July 14th is the Feast of Saint Kateri

July 14th is the Feast of Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, the first Native American from the United States or Canada ever canonized in the Catholic Church. Born in 1656 in the Mohawk village of Ossernenon in today’s northeastern New York State, she was the daughter of a Mohawk chief and an Algonquin mother. Amid a time of upheaval for her people, she balanced love of her heritage with a full embrace of the Christian faith.

In 2023, Pope Francis spoke of Saint Kateri and how she incorporated service to the poor, sick, and elderly into a life of prayer and devotion to the sacraments. "Saint Kateri Tekakwitha's life is further proof," he said, "that apostolic zeal implies both union with Jesus, nourished by prayer and the sacraments, and the desire to spread the beauty of the Christian message through fidelity to one'S particular vocation."

Understanding Saint Kateri's personal vocation highlights how God speaks to us through the circumstances of our lives to set us on a path to accomplish great things and bring peace to those in our midst.  Kateri was just four years old when a smallpox epidemic devastated her village, and she lost both of her parents and her younger brother, who was her only sibling. Kateri survived the epidemic but with damaged eyesight and visible scars on her face. Adopted by relatives, she grew up practicing handcrafts and became skilled at making beautiful clothing and woven goods.

When she was 11 years old, Kateri met three Jesuit missionaries and was impressed with their message. At age 13, she refused to be married, later declaring, "I can have no spouse but Jesus." When she was 18 years old, she sought out and began to receive full formation in the Catholic faith.

Pope Saint John Paul II beatified Kateri Tekakwitha in 1980, and seven years later, he made a visit to the United States in which he mentioned her in his address at the Meeting with the Native Peoples of the Americas, where he said, "Even when she dedicated herself fully to Jesus Christ, to the point of taking the prophetic step of making a vow of perpetual virginity, she always remained what she was, a true daughter of her people, following her tribe in the hunting seasons and continuing her devotions in the environment most suited to her way of life, before a rough cross carved by herself in the forest. The Gospel of Jesus Christ, which is the great gift of God's love, is never in contrast with what is noble and pure in the life of any tribe or nation, since all good things are His gifts."

Kateri's path was not without conflict and not always accepted by her people, but she loved her Mohawk culture and incorporated its fruits into her life as a Christian, inspiring others to do the same until her death at the young age of 24. She was canonized in 2012, 10 years after the canonization of Saint Juan Diego, whose tilma cloak, with its inculturated image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, remains a lasting sign of God's desire to meet people within the beauty of their own culture.  The apparitions of Our Lady of Guadalupe occurred just a little over 100 years before Kateri was born, foreshadowing the path she walked of loving Christ and her culture at the same time. May she intercede for us all so that we can grow in understanding and love for one another.

This essay is this week's "Light One Candle" column, written by Fr. Edward Dougherty, M.M, of The Christophers' Board of Directors; it is one of a series of weekly columns that deal with a variety of topics and current events.)

Background information:

The Christophers