“Evangelism often begins this way: with simple, small gestures, such as parents helping their children learn to talk to God in prayer and telling them about His great and merciful love. The foundation of faith for Kateri, and often for us as well, was laid in this way,” he said.
While still a young child, a smallpox outbreak killed Kateri’s little brother and parents, and left the girl with scars and vision problems.
She was baptized a Catholic on Easter Sunday in 1676, at around 19 years old.
Due to persecution and death threats after her baptism, “Kateri was forced to take refuge among the Mohawks in the Jesuit mission near the city of Montreal,” Francis said.
“There she attended Mass every morning, devoted time to adoration before the Blessed Sacrament, prayed the Rosary, and lived a life of penance,” he continued. “These spiritual practices of hers impressed everyone at the Mission; they recognized in Kateri a holiness that was appealing because it stemmed from her deep love for God.”
Kateri also taught the children of the mission to pray and cared for the sick and elderly.
“Here we see how a vital relationship with the Lord bears fruit in the commitment to perform simple, daily works of mercy, both material and spiritual, toward one’s brothers and sisters, especially the poor and neediest,” he said.
“Faith,” he added, “is always expressed in service.”
Pope Francsis said Kateri’s life shows that apostolic zeal must include “a vital union with Jesus, nourished by prayer and the sacraments, and the desire to spread the beauty of the Christian message through fidelity to one’s particular vocation.”
He also pointed out the beauty of her final words before death: “Jesus, I love you.”
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“Let us not forget: each of us is called to holiness, to everyday holiness, to the holiness of the common Christian life,” he encouraged. “Each of us has this call: let us go forward on this path. The Lord will not fail us.”
Hannah Brockhaus is Catholic News Agency’s senior Rome correspondent. She grew up in Omaha, Nebraska, and has a degree in English from Truman State University in Missouri.
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