Today's saint, Catherine of Siena, is one of the most brilliant theologians in Church history – and was such with no formal education; she was also a member of the Third Order of St. Dominic – (The Dominicans) Order of Preachers – she was born in 1347, the 25th child of a wool dyer in northern Italy.
Catherine was gifted with mystical experiences when she was only 6, seeing guardian angels as clearly as the people they protected. Becoming a Dominican tertiary when she was 16, she continued to have visions of Jesus, Mary, and the saints. St. Catherine was one of the most brilliant theological minds of her day, and without any formal education – proof positive that it is God himself who reveals the depths of his mysteries to whomever he chooses – most of all the simple and the childlike. It is God who chooses us to be in a living and working relationship with him, not the other way around. And unless he chooses us, there is nothing we can do about it except pray that he does choose us. This goes for ourselves and those we love.
God used Catherine to do some powerful things. On fire with the love of God she established peace and concord between cities. She vigorously fought for the rights and freedom of the Roman Pontiff: she persuaded him to go back to Rome from Avignon in 1377; she died trying to heal the Great Western Schism. In 1375 Our Lord gave her the Stigmata, which was visible only after her death.
St. Catherine's letters, and her treatise called: The Dialogue (which contained sections entitled: The Way of Perfection, Dialogue, The Bridge, Tears, Truth, The Mystical Body of Holy Church, Divine Providence and Obedience). My favorite sections are "The Bridge" and "Obedience".
The Dialogue itself is actually a written record of her own personal "interview" with God the Father himself. What we read here then is directly from God our loving Father for our knowledge, to be our motivation for action. The Bridge, that he describes for Catherine is the Passion and Death of His Only Begotten Son: Jesus – JESUS IS THE BRIDGE between heaven and earth. And we are either on the Bridge that will take us eventually into eternal light and life, or we are in the raging river below that will take us swiftly to perdition and eternal doom. NOW WE MUST DECIDE where we want to be – AT EACH AND EVERY MOMENT. There is no standing still. Even on the bridge we must continue to decide, because this is an unusual kind of bridge. It is like a treadmill that very slowly keeps moving us backwards unless we consciously choose to and actually step forward. Constant conscientious decisions to love God, and love others because you are loved by him are what is necessary to keep one moving forward! It's as easy as that! But it must be done day in and day out!
So therefore – Obedience, the last part of the Dialogue is extremely important. Basically, God the Father insists that he is our Father, and he knows best for us, his children, and that there is objective reality – and that our subjective participation in it is our free, conscious decision to stay on the Bridge. Obedience, then, to this, his loving will for our happiness, is essential for our happiness! Jesus found incredible strength, power and eventually JOY from becoming OBEDIENCE-IN-THE-FLESH to offset Adam and Eve's deliberate fleshly disobedience. Today may we be free from sin – may we stay on the Bridge and obey God the Father who only has our very best interest at heart.
Blessed are you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth; you have revealed to little ones the mysteries of the Kingdom. St. Catherine of Siena, pray for us!
No comments:
Post a Comment