Today is the feast day of Catherine of Siena, virgin and doctor of the Church. Coincidentally, she’s my confirmation saint. I chose her for two reasons, one to honor my great-aunt Catherine who had recently died, and two because in reading the lives of saints I found much to admire in her. I loved that she was a writer and a scholar, a doctor of the church. I was in college when I converted to Catholicism and in studying for conversion I was reading and learning a lot about the religion and its history. I was an English major and a writer and knew even then that advanced degrees were in my future so I felt a real connection to Catherine who read and studied and wrote a lot. She had local followers and she also travelled and wrote many letters teaching spirituality. She also travelled and acted politically in support of the pope and carried on a long correspondence with him.

She was not keen on an arranged marriage her parents had planned for her. She considered herself married to Christ. She also took today’s Gospel reading to heart. “Jesus said to the crowds, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger.’” She was well known for her fasting. She would donate her family’s food and belongings to the poor, and the rest of her family was not always happy about that, but she fasted so she could donate food more freely. I try to emulate her in writing and studying, I’m not so great with the fasting. In fact, her own spiritual advisors and lay sisters thought she went too far with the fasting. Eventually her only sustenance was the daily Eucharist. Whether it was excess fasting or studying, she died at age 33. Almost immediately there were reports of miracles at her gravesite, and she was quickly canonized.

Our Psalm today says, “Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.” Catherine lived every aspect of her life for God and his glory. She learned to read and write so she could learn more about God and religion and so she could share her mystical experiences through her letters and dialogues. She travelled in support of the pope at a time when women didn’t travel and not alone. She considered herself married to Christ in opposition to her parents’ wishes for her family.  She accepted Jesus totally as the bread of life. I think I made a good choice when I chose Catherine for my confirmation saint as a role model for women in the church. She lived her spirituality in every fiber of her being and shared her love of God with everyone she could.