Today is the Feast of Saint Catherine of Siena (1347 – 1380). Happy feast day! Catherine was the youngest of twenty-five children, was born in Siena in Italy on March 25, 1347. While her parents willed her to marry, young Catherine refused having taken a vow of virginity at the age of seven. Her mother and father finally relented and their child entered the Third Order of Saint Dominic.

Throughout her life, Catherine had a widespread reputation for great personal holiness and great spiritual authority. The heads of Church and State bowed to her words. She even journeyed to Avignon and persuaded Pope Gregory XI to return to Rome. Father Karl Pung, Rector of Saint Mary Cathedral in Lansing, now explains why he loves Saint Catherine. Father Pung writes:

While St. Catherine lived only 33 years, she allowed God to make great use of her. In addition to her embodiment of service and prayer, she dictated over 380 letters to persons at all strata of life, as well as the spiritual classic The Dialogue of Divine Providence.

When one reads St. Catherine’s letters, you will find that she has a particular gift to try to persuade by inspiration. Repeatedly when writing to various individuals, St. Catherine will describe some virtue or path in life in such a way that was meant to draw someone to it through its attractiveness. While she sometimes offers firm challenges, it is clear that she would prefer to draw someone into a change life or behavior by love, beauty, and positive desires. To see and embrace the beauty of the Christian life and the communion a person can have with God are all important parts of understanding this Saint.

As a priest one of her insights that still informs my ministry and prayer today comes from the The Dialogue of Divine Providence. In this work St. Catherine has an extended conversation with God. One of the insights she puts forth for our edification is about priests and the sacraments. St. Catherine noted that the more the priest looks like the sacrament he is celebrating, the easier it is for the people to believe the reality of the sacrament itself. She acknowledged that regardless of the spiritual state of the priest, the objective reality of the sacrament occurs. The more a priest resembled the sacrament, the easier it was for the people to receive the truth of it. The more I as a priest look like Eucharist (Jesus, sacrifice, meal, communion, etc.) the easier it is for the People of God to believe they are entering into communion, sacrifice, and meal with Jesus. The same is true of the other sacraments. The more I reflect Baptismal graces, the docility to the Holy Spirit in Confirmation, or healing in the Anointing of the Sick, the easier it is for God’s people to be open to and receive the graces and actions of those sacraments.

So what do these two aspects of St. Catherine mean for Christians on a day to day basis? If we want to speak to the world and to draw people into a deeper relationship with Jesus we need to reflect what we are inviting them into. Our lives need to be attractive, free, and hopeful (to name a few qualities) and the not filled with shame or condemnation. While, there may be times when we have to help convict someone of sin, but that is so that a person can live in the beauty of the freedom that comes from a life of grace. To become an attractive Christian (nothing to do with physical beauty) that reflects the mysteries of our salvation (death and resurrection) is an important part in evangelizing our neighbors. Most of us do not reflect this beauty perfectly and all the time, but it is something to set our sights upon. When someone looks at my life do they see the beauty of Jesus? Do they see the beauty of the mysteries of our Salvation?

St. Catherine of Sienna, pray for us!