[00:00] In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen. Today's Gospel, our Lord reveals the unity of the Trinity, speaking directly of the union with the Father and the Son, and also that He has come to bring us light. He came into the world as light to bring us that light so that we do not remain in darkness. And what is that light to do?

[00:31] To guide us unto what God has called us to, to follow His Son, Jesus, to receive a share in that light through Baptism, by which we receive the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and to follow His Son according to His words, His teachings, His Church, so that we may have eternal life. Our Lord reminds us that we are called to eternal life, true life, and that this world is but a preparation for that. So the Gospel just reminds us that we want to remain in the light of Christ, we want

[01:05] to allow His words and His teaching to transform us, to transform us, that we may continue on that path to our true homeland, and what God is calling us to, to share in His divine life, to share in His holiness, and that we be free from the attachment to sin. Today, we honor in the liturgy St. Catherine of Siena.

[01:36] St. Catherine of Siena died in 1380. She was one of 25 children, and she's often thought to have been the youngest, the 25th. She was a twin. She had a twin sister, Giovanna, who died shortly after birth, and several of her siblings also had died. Catherine of Siena was a third-order Dominican, and she was gifted with many mystical gifts.

[02:06] She had the gift of the mystical marriage to Jesus, her soul being mystically married to Jesus. She received first the invisible, she had the wounds of Christ first invisibly, and then she had the stigmata visibly put upon her, and she had also experiences with ecstasies and divine revelation. One of her most famous works is called The Dialogue. It's a work which she wrote while she was in ecstasy, and it was dictated to her by

[02:41] God the Father. It's an extraordinary work. It's considered a classic of the spiritual writings. Catherine of Siena is famous for her prayer life, her penance, and her action, that she was responsible, primarily responsible, for having the Pope return from France to return to Rome. The Pope at that time had been in Avignon in France, and it was through her intercession

[03:14] and her encouragement that the Pope returned to Rome to guide the Church from the seat of Peter in Rome. St. Catherine of Siena had some very beautiful quotes that are powerful for us to reflect upon. One is, "Be who God meant you to be, and you will set the world on fire." Be who God called you to be, and you will set the world on fire, meaning that God has a purpose in place for each of us, and that we are to set the world on fire, so to speak,

[03:49] by our own life and our witness in following Jesus Christ. Also, she had another quote, which I'm very fond of. It says that we have had enough exhortations to be silent, that there should be a hundred thousand tongues proclaiming the truth of God, meaning that we are not to be silent.

[04:20] She said, "The world is rotten because of silence," that we have had enough exhortations to be silent. "May a hundred thousand tongues speak out and proclaim the truth." It's just, again, another exhortation given to us that we are not to be silent as Christians, as Catholics, that we are called to transform the world and to bring the light and truth of Christ to the world. May St. Catherine of Siena pray for us that we may imitate her in her great zeal and dedication

[04:55] for Christ and His Church. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.