Evensong for Peace
Tuesday, April 27
WHO ARE YOU, CATHERINE?
Child, born in the 14th century, of a prosperous wool dyer and his wife in the town of Siena; born into a large loving family.
WHO ARE YOU, CATHERINE?
Young woman, yearning to know Christ and seeking to give yourself to Him; the One with whom you spent three years in intimate solitude; knowing him, Son of God, in the depths of his love and his struggles.
WHO ARE YOU, CATHERINE?
Mature young woman, member of the Dominican Mantellata, on fire with the love of Christ, working the streets of Siena attending to the needs of the poor, the prisoners and the victims of the plague.
WHO ARE YOU, CATHERINE?
Fearless woman of wisdom living and speaking truth, calling upon both women and men to embrace their own dignity,
challenging those who do not live and speak the truth, especially those in political leadership and those who are ministers of Christ, giving your entire life and being to right the relationships among these members of Christ’s body.
We your sisters and brothers in Dominic honor you and we recognize in the words of our sister, Mary Catherine Hilkert, OP that you, “Catherine of Siena, stand as one witness to the mysterious ways in which the Spirit conforms faithful women and men to the image of Christ. In the uniqueness of your life journey, your vocation unfolded as testimony to the fact that in every age Wisdom’s prophets are called to preach good news, to order things rightly, and to draw others into communion with God and with one another. The authority to exercise those ministries comes from the source of all authority and all ministries----the Holy Spirit.”
Is it any wonder then, Catherine that we Dominican women of Adrian at our recent General Chapter chose “to commit ourselves to claim our moral authority to speak truth in Church and society in the spirit of Catherine of Siena!”
We honor your way of life and take to heart the admonitions which you carried forth in living and preaching the good news of Jesus Christ in peace to the men and women in the world in which you lived----in the world in which we live.