Word to the Wise
Monday, April 29, 2013 - 5th Week of Easter - Mon
[Acts 14:5-18 and John 14:21-26]Whoever loves me will keep my word, and y Father will love him and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him.
MONDAY, APRIL 29, 2013 ST. CATHERINE OF SIENA, O.P. - Virgin and Doctor of the Church.
[Scriptures will vary at Dominican locations]
These words, taken from the gospel of the day, very aptly describe the remarkable woman whose feast day is celebrated by Dominicans all over the world today. Her life was short - 1347-1380. Yet she was famous in her day for her activities in organizing for the sick and poor and for her attempts to reconcile the divided church, represented by a pope in Avignon, France! Her letters reflect those activities, but the work for which she is best known is her DIALOGUES, which are one of the great spiritual classics of the church.
I will call attention to two of the "themes" in that work. The first is her admonition to her followers to "dwell in the cell of self-knowledge" which is where a faithful believer can encounter Christ by awareness of one's own humble state. The second is the image of Christ as the "bridge" to God. The words of today's gospel (for Monday in the 5th week of Easter) speak of God - Father and Son - coming to dwell in the Spirit in a person. There is no doubt that Catherine experienced this and preached it. Her challenge to us is to do the same. AMEN