St. Catherine of Siena
theophilus April 29th, 2009
There are 33 Doctors of the Church – those great saints who left behind such a divinely inspired body of work that they speak to us today and the Church recognizes them as such. St. Augustine, St. Francis de Sales, the Little Flower, St. Alphonsus Liguori, St. Anthony, St. Teresa of Avila, and so on . . .
and St. Catherine of Siena, whose feast day is today.
She was a Dominican in the 14th Century who provided counsel to popes and kings, and anyone else who would listen. She preached and wrote widely, including a body of letters and The Dialogues.
An indication of the timelineness of her work can be found in the following passage -
“Eternal Father, you said, ‘Let us make mankind in our image and likeness.’ Thus, you were willing to share with us your own greatness. You gave us the intellect to share your truth. You gave us the wisdom to share your goodness. And you gave us the free will to love that which is true and just. Why did you dignify us? It was because you looked upon us and fell in love with us. It was love which first prompted you to create us; and it was love which caused you to share with us your truth and goodness.
“Yet your heart must break when you see us turn against you. You must weep when you see us abusing our intellect in pursuit of that which is false. You must cry with pain when we distort our wisdom in order to justify evil. (emphasis added)
“But you never desert us. Out of the same love that caused you to create us, you have now sent your only Son to save us. He is your perfect image and likeness, and so through Him we can be restored to your image and likeness.”
So, what do you think? Look at the headlines and the blogosphere from the past month. Is St. Catherine speaking to our generation in much the same way that she spoke to her’s?
And a broader question – who are the Doctors of our day? In times such as these, God has surely provided us with one or many. Who are they? And how do we get people to listen to them?
