St. Catherine of Siena - A Hidden Gem - A Valued Guide - A Source of Wisdom

Today we Dominicans joyfully remember our beloved sister, St. Catherine of Siena. 

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What a treasure St. Catherine of Siena is! One does not become a Doctor of the Church by being fearful to express, teach and live God's Truth in its entirety. 

How ill-advised we are to discount, ignore or try to nuance the wisdom God has shared over the centuries through such faithful servants as she.  Less likely would we be to commit this error if our primary concern was the salvation of souls. No wonder those who wish to only tickle our ears and destroy our consciences ignore these great spiritual writers, abandoning God's Truth for a less demanding and counterfeit one.

The following words  Jesus shared with St. Catherine in the 14th century are clear and unambiguous directions to his shepherds - not only those living then but for those among us today. May we and they be given the grace, humility and wisdom to hear and follow His Inerrant Voice: 

"No rank, whether of civil or divine law, can be held in grace without holy justice.  For those who are not corrected and those who do not correct are like members beginning to rot, and if the doctor were only to apply ointment without cauterizing the wound, the whole, body would become fetid and corrupt.So it is with prelates or with anyone else in authority. 

The Foolishness of Pride

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Pride is the vice opposed to humility.  The sin of pride is an inordinate desire or love of one’s own excellence.  Through pride a man either thinks himself better than he is, or he thinks he can do things which are beyond his own power.  The proud man thinks that all his talents are his own. He will not even acknowledge that he owes them to God. Or, if he acknowledges that they come from God, he thinks that they are due to his own merit rather than to God’s generosity.

Walter Farrell, O.P., S.T.M. and Martin J. Healy. S.T.D.

Feed Us The Truth By Both Word and Example

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If the simple folk live in a lukewarm state, the situation is regrettable.  They hurt themselves, but a remedy is possible. If, however, it is the teachers who are lukewarm, then the Lord’s warning must be considered: “Woe to him by whom they come!”  Great harm can come from their lukewarmness, because it will easily spread to others and dampen their spiritual fervor.

St John of the Cross