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St. Kateri Tekakwitha is remembered for her pure and beautiful faith, and her final words perfectly summarize her union with God.
St. John Paul II commented on her faith in his homily for her beatification in 1980.
She spent her short life partly in what is now the State of New York and partly in Canada. She is a kind, gentle and hardworking person, spending her time working, praying and meditating. At the age of 20 she receives Baptism. Even when following her tribe in the hunting seasons, she continues her devotions, before a rough cross carved by herself in the forest.
St. Kateri lived a short life, dying only a few years after her baptism at the young age of 24. Yet, she progressed in sanctity to an extraordinary degree, as revealed by her final words.
The last months of her life are an ever clearer manifestation of her solid faith, straight-forward humility, calm resignation and radiant joy, even in the midst of terrible sufferings. Her final words, simple and sublime, whispered at the moment of death, sum up, like a noble hymn, a life of purest charity: “Jesus, I love you …”
St. Kateri’s faith reminds us that holiness does not simply consist in being busy about many things, but in loving God with all our heart, mind, and strength.
She is also a beacon of hope, showing us how to remain faithful to God in the midst of the many sufferings we may endure in life.
And today we celebrate...