The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary on the Memorial of Saint Catherine of Siena resonate with the spiritual marriage experience of this saint.
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| A marriage relationship |
The reading from the Book of Acts demonstrates how the Spirit in the Prayer of the Community acts to bring courage to the apostles to proclaim Jesus to the world.
* [4:31] The place…shook: the earthquake is used as a sign of the divine presence in Ex 19:18; Is 6:4. Here the shaking of the building symbolizes God’s favorable response to the prayer. Luke may have had as an additional reason for using the symbol in this sense the fact that it was familiar in the Hellenistic world. Ovid and Virgil also employ it.1
A royal psalm (Ps 2) makes the Israelite king the earthly representative of God.
* [Psalm 2] A royal Psalm. To rebellious kings (Ps 2:1–3) God responds vigorously (Ps 2:4–6). A speaker proclaims the divine decree (in the legal adoption language of the day), making the Israelite king the earthly representative of God (Ps 2:7–9) and warning kings to obey (Ps 2:10–11). The Psalm has a messianic meaning for the Church; the New Testament understands it of Christ (Acts 4:25–27; 13:33; Heb 1:5).2
In the Gospel from John, Jesus instructs Nicodemus about being “born again”.
* [3:3] Born: see note on Jn 1:13. From above: the Greek adverb anōthen means both “from above” and “again.” Jesus means “from above” (see Jn 3:31) but Nicodemus misunderstands it as “again.” This misunderstanding serves as a springboard for further instruction.
* [3:8] Wind: the Greek word pneuma (as well as the Hebrew rûah) means both “wind” and “spirit.” In the play on the double meaning, “wind” is primary.3
Jeanne Schuler observes that like the winds that bring spring to the plains, the Spirit moves among us when we gather in our need and fear and hope.
Don Schwager quotes “Reborn and Fed by the Spirit,” by Saint Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.
"And then that rebirth, which brings about the forgiveness of all past sins, takes place in the Holy Spirit, according to the Lord's own words, 'Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, one cannot enter the kingdom of God.' But it is one thing to be born of the Spirit, another to be fed by the Spirit; just as it is one thing to be born of the flesh, which happens when a mother gives birth, and another to be fed from the flesh, which appears when she nurses the baby. We see the child turn to drink with delight from the bosom of her who brought it forth to life. Its life continues to be nourished by the same source which brought it into being." (excerpt from Sermon 71.19)4
The Word Among Us Meditation on Acts 4:23-31 observes that authorities released Peter and John after sternly warning them never again to proclaim Jesus. They returned to the Christian community and prayed—not for protection, but for courage to continue. We already have the spiritual gift of courage in the Spirit.
To help explain this, the Holy Father gives us a new take on a familiar image. You’ve probably seen the famous painting of Jesus knocking on a closed door (from Revelation 3:20). Pope Francis invites us to reverse the image. Jesus, who dwells within us through Baptism, is knocking on the inside of our heart’s door. He wants to be let out into the world around us so that his love can touch and transform the people we meet. As Pope Francis says, “We are weak, yet we hold a treasure that can enlarge us and make those who receive it better and happier” (131). (apostolic exhortation Gaudete et Exsultate)5
Friar Jude Winkler comments on the Stoic tendencies of Luke that promotes the discernment and following of the plan of God guided by the Holy Spirit. The wonderful wordplay in the dialogue with Nicodemus underlines the interplay of Spirit and the material in our experience of the Divine. Friar Jude advises not to try to pin down the Spirit but to become involved with the mystery of surprise and wonder of God that is greater than our definitions.
The Franciscan Media site writes that Catherine of Siena ranks high among the mystics and spiritual writers of the Church. In 1939, she and Francis of Assisi were declared co-patrons of Italy. Pope Paul VI named her and Teresa of Avila doctors of the Church in 1970. Her spiritual testament is found in The Dialogue.
Though she lived her life in a faith experience and spirituality far different from that of our own time, Catherine of Siena stands as a companion with us on the Christian journey in her undivided effort to invite the Lord to take flesh in her own life. Events which might make us wince or chuckle or even yawn fill her biographies: a mystical experience at six, childhood betrothal to Christ, stories of harsh asceticism, her frequent ecstatic visions. Still, Catherine lived in an age which did not know the rapid change of 21st-century mobile America. The value of her life for us today lies in her recognition of holiness as a goal to be sought over the course of a lifetime.6
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, teaches Jesus came to give us the courage to trust and allow our inherent union with God, and he modeled it for us in this world. The Eastern Fathers of the Church were much less afraid of this realization; they called it the real process of human “divinization” (theosis).
If we could glimpse the panoramic view of the biblical revelation and the Big Picture of which we’re a part, we’d see how God is forever evolving human consciousness, making us collectively ever more ready for God. The Hebrew prophets and many Catholic and Sufi mystics used words like espousal or marriage to describe this divine-human love affair. That’s what the prophet Isaiah (61:10; 62:5), many of the Psalms, the school of Paul (Ephesians 5:25-32), and the Book of Revelation (19:7-8; 21:2) mean by “preparing a bride to be ready for her husband.”
The human soul is being gradually readied so that actual intimacy and partnership with the Divine are the result. It’s all moving toward a final marriage between God and creation. Note that such salvation is a social and cosmic concept, not just about isolated individuals “going to heaven.” The Church was meant to bring this corporate salvation to conscious and visible possibility.7
The Life in the Spirit that we experience through trust in our relationship with Christ resonates with the life of Saint Catherine and the understanding of holiness by the Eastern Fathers of the Church.
References
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(n.d.). Psalms, chapter 2 - usccb. Retrieved April 29, 2019, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/psalms2:12
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(n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved April 29, 2019, from https://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/
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(n.d.). Meditations - The Word Among Us. Retrieved April 29, 2019, from https://wau.org/meditations/2019/04/29/
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(n.d.). Saint Catherine of Siena - Franciscan Media. Retrieved April 29, 2019, from https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-catherine-of-siena/
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(2019, April 29). Divinization — Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved April 29, 2019, from https://cac.org/divinization-2019-04-29/
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