Today is the feastday of St. Catherine of Siena.An extraordinary woman. Her sole focus was God and His will, and to this end, she lived a life that was surprising, to say the least, and even shocking to most of her time.
The first thing to remember about St. Catherine is that she was a single laywoman
Catherine’s family, horrified at her refusal to do the conventional thing, forced her to endure months of mistreatment before she won the right to join the Dominican Third Order and live a devout life at home. For three years, Catherine lived a life of prayer, silence, and austerity in her tiny 9-by-12-foot room. During the Carnival of 1366, she experienced a mystical betrothal to Christ. A few days later, she realized that God was asking her to leave her contemplative isolation and re-enter the world. Catherine of Siena was only 19 when her public ministry began.
The "conventional thing," of course, would have been to either marry or enter the cloister. In the fourteenth century, religious women were all cloistered. There was no such thing as religious women who had an apostolate of teaching or hospital work. That came a couple of centuries later.
It's fascinating that St. Catherine was so determined to absolutely defy the convention of her time. It's a determination that could only come from the strength of her own character, strengthened even more by the grace of God. Just think about it for a moment.
And what did she accomplish? Although we commonly associate her with the dispute over the Avignon Papacy more than anything else, her most notable accomplishment was the spiritual movement associated with her:
After three years of seclusion and intense prayer:
She now rejoined her family, began to tend the sick, especially those afflicted with the most repulsive diseases, to serve the poor, and to labour for the conversion of sinners. Though always suffering terrible physical pain, living for long intervals on practically no food save the Blessed Sacrament, she was ever radiantly happy and full of practical wisdom no less than the highest spiritual insight. All her contemporaries bear witness to her extraordinary personal charm, which prevailed over the continual persecution to which she was subjected even by the friars of her own order and by her sisters in religion. She began to gather disciples round her, both men and women, who formed a wonderful spiritual fellowship, united to her by the bonds of mystical love. (From the Catholic Encylopedia article on Catherine)
What is striking about Catherine is her utter fearlessness. The roots of this courage are, of course, not in any determination to adhere to human principles, or in false notions of "self-esteem" or self-confidence. The roots of Catherine's strength, courage and, indeed, her entire being, were in her total - may I use the term? - transparency to the will of God.
There's much to ponder in the life of St. Catherine, especially in terms of the current crisis in the Church which, if we're honest, is not a current crisis. The concealment of child abusers and the exploiters of youth in the ranks of the clergy is a tragic, yet apt summation of the worst expressions of the institutional church which we've been enduring for a while, secrecy, prioritizing clerical privilege, and a lack of concern for the Gospel, in favor of an obssessive concern with PR and financial matters.
But what I'm more interested in this morning is what St. Catherine says to each of us as individuals, as we're setting out each morning, making choices about who will rule in our lives today:
Will it be God, His will and His truth?
Or will it be fear of the world's disapproval?
Will it be God's love?
Or will it be the world's determination of what appropriate behavior for someone like us would be?
Will God be in charge of my life today, working through me to love and serve, or will I insist on wresting control from him for yet one more day, only to close my eyes tonight, wondering once again, why my life feels not quite right?
Lots of links on St. Catherine:
From the Catholic Community Forum
From the Open Directory
From the Dominicans
And finally, please stop by the site of the Catherine of Siena Institute, a marvelous lay renewal program inspired by the charism of St. Catherine (as opposed to the charism of Barely Christian Groupthink which is the inspiration for some parish renewal programs).
And really finally, a prayer:
God of Wisdom you made our sister Catherine burn with divine love in contemplating the Lord's passion and in serving your Church. With the help of her prayers may your people, united in the mystery of Christ, rejoice forever in the revelation of his glory, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen