be stretched when you drink this charity! I mean you will be thinking about what there is still to drink, eagerly desiring to taste and possess the supreme eternal beauty of God. 

Now we have found the place where love resides and where the soul may get it, and we have found out how we are to take hold of it. I beg you then, for the love of Christ crucified, not to be indifferent. No, set your mind on going to that place, and on keeping to the road I have shown you. If you do this you will fulfill God's will and desire in your regard, for he seeks and wills nothing else but that you be made holy.....

He is our gentle God, and he has no need of us. He loved us before we loved him and he have himself to us as a gift, not because he had to. I don't want you to be ungrateful for so great a favor, but thankful and appreciative in response to the grace and loving mercy of the Holy Spirit....Keep living in God's holy and tender love.  St.Catherine of Siena

NJA