+ Today we recall the life and holiness of one who is well on her way to sainthood in the Catholic Church: Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha, who was a daughter of a Christian Algonquin Indian, captured by the Iroquois and married to a non-Christian Mohawk chief in New York State. She was orphaned during a smallpox epidemic which left her with a scarred face and impaired eyesight. She was converted and baptized in 1676 by Father Jacques de Lamberville, a Jesuit missionary from France. Kateri was shunned and abused by her relatives for her faith. She escaped from them and went across the border into Canada to the Christian Native American village of Sault-Sainte-Marie. There she took a vow of chastity in 1679. She was known for her spirituality and austere lifestyle. She was a miracle worker. Her grave became a pilgrimage site and place of miracles for Christian Native Americans and French colonists. Her cause for canonization was started in 1884 under Pope Leo XIII. And in June of 1980, Pope John Paul II declared her blessed. Her canonization is now pending.
Known as the "Lily of the Mohawks" – Kateri Tekakwitha considered herself to be like one espoused to God forever, espoused in right and in justice, in love and in mercy and in fidelity – as we read in the first reading today from the Prophet Hosea. And she did all the she possibly could to protect and nurture her espousement, her intimate relationship with God – who first came to her and invited her to companionship!
In the gospel passage we see Jesus himself tell us that the mysteries of the kingdom will simply be given to the childlike – to those like Kateri Tekakwitha who are chosen by Jesus to be the recipients of such amazing knowledge.
We pray that we today may be childlike enough to receive and understand the simple truth and reality that we are God's adopted children, he loves us so very dearly, and that we therefore will always have all we need to sustain both our supernatural as well as our natural lives – why wouldn't we, with GOD as our Father!
Blessed are you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, you have revealed to little ones the mysteries of the Kingdom.
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