Novena to St Catherine - Day 5
From a very young age, Catherine felt a strong attraction to prayer and service to others. At the age of sixteen, she entered the Dominican Third Order and dedicated her life to
prayer, penance and caring for the sick and needy. Contemplation and union with God were the source of her extraordinary life.Catherine had profound mystical experiences and became known as one of the great mystics of the Church. In one of those experiences, she had a vision in
which Jesus appeared to her and gave her a ring as a sign of her union with him. From that moment on, Catherine felt called to bring the word of God to the world and to work for the reform of the Church and peace and justice
in her own country and Europe. Because of this, she is co-patron of Italy and Pope Saint John Paul II proclaimed her co-patron of Europe in 1999. Hers is a spirituality, a mysticism that is at once
contemplative and active, practical end even political. She was a courageous and determined woman, who was not afraid to stand up to the powerful and denounce injustice. She became an advisor and spiritual
guide to many, including Pope Gregory XI, whom she urged to return to Rome from Avignon and restore papal authority. I am sure that if she lived in our time, she would influence present day world leaders and help bring peace
to the many war-torn countries.
Like St. Dominic what most characterized St. Catherine’s life and spirituality was her love of Christ and her passion for the Cross. For her, the Cross was the way to union
with God and the source of salvation. In her writings she wrote:
“O Cross, I love you, for in you I find my Spouse. O Cross, you are my paradise, for in you is my God.”
"Jesus will provide the way and the means, such as you could never have imagined. Leave it all to Him, let go of yourself, lose yourself on the Cross, and you will find yourself
entirely."
"We are of such value to God that He came to live among us... and to guide us home. He will go to any length to seek us, even to being lifted high upon the cross to draw
us back to Himself. We can only respond by loving God for His love."
Like Catherine, we can seek union with God through prayer and contemplation and help bring healing to the world. She encourages us when she says:
“Start being brave about everything. Drive out darkness and spread light. Don’ look at your weaknesses. Realize instead
that in Christ crucified you can do everything."
She is a model and example for a renewal starting from a profound Christocentric spirituality, from an ardent spirit of love, from love towards all people,
given with courage and mercy and finally from a suffering with Christ for our own weaknesses and those of the Church and world. Let us learn from St Catherine the contemplation of Christ crucified, and an intense apostolate
of love for Christ, for the Church, which always demands purification and renewal. May St Catherine intercede for us and help us to live our faith with the same passion and dedication that she lived hers. May her example inspire us to be true disciples of Christ, ready to bring God’s love and truth to everyone, as she
says:
“ Love makes us one with the weakest among us and enlarges us with mercy, for the wounds of the entire world are meant to find in us the infinite mercy of God.”
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