St. Catherine of Siena

Today is the Feast of St. Catherine of Siena, mystic and Doctor of the Church, Patron Saint of Europe.

At 16 she became a Dominican tertiary. She never learned to write and she had no formal education, dictating her letters and other writings to secretaries. The best known of her writings is The Dialogue, a series of theological treatises on doctrine written with a combination of logical precision and heart-felt emotion.

Here's one poem-prayer of St. Catherine which we love to sing in our community:

Eternal Trinity,
Godhead,
mystery deep as the sea,
you could give me no greater gift
than the gift of yourself.

For you are a fire

ever burning and never consumed,
which itself consumes
all the selfish love
that fills my being.

Yes, you are a fire that takes away the coldness,
illuminates the mind with its light,
and causes me to know your
truth.

And I know that
you are beauty and wisdom itself.

The food of angels,
you gave yourself to man
in the fire of your
love.

Pray passionately!

Click here
if you want to see a model of how to pray passionately!

Jesus - the Way, the Truth, the Life

While looking for possible paintings of the biblico-liturgical theme of yesterday's gospel (Jn 14,1-12) -- Jesus, the Way, the Truth and the Life --I chanced on this painting by the Christian Artist Spencer Williams. With his permission, I'm posting his painting here.

I don't know if my reflection on it would be in harmony at all with the inspiration that the Artist had in creating this art piece. I just trust that an art piece always takes a "life of its own" once the artist takes the courage to show it to the public.
The painting evokes in me the different themes connected to the identity and life of our Lord: "Judah, like a lion's whelp, you have grown up on prey, my son. He crouches like a lion recumbent, the king of beasts--who would dare rouse him? The scepter shall never depart from Judah, or the mace from between his legs, While tribute is brought to him, and he receives the people's homage" (cf Gen 49:9-10); then there is Jn 1: 35-36 - "The next day John was there again with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus walk by, he said, "Behold, the Lamb of God."

What has this to do with Jesus as Way, Truth and Life?

Let me begin with Jesus as Truth. Jesus is the fulfillment of God's promise to the Jews. Truth as a Judaic concept (symbolized by the Lion here) means fidelity -- the "amen" of God to his people, to the effect of saying, 'I will do what I promise.' And Jesus is the fulfillment of this promise (cf 2 Cor 1:19-20). Ironically (or providentially), the rejection of the Jews brought forth the "missioning" to the pagans like us! Who could ever understand God's design?!?

Jesus as the Way is the direct response of Jesus himself to the question - what is the way from here (this life) to the Father in heaven (cf. Jn 14:1-5). He answers, "I am the true and life-giving way. The Way is not so much "a road" or a direction where to head to, but a Person -- a lifestyle of pardon, reconciliation, unconditional love. Jesus is this Way. In fact, the "early Christian movement" was called "the Way" (cf Acts 9:1).

Jesus is the Life -- evident in the figure of the Lamb: Jesus is the lamb of God -- life offered selflessly, and offering lovingly accepted by the Father for the reconciliation of the world. There's a lot of atonement theology here that is so difficult to expound because it stimulates a series of "why's," etc. so I opt not to delve into that.

Let me conclude by simply quoting St. Paul how he lives in Jesus, the Life: "I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me." (cf. Gal 2:20)