April 29 2026 - St. Catherine of Siena (school mass) - The Courage to Encourage

 

Today, the Church celebrates a very courageous saint—St. Catherine from the Italian town of Siena.

St. Catherine was a member of a religious order called the Order of Preachers—the order founded by St. Dominic—also called the Dominicans.

St. Catherine possessed many gifts and virtues. She had a powerful intellect, she was a prolific writer, and for her great contributions to Church teaching has been named a Doctor of the Church. Catherin wasn’t just an intellectual though, she engaged in many great works of charity—she nursed the sick and visited prisoners in prison.

She also had many mystical, miraculous aspects of her life: she received the holy stigmata—the very wounds of Jesus’ crucifixion--on her hands, feet, and heart. She also had what is called the mystical gift of tears, she would weep in union with Jesus for the souls of sinners. For many years, she ate nothing, except, once a day she would receive the Lord’s body and blood—the eucharist.

Though she died in the year 1380—almost 650 years ago—her body has not deteriorated, but remains incorrupt. I’ve seen it, multiple time. I always go to visit the body of St. Catherine when I am in Rome.

But, I’d like to share with you today about St. Catherine’s courage. In the 1300s the King of France exerted tremendous political pressure upon the Church and convinced the Pope to move his residence from Rome to a city in France called Avignon.

So, instead of living in Rome, the place of Peter’s martyrdom, the Popes from 1309 to 1377 lived in France, during which time there was great turmoil in Europe—factions and violent hostility.

Each day, holy St. Catherine would make a pilgrimage to St. Peter basilica to pray for the Pope’s return to Rome, she wrote to the Pope and pleaded for his return. For 20 years, she prayed and wrote, until in the summer of 1376, she went to Avignon herself, and convinced Pope Gregory XI to return Rome despite the pressure of the French Cardinals who elected him.

“I beg of you, on behalf of Christ crucified, that you be not a timorous child but manly” she said…to the Pope. “Be a man”. Stand up and do what is right for the good of the Church.

It takes a lot of Courage to say something like that to the Pope, but she did so out of love for the Church, love for peace, love for souls. Catherine was not in competition with the Pope, she wanted Him to become the best man he could be. We must have the Courage to Encourage others.

Girls, ladies, please be like St. Catherine, encouraging the men in your life to be the best men they can be. And all of us, need to be like St. Catherine, who encourage each other to do what is right, even when we face earthly pressure. May each of us cultivate courage born of true holiness, in love of Jesus Christ, for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

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Filled with Paschal joy, let us turn earnestly to God, to graciously hear our prayers and supplications.

 

For the shepherds of our souls, the pope, bishops, and clergy, that they may govern wisely the flock entrusted to them by the Good Shepherd, leading the Church in the increase in faith, hope, and love.

 

For the whole world, that it may truly know the peace of the Risen Christ.

 

That our parish may bear witness with great confidence to the Resurrection of Christ, and that the newly initiated hold fast to the faith they have received.

 

For our brothers and sisters who suffer, that their sorrow may be turned to gladness through the Christian faith.

 

That all of our beloved dead and all the souls in purgatory may come to the glory of the Resurrection.

 

O God, you know that our life in this present age is subject to suffering and need, hear the desires of those who cry to you and receive the prayers of those who believe in you. Through Christ our lord.

April 29 2022 - St. Catherine of Siena and the Avignon Papacy

 St. Catherine’s incorrupt body is preserved in the beautiful gothic basilica of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva in Rome.  I visited her a few times in that amazing basilica, and had the honor of attending Mass on, this, her feast day, in a small chapel behind the sacristy of the basilica from which St. Catherine would make a daily pilgrimage to St. Peter’s Basilica to pray for the return of the Pope from Avignon.

Along with many holy faithful members of the Church at the time, the Dominican nun. Catherine was deeply concerned that for nearly 70 years, the Pope resided, not in Rome, but in the lavish palace of Avignon France. It seemed the Pope had abdicated his spiritual responsibilities for purely temporal ones.  St. Catherine wrote to the Pope and visited the Pope and pleaded with him to return to Rome for the spiritual good of the Church. She did penance, she prayed, and as I said she made this daily pilgrimage. The prayers and pleadings of the holy woman were heard by God. For, in 1377, Gregory XI’s heart was moved to return his Curia to Rome where it has rightly remained.

St. Catherine life was filled with extraordinary mystical phenomena such as visions and revelations, raptures, mystical marriage, and the stigmata, and also great works of charity: nursing the sick and comforting prisoners in jail. She received the holy stigmata on her hands, feet and heart.  Catherine, also lived many years, eating nothing, save the flesh and blood of Christ in the Eucharist.  

“Preach the Truth as if you had a million voices,” she said. “It is silence that kills the world.” What an important message as we contemplate our Easter mission to preach the risen Christ and to “speak the word of God with boldness”. 

In the Gospel for today, our Lord multiplies a few fragments of bread to feed a multitude. The Lord is able to take the meager fragments of our lives, offered to him, to accomplish miraculous things, like in the life of St. Catherine—the humble, holy third-order Dominican who moved the heart of the Pope.

Through the example and heavenly intercession of St. Catherine of Siena, may we put all the gifts God gives us into his service for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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Filled with Paschal joy, let us turn earnestly to God, to graciously hear our prayers and supplications.

For the shepherds of our souls, the pope, bishops, and clergy, that they may govern wisely the flock entrusted to them by the Good Shepherd, leading the Church in the increase in faith, hope, and love.

For the whole world, that it may truly know the peace of the Risen Christ.

That our parish may bear witness with great confidence to the Resurrection of Christ, and that the newly initiated hold fast to the faith they have received. 

For our brothers and sisters who suffer, that their sorrow may be turned to gladness through the Christian faith.

That all of our beloved dead and all the souls in purgatory may come to the glory of the Resurrection.

O God, you know that our life in this present age is subject to suffering and need, hear the desires of those who cry to you and receive the prayers of those who believe in you. Through Christ our lord.

April 29, 2019 - St. Catherine of Siena - Speak the Word of God with Boldness

The Saints give us a special glimpse into what it looks like when Easter Faith permeates one’s life. Some of the saints of course become great evangelists, like St. Paul, St. Dominic, and St. Francis. Some lives are filled with abundant charity like St. Vincent de Paul, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, St. Mother Theresa. Some were filled with mystical phenomena, like St. Padre Pio, St Margaret Mary, St. Bernadette. Some, were filled with all these things and more. Such was the life of the Saint we honor today, St. Catherine of Siena.

As a member of the Order of Preachers, Catherine was prolific in her evangelizing efforts, writing 382 letters, prayers, and a treatise entitled the Dialogue of Divine Providence.

Her life was filled with extraordinary mystical phenomena such as visions and revelations, raptures, mystical marriage, and the stigmata, and also great works of charity: nursing the sick and comforting prisoners in jail. She received the holy stigmata on her hands, feet and heart.  Catherine, also lived many years, eating nothing, save the flesh and blood of Christ in the Eucharist.  Catherine also had the gift of tears, as the Lord wept at the death of Lazarus, those with the gift of tears weep in union with the sorrowful Christ for the souls of sinners.

St. Catherine’s body is also totally incorrupt, and is preserved in the beautiful gothic basilica of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva in Rome.  I visited her a few times in that amazing basilica.  I also had the honor of attending Mass on, this, her feast day, in the small chapel behind the sacristy of the basilica. 

During her life, the Pope, instead of residing in Rome, resided in Avignon, France.  Rightly, St. Catherine prayed for the return of the Pope to Rome. She wrote him letters pleading with Him to return to the Holy See.  She would attend Mass make a daily pilgrimage from that small chapel to St. Peter Basilica in the Vatican.  Catherine lived to see Pope Gregory XI move the See of Peter back to Rome, in 1377.

This great saint died in Rome in 1380. Even though she barely reached the age of thirty-three her accomplishments place her among the great women of the Middle Ages.  She was proclaimed a saint by Pope Pius II in 1461. In 1970, Pope Paul VI declared St. Catherine a Doctor of the Church.

“Preach the Truth as if you had a million voices,” she said. “It is silence that kills the world.” What an important message as we contemplate our Easter mission to preach the risen Christ. The love of God, Catherine cultivated in prayer enabled her, Like Peter and John in the first reading today, to “speak the word of God with boldness”. May we imitate her example and know the benefit of her heavenly intercession, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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Filled with Paschal joy, let us turn earnestly to God, to graciously hear our prayers and supplications.
For the shepherds of our souls, that they may have the strength to govern wisely the flock entrusted to them by the Good Shepherd.

For the whole world, that it may truly know the peace of the Risen Christ, especially for all victims of religious violence.

For our parish, that we may bear witness with great confidence to the Resurrection of Christ.

For our brothers and sisters who suffer, that their sorrow may be turned to gladness through the Christian faith.

That all of our beloved dead and all the souls in purgatory may come to the glory of the Resurrection.
O God, you know that our life in this present age is subject to suffering and need, hear the desires of those who cry to you and receive the prayers of those who believe in you. Through Christ our lord.

28th Sunday in OT 2017 - Mystical Marriage and the Wedding Feast

On Tuesday evenings, we’ve been offering the video series titled “The Pivotal Players”. The series beautifully presents the lives of men and women who deeply impacted Church history. We’ve studied St. Francis of Assisi who brought important reform to the Church of the Middle Ages by calling men and women back to Gospel simplicity in a time when Christians were beginning to become enamored with the luxuries of their day.

We learned from St. Thomas Aquinas, the priest, scholar, and theologian whose writings and systematic thinking about God and the Church continue to be of inestimable value.

Last week, we studied the life and impact of different sort of theologian, the mystic St. Catherine of Siena who is pivotal in helping the Church to contemplate the mystery of God’s love. Listen to her words: “You are a mystery as deep as the sea;” she says, “the more I search, the more I find, and the more I find, the more I search for you.  But I can never be satisfied; what I receive will ever leave me desiring more.  When you fill my soul, I have an even greater hunger, and I grow more famished for your light.”

Catherine’s deep yearning for God was also accompanied by extraordinary mystical phenomena such as visions and revelations, raptures, the stigmata. Catherine, lived many years eating nothing except the body and blood of Christ in the Eucharist.  And often, her prayer was so intense, she would begin to levitate.

Catherine was named by Pope Paul VI as a Doctor of the Church, which is surprising because she was illiterate. As a Doctor of the Church Catherine teaches the Church of all ages essential lessons about the Christian Life. And Catherine is very clear that the purpose of the Christian life is to grow in union with God through prayer, fervent meditation on the suffering of Christ, fasting, cultivation of the virtues, purification from sin, reliance on the Sacraments of the Church, and total abandonment to the Holy Will of God.


Union with God was a theme of her writings and reflections. At the age of 19, having already attained tremendous sanctity, St. Catherine had a vision, in which Jesus gave her a wedding ring, symbolic of her union with Christ the Bridegroom of the Church. Theologians call this the Mystical Marriage, a foreshadowing of the eternal union the blessed obtain in heaven. This is the point of the Christian life, to grow in this union here on earth, that we may share in this union in heaven.

This image of mystical marriage with God isn’t just the fanciful imagining of medieval mystics. Jesus himself uses this image in the Gospel parable we heard today: A king had thrown a wedding feast for his son and sent out servants to invite the guests.  Some guests ignored the invitation.  Others abducted the king’s servants, mistreated them, and killed them. One guest was found unworthy or at least unprepared for the feast.

Who is the king in this parable? Who is the son? Who is his unnamed Bride? Who are the servants? Who are the guests?

Well, of course, the King is God the Father, who celebrates the Marriage of Christ, His Son to  the Church. The Marriage was accomplished on the cross. Jesus himself announces this on the cross, when he says, “Consummatum est”—it is consummated. The servants are the apostles and all those God has sent out into the world to invite sinners to repent and become members of the Church. The guests are those who are given a choice: will you join the wedding feast or not?

At the end of the parable, there is a guest who is thrown out because he is not wearing the wedding garment. Perhaps, this is a Christians, who had lost his wedding garment through sin. Perhaps here is a Christian-in-name-only who went through life simply going through the motions, but never actually sought the intimate union that God wants to establish with us.

In baptism we do receive a wedding garment. But it is up to us to keep that wedding garment unstained and intact. And if it becomes stained or tattered or lost by sin, it must be cleansed and repaired through the Sacraments, particularly the Sacrament of Confession.

The wedding feast of the parable is certainly an allegory for heaven. And yet, we cannot help but see a parallel to what we are doing here, right now.

Since the earliest days of the Church, the Mass, celebrated each Sunday and every day for almost two thousand years, has been called “the Wedding Feast of the Lamb.” Here at Holy Mass, we are the wedding guests who have responded to the invitation of the King. Here at Holy Mass, those who are prepared through Sacramental Confession, are able to feed on the richest food and choicest wine of all, the Body and Blood of Jesus. Here we are able to receive a foretaste of the Communion the blessed enjoy at the eternal wedding feast of heaven.

Over the last few decades, millions of Catholics have fallen away from the Catholic Church.  BUT, the number one reason why Catholics return to the Church is because of their hunger for the Eucharist.  People return to the Church, because here and only here does Christ give us his true flesh and blood.

Many Catholics come to Mass every day because of this deep hunger for Him. To paraphrase Catherine of Siena, the more we eat, the more we hunger. The desire to know God, to be with God, to be close to God is very good, it’s our deepest longing. But it’s up to us to pursue it, to pursue the God who wants to see us flourish in holiness, who wants to see us become saints.

As I mentioned St. Catherine subsisted for years only on the Eucharist. This was possible because the Eucharist is the supersubstantial food of heaven, it is the very life and presence of God. St. Catherine would often see blazing fire in the consecrated host, for rightly so, the Eucharist is the ardent fire of God’s love for us. The Eucharist is the source and summit of the Church’s life, for from it we receive the grace to live out our union with Christ in the world.

May each of us like Saint Catherine be set aflame with divine love, be united to the Lord in his sufferings, and be devoted to the building up and serving of his Holy Church for the glory of God and salvation of souls.