Saint Kateri Tekakwitha
On July 14, the Church celebrates the feast day of St. Kateri Tekakwitha, the first Native American to be canonized. Known as the “Lily of the Mohawks,” Kateri lived a life of holiness and virtue, despite obstacles and opposition within her tribe. In her short life (24 years), she faced significant loss, adversity, and physical limitations. She also lived a rich connection with the Living God that inspired those around her.
Devotion to Kateri began immediately after her death in 1680. Her body, enshrined in Caughnawaga, (near Montreal) is visited by many pilgrims each year. Kateri is recognized for her heroic faith, virtue, and love of God and people in the face of adversity, bullying, and rejection, as well as her close connection with the natural world around her. She was beatified by Pope John Paul II, canonized by Pope Benedict XVI in 2012, and named Patron Saint of traditional ecology, Indigenous Peoples, and care for creation.
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What’s with patron saints? What difference does one make in our lives? Well, it depends on how we look at them.
All saints are people who lived connected to God and who inspired others to goodness. They showed courage and commitment to live the Gospel. Their example inspires long after their death. Patron saints are honored for a dimension of their lives as protectors or guardians over an area of life (occupations, illnesses, challenging circumstances, a particular insight to life, etc).
When Saint Kateri was named as Patron Saint of traditional ecology, Indigenous Peoples, and care for creation, it highlighted her as someone whose life could provide us new insights. The Indigenous worldview (then and now) involves relationships built on reciprocity, respect, gratitude, and responsibility that extends to the natural world. It is a worldview of giving thanks daily for life and the world around us.
Saint Kateri Tekakwitha has been dead for about 345 years. Yet, she continues to inspire people to think differently about life, especially about their relationships to other parts of the created world. She lived in two worlds: a baptized Christian determined to live as God called her to and an indigenous woman who was faithful to the traditions of her people and honored the natural world as gift from God.
What would she think of the traumas experienced today through extremes of weather, droughts, and crop failures that displace people? How would she encourage us to take seriously the call to care for this, our only planetary home? How might she help us see this as our opportunity to care for the poor?
“Kateri was a child of nature. Her sainthood will raise the minds and hearts of those who love nature and work in ecology.”
+ Bishop Stanislaus Brzana, Bishop of Ogdensburg, New York
To learn more about Saint Kateri
https://laudatosimovement.org/news/saint-kateri-tekakwitha-integral-ecology-and-traditional-wisdom