Exiit qui seminat - St. Kateri Tekakwitha
On Wednesday of this week the Church celebrated the feast day of St. Kateri Tekakwitha, the first native American to be declared "Blessed" in 1980 by Pope St. John Paul II and a saint by Pope Benedict XVI in 2012. I can remember Sr. Angelina, my fifth grade teacher, reading to us the story of the "Lilly of the Mohawks", her life of purity and piety, the tremendous personal suffering she endured and the persecution she faced being a part of two words (that of her tribe and of her faith) and being ostracized. St. Kateri never let ridicule or strife get in the way of her pursuit of holiness and lived out a life of simplicity and prayer: "I am not my own; I have given myself to Jesus. He must be my only love." St. Kateri's last words at the moment of her death were, "Jesus, I love you." Her example reminds us that our faith doesn't need to be "flashy". We aren't always called to be brilliant theologians or scholars. What is necessary is that we love Christ and one another simply, fully and completely, just like St. Kateri Tekakwitha. In his homily at her canonization in 2012, Pope Benedict XVI stated, "May her example help us to live where we are, loving Jesus without denying who we are. Saint Kateri, Protectress of Canada and the first native American saint, we entrust to you the renewal of the faith in the first nations and in all of North America!"
Sincerely Yours in Christ,
Fr. Rob Sinatra
