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| Kateri Tekakwitha |
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| Beth Lynch |
"It all started with the Franciscans."
That's how Beth Lynch opened her talk on Kateri Tekakwitha,
the soon-to-be first Native American saint, at St. Joseph-St. Patrick Church on
July 15.
"Since the Mohawks were the first to shed the blood of
the missionaries," she quoted one author, "…so they were the first to
share the fruits of the faith."
Some ten years after St. Isaac Jogues and companions were
martyred, Kateri was born at Auriesville. Her Algonquin mother was already a
Christian and her father, a Mohawk chief, was a non-believer. So Kateri was
born to conflict on more than one level -- the conflict of faith with her
parents and the conflict of on-going savage encounters with Europeans and other
tribes.
Even so, her happy parents named her Sunshine. It wasn't
until a few years later -- after smallpox killed her parents and left her
scarred and partially blind, and after her uncle-turned-chief adopted her -- that
the Mohawks started calling her Tekakwitha, or one who gropes about and bumps
into things.
When she was 10, French soldiers and hostile natives from
Canada destroyed Mohawk strongholds on the south bank of the Mohawk River,
including her village. So they moved across the river to the present-day Fonda
area -- on the site of the Francisan-run National Kateri Shrine. The Iroquois then
agreed to allow the "black robes" to come among them.
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| Kateri in the woods |
Despite being intimidated by other Mohawks, Kateri grew in
faith. "She was so drawn to her mother's Christian faith," and to
other Christian Mohawks, Beth said.
She spent a lot of time by herself, Beth noted, and developed
a sense of prayer and communion with the Great Spirit. The missionaries "saw
right away" something special in Kateri. The Jesuits were now teaching her
the Catholic faith. One wrote: "She learned more in a week than others
learned in several years."
Beth added: "The most menial task was exalted by her…That's
the key, right there." Like Mother Teresa, she was "doing the most
ordinary tasks with extraordinary love."
Kateri's mysticism was developing. She decided to remain a
virgin. She pondered the mystery of the sacraments. "She sensed there was
something so big. She wanted it."
The missionaries described her prayer as contemplative. "She
prayed with her heart," Beth said.
She was finally baptized at age 20 on Easter in 1676. Then,
fearing for her safety, the missionaries eventually arranged to have her flee
to a village of Christian natives in Canada.
She offered up her pain and suffering for the good of the
community as her health deteriorated. She spent time in prayer and performing
acts of charity. In fact, Beth noted, Kateri "gathered a group of women
about her and encouraged them to do acts of charity anonymously."
By the time she was on her deathbed (at a young 24),
everyone in the village knew she was holy, Beth said. Upon her death, it was
recorded that she whispered the names of Jesus and Mary, her smallpox scars
miraculously disappeared, and healings of others occurred.
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| Beth Lynch is interviewed by YNN prior to her talk. |
What does Kateri's life mean today?
Her fervent desire drew her even closer to God, Beth said. "You
really have to want it."
Pointing to Kateri's ordinariness, she suggested God was
using that "to make all of us holy."
***
A reception in the parish center followed her the
presentation, which was sponsored by St. Joseph Secular Franciscan Fraternity.
Prior to her talk, she took a few minutes to do an interview
with YNN TV, saying the Mohawk Valley has great reason to celebrate because two
of its daughters -- Kateri Tekakwitha and Mother Marianne Cope of Utica -- will
be canonized on Oct. 21.
