The World on Fire

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St. Catherine of Siena, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, visionary

Franciscanmedia.org tells us that today is the feast of Catherine of Siena, one of the “stand-outs” in Church history, especially in the history of women saints. A famous quote attributed to her is worth repeating today: “Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire.” Admittedly we will all do that in our own way, perhaps not as extraordinarily as Catherine did. In 1376, Catherine succeeded in bringing the Pope back to Rome, thus ending the 74-year-long Church schism called the Avignon captivity. A 29-year-old woman. In the 14th century. Extraordinary, yes? One can only agree that Catherine was certainly a visionary who saw God’s will and did what she knew was hers to do.

What is your calling? Can you hear it? More to the point: are you listening?

Stretching the Point

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Brian Johnson, diamonds, Doctor of the Church, irritation, perseverance, St. Catherine of Siena, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, trouble

For me, Mondays are always days of new beginnings. Looking back to what has been completed, I take pleasure in crossing items off my “to do” list. Rarely, however, do I “start from scratch” on a Monday but in recognizing what has been accomplished rather than what still remains, I avoid the frustration of the incomplete.

Brian Johnson offered me a smile this morning on his website (Optimize) in speaking of the way that precious gems are produced from pressure and challenge or irritation. Diamonds from pressure and pearls from what we might call being rubbed the wrong way but then find to have been just the right way are both worth the trouble as they often teach us lessons along the way.

It may be a stretch to see a connection here to Catherine of Siena, one of the saintliest women (and finally celebrated as such) in the history of Christianity. Her feast day is today and I see her as a great example of one who was pressured and challenged throughout her short life (33 years) without ever giving up. For her perseverance through constant irritation in her home life and serious roadblocks in her efforts to save the Church from itself, she was finally “crowned” with the title “Doctor of the Church,” one of the few women to be so named even to today. Just a quick read from the “Saint of the Day” section on http://www.franciscanmedia.org seems to me enough to prove my point.

I will take Catherine with me today as I go about my daily tasks and try to follow her example of tenacity, regardless of any jewels that may or may not accrue as a result of what happens as we go.

The Glory of God

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Daniel Ladinsky, glory of God, kneel, pray, presence, psalm 19, sanctuary, St. Catherine of Siena, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Psalm 19 proclaims today that the heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament proclaims God’s handiwork! Even just the daffodils in our yard – very prolific this year – are a lovely sign of this as they turn each day toward the sun and dance so freely in the breeze. Here’s a random quote from Catherine of Siena, translated by the poet Daniel Ladinsky, that gives me pause in the same manner as I prepare for the day.

It could be said that God’s foot is so vast that this entire earth is but a field on his toe, and all the forests in this world came from the same root of just a single hair of His. What then is not a sanctuary? Where then can I not kneel and pray at a shrine made holy by His presence? (Love Poems from God, p. 205)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Body Image

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content, Daniel Ladinsky, looks, physical features, St. Catherine of Siena, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Here’s a word from St. Catherine of Siena, in translation by Daniel Ladinsky. It would be wonderful if those of us who are disappointed in any physical features that we have inherited are not of our liking. Hooray for all those content with their looks!

What is it you want to change? Your hair, your face, your body?

Why?                                                                   

For God is in love with all those things and He might weep when they are gone.

 

 

 

 

 

Late Word

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All the Way to Heaven, content, Jan Phillips, speak truth to power, St. Catherine of Siena, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, way, witnesses

I did not post anything over the last two days. While it is true that the weekend was full in a wonderful way with our long-awaited concert and workshop with the extraordinary Jan Phillips, I had every intention of attending to this morning practice. Unfortunately the internet was not cooperating. Thus I missed my chance on her feast to speak about Catherine of Siena – one of my favorites in a long line of holy women who have proved worthy of sainthood. One could begin the litany of her life with the fact that she was the 25th child born to her family! My admiration comes, however, from the chronicle of her friendship with God that gave her the courage to speak truth to power and which led her to a central role in the end of the “Avignon Captivity” – a 70-year period in the 14th century of papal exile in France.

It is perhaps an ironic connection that Catherine’s feast fell during Jan’s visit. The first of Jan’s CDs of original songs is entitled “All the Way to Heaven” which comes from a quote by Catherine who proclaimed that all the way to heaven is heaven. I wonder how many of us would agree with Jan and Catherine about this. Both of them have lived as active witnesses, shouting those words through their actions, teaching us that it is not the content but the way we face what happens that matters. Jan concluded the day on Saturday with a song in three parts, each added to the one before that kept repeating throughout. Although you probably have to hear the song to make sense out of that description, it might be enough to see the lyrics in order to see the point of how she (and I believe Catherine) have approached life and found heaven on earth.

1. Because the One I love lives inside you, I lean as close to you as I can.

2. Namaste, I bow to you. Namaste, I bow to you.

3. Shalom to you, shalom to all, shalom around the world.

In the Cloud

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a cloud of witnesses, access lives of holy people, Auschwitz, Catholic Worker, Dalai Lama, Dorothy Day, Hebrews, Jesus, Maximilian Kolbe, Pope John Paul II, Rev. Michael Himes, saint, Sermon on the Mount, St. Catherine of Siena, St. Francis of Assisi, St. Paul, the cloud, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, Thomas Merton

These days when we speak of “the cloud” many of us are aware that the reference is not to the weather. The latest technological “storage facility” is still a mystery to many but for others it is a great revelation and advance.

In today’s first reading (HEB 12:1-4) Paul urges: Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us rid ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to us and persevere in running the race that lies before us …He is speaking, of course of what the Church calls “the communion of saints.” Once I heard Rev. Michael Himes, theology professor at that time at Boston College, use that reference as one of the best reasons for the continuance of the Catholic/Christian Church (and I would expand the notion to include other faith traditions for it seems appropriate in the broader sense as well). What he was implying was our freedom and ability to access the lives of these “holy people of God” across the centuries for examples of faith, perseverance, service and love. We may, in an imaginal way (which is not to say imaginary but rather with our deeper intuition), “have conversation with” those who lived in the first century – dropping in on the listeners to the Sermon on the Mount, perhaps, or sitting with the apostles gathered on the beach for breakfast with Jesus after the Resurrection. We can follow St. Francis of Assisi as he did his best to “rebuild the Church” in the 1200’s or accompany Catherine of Siena as she courageously led the Pope back to Rome from Avignon in 1377. In our own time we might ask Dorothy Day about her fervent service to the poor at the Catholic Worker. “How did you do it?” we might ask, “giving everything …open to everyone?” Or maybe it’s Maximilian Kolbe who gave his life in exchange for a family man at Auschwitz and was canonized by Pope John Paul II in 1982 who puts a modern face on the willingness of Jesus for us.

This year as we celebrate the 100th birthday of Thomas Merton, I see in my mind pictures of him sitting in conversation with the Dalai Lama and know that deep sharing can bring the understanding of which Paul speaks today. We often hear folks say, “S/he was a saint,” when speaking of those newly departed from the earth. Why not look around – even as we look up or look in – to find conversation partners in that great cloud or still here in our midst.

Real Life

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Afghanistan, armor of God, consciousness, Ephesians, Jesus, justice, Luke, Peace, pray, psalm 144, St. Catherine of Siena, struggle, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, triumph of light over darkness

Yesterday I spoke to someone whose son was part of the last group of combat forces leaving Afghanistan to return home to the United States. Later, as I was preparing for upcoming November events, I spent time with St. Catherine of Siena whose short life included much suffering for her faith as well as a crusade to lead the Pope back to Rome, ending what is known as the Avignon Captivity. This, in the year 1377, by a woman of age 30! Lastly, I read a long article about the struggle for conscious attention, not only in prayer but throughout all daily events and activities.

All of this comes to mind as I contemplate the messages of Scripture this morning. Psalm 144 proclaims: Blessed be the Lord, my Rock, who trains my hands for battle, my fingers for war. Paul is preaching about spiritual struggle with his advice about putting on “the armor of God, that you may be able to resist…and hold your ground.” (EPH 6:10-20). Jesus to is refusing to turn away from his journey toward Jerusalem (LK 13:31-35), lamenting the fate of those who have tried to speak for God there and been mistreated and/or stoned to death. His own mission is clear and he intends to carry it to the end.

I would rather not allow these thoughts of war and physical destruction to invade my morning, sitting as I do in my peaceful home in rural upstate New York, but history and the events of today call me to consciousness. My task, I believe, is to return to Paul’s exhortation where he calls me to “pray at every opportunity in the Spirit…for all the Holy Ones and for me… so that I may have the courage to speak as I must.” Whether like Mike in Afghanistan fighting for the life of the people, Jesus in Jerusalem facing his destiny or Paul and Catherine of Siena in their travels to proclaim the message of the gospel, I must recognize that my role in the building of “God’s house” is not separate but integral to the family of humanity. Wherever my life intersects with others, that is the place where I must stand firm in the conscious struggle for justice, peace and the triumph of light over darkness.