Who among us doesn't struggle to be Christ-like in our world? We are all made in God's image and likeness (Genesis 1:27) and connected, yet each has a different heavenly helper, such as Mary or some holy ancestor. For me, my mom and dad always helped me, along with many other holy people God has given me as gifts.
Today, we celebrate the life of Kateri Tekakwitha, the first indigenous American saint. She was a Mohawk Iroquois woman from a tribe in northeastern New York. Her people's relationship blessed Kateri with the Great Spirit through creation and nature.
When the Jesuit missionaries came to share their faith with her people, Kateri's heart was captured by their profound love and care for the sick and their spirit of Gospel ways. She fell in love with Jesus and asked for baptism as Catherine at 19. This was not the cultural way of her people, so isolation and persecution became a burden. Nonetheless, she said, “I am not my own; I have given myself to Jesus.”
Kateri had lost both parents and her brother at the age of 6 when smallpox invaded her tribe. She was severely affected by pockmarks, diminished sight, and poor health. As she grew in her native spirit ways and newfound faith, Kateri deeply longed for the Eucharist and a Christian community. The missionaries arranged with a group of Mohawk Christian women in Canada, and Kateri made the dangerous journey to be with them. She was received with much love and admiration for her spirit, ways of praying, fasting, and service to others.
Sadly, Kateri died at age 26, yet reportedly, her face was completely clear of pockmarks and replaced with light. People received many blessings from her life and were cured of illness through her intercession.
Many life-giving people bless and intercede for us to the Lord. I am asking Vigg (Sister Catherine Viggiano, RIP June 22, 2024) to help me with my Spanish so that I can communicate better with my immigrant friends. I will need a miracle, but the love and care of our saint friends in heaven will see us through.
Let us pray through the intercession of Kateri Tekakwitha, patron saint of integral ecology and traditional wisdom. We can ask her to help us to live Laudato Si’ and Thresholds of Transformation. In 2015, Pope Francis issued Laudato Si’, a major encyclical on the environment that challenged us all to better care for “our common home.” We are one people and one planet, all interconnected and affecting each other.
After more than 40 years of ministry to the Indigenous American community in Montana, Sister Margaret O'Doherty conducts the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd Program at the Marydell Faith and Life Center in Upper Nyack, NY.