Thomas Griffin 4/29/25
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Let Us Begin: New Book on the Life and Power of St. Francis
St. Catherine of Siena (1347-1380) died on April 29th. She was a member of the Third Order of Dominicans and was named a Doctor of the Church in 1970. She was known for her spiritual visions and the depth of knowledge she had of Christ inspired countless Christians to give their lives more completely to Him.
Her letters were sent to everyday Christians as well as politicians and leaders in the Church. She even had an influence on two popes. Why did she have such a profound impact on the people in her life and the world around her?
Catherine’s most famous words are, “If you are what you should be, you will set the whole world on fire!” Through these words we can view the entire mission of the Christian life. To make Jesus the center of your life is not about following rules. The rules of daily prayer, Sunday Mass attendance, loving others, and not committing sin are not checkboxes to accomplish. Being a disciple of Jesus is a way of life built on relationship.
Committing oneself to a life of prayer comes from accepting the loving invitation of God. We ought to pray, not out of mere habit, but because we desire to make contact with the living God. Attending Sunday Mass is a divine commandment because He alone deserves our worship. Going to Mass makes us one with the One who made us. Receiving the Eucharist also molds us into the One that we receive.
It is this daily contact with Christ in prayer and the weekly reception of the Blessed Sacrament that will allow us to become ablaze with the life of Christ within us. Catherine knew this and she lived it out intentionally. Her whole life was about a radical dwelling inside the life of God who is a relationship (a Trinity of three persons – Father, Son and Holy Spirit).
She once wrote that “The soul is in God and God in the soul, just as the fish is in the sea and the sea in the fish.” Fish would never even consider a life out of water. Their life depends on it and they know no better. However, a fish (if it could think) also takes the water for granted. The water is so present to it, that it overlooks it.
At times, we do the same to God. He is more aware of us than we are of ourselves. He is ever-present to us, drawing us closer to Himself and inviting us to allow Him to live within us. This was the purpose of his incarnation and redemption.
Catherine said, “We are of such value to God that he came to live among us … and to guide us home. He will go to any length to seek us, even to being lifted high upon the cross to draw us back to himself. We can only respond by loving God for his love.“
Like a lover who will travel any distance for the beloved or a parent who will choose sleepless nights in order to comfort their child, nothing stops God from seeking us out. To respond in faith means that we simply love Him for the love that He has shown us. That is why we are called to daily prayer and to love our neighbor. There is nothing that will separate us from the love of God. The only thing that can get in the way is our own sinfulness.
For this reason, St. Catherine wrote, “You know that every evil is founded in self-love, and that self-love is a cloud that takes away the light of reason…and one is not lost without the other.”
All sin is an attempt to make oneself the center of the universe. We sin because we convince ourselves that we know better than God. We sin when we know what we should do and do otherwise, anyway. All sin is rooted in self-love. We place ourselves, and our own desires, as the most critical criteria for making a decision. In the process, we neglect God because self-love clouds our judgment.
To live ablaze for God means that this fire burns out self-love and sin from our lives out of a radical desire to only love and serve Christ. That is what the life of Catherine proclaims. This is the invitation of the Christian life. So, accept it, and set the world on fire by knowing and loving Him above everything else.
Thomas Griffin is the chairperson of the religion department at a Catholic high school on Long Island where he lives with his wife and two sons. He has a masters degree in theology and is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Empty Tomb Project: The Magazine. He is the author of Let Us Begin: Saint Francis’s Way of Becoming Like Christ and Renewing the World.
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