Speak in the Light; Proclaim on the Housetops

July 14, 2007

Memorial of Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha, virgin

But Joseph replied to them: "Have no fear. Can I take the place of God? Even though you meant harm to me, God meant it for good, to achieve his present end, the survival of many people. Therefore have no fear. I will provide for you and for your children." By thus speaking kindly to them, he reassured them. Genesis 50:19-21

So do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. Everyone who acknowledges me before others I will acknowledge before my heavenly Father. But whoever denies me before others, I will deny before my heavenly Father. Matthew 10:31-33

Piety

O Great Spirit, whose voice I hear in the winds, and whose breath gives life to all the world, hear me! I am small and weak. I need your strength and wisdom.

Let Me Walk In Beauty, and make my eyes ever behold the red and purple sunset.

Make My Hands respect the things you have made and my ears sharp to hear your voice.

Make Me Wise so that I may understand the things you have taught my people.

Let Me Learn the lessons you have hidden in every leaf and rock.

I Seek Strength, not to be greater than my brother, but to fight my greatest enemy -- myself.

Make Me Always Ready to come to you with clean hands and straight eyes.

So When Life Fades, as the fading sunset, my spirit may come to you without shame.

Princess Pale Moon, Ambassador of Friendship

Study

http://www.usccb.org/nab/071407.shtml

As the Church celebrates the feast day of Blessed Kateri, whose life was marked with constant perseverance and deep love of the Cross. Blessed Kateri was marked by fidelity to the love of Christ (“acknowledging Christ before others”) despite pressure from her native tribe to marry one of its members. According to a biography posted on the Internet, we learn that:

Although uneducated and unable to read and write she lived her life dedicated to doing for others. A life filled with prayer, penitential practices, devoted to teaching the young, and to the care of the sick and elderly.

Through all of these wonderful works she did and all she gave to others there were still some unhappy with her. There were some of her people who still wanted Kateri to marry among the tribes. They thought that if they attacked her virtue that she would be forced to marry one of the braves. So during a winter hunt they falsely accused Kateri of having sinful relations, with one of the braves, at a private spot she often sought out for private prayer. Never did they count on the strength of her faith to give her the patience to endure these lies till the truth was exposed. Kateri continued with her good works and flourished.

As a result of the tribulations and austerities in Kateri's life she was struck down in her last year with a terrible illness. She suffered great pain but never released her hold of the faith in Jesus Christ and the Mother Mary. She knew in her heart that when the time came she would go to her sweet heaven to be with them both.

That time came on April 17th in the year of 1680, on the Wednesday of Holy Week at around three o'clock in the afternoon. She was twenty-four years old, and like the flower she was named for, her life was short and beautiful. Her last words were spoken in terrible pain and then she could speak no more and fell into a deep sleep and died.

Moments after dying, her scarred and disfigured face miraculously cleared and was made beautiful by God as she passed through the Gates of Heaven. This miracle was witnessed by two Jesuits and all the others able to fit into the room.

Action

As the patron of Native Americans, consider your action this weekend to be based upon some of the portions of the Indian Code of Ethics on the special feast day. For the complete Code, visit this site: http://www.leveillee.net/kateri/ethics.htm

Each morning upon rising and each evening before sleeping, give thanks for the life within you and for all life, for the good things the Creator has given you and for the opportunity to grow a little more each day. Consider your thoughts and actions of the past day and seek for the courage and strength to be a better person. Seek for the things that will benefit others (everyone).

Respect: Respect means "To feel or show honor or esteem for someone or something; to consider the wellbeing of, or to treat someone or something with deference or courtesy". Showing respect is a basic law of life.

· Touch nothing that belongs to someone else (especially Sacred Objects) without permission, or an understanding between you.

· Never walk between people who are conversing.

· Never interrupt people who are conversing.

The hurt of one is the hurt of all; the honor of one is the honor of all.

All the races and tribes in the world are like the different colored flowers of one meadow. All are beautiful. As children of the Creator they must all be respected.

To serve others, to be of some use to family, community, nation and the world is one of the main purposes for which human beings have been created. Do not fill yourself with your own affairs and forget your most important talks. True happiness comes only to those who dedicate their lives to the service of others.