14 July 2021 – Wednesday of 15th week in ordinary time – Matthew 11:25-27

      As a priest, there are some Bible reading that are part of my life on a very frequent basis, due to the rites and the sacraments that are a part of my duties as a priest.  The Gospel we hear today is a part of the reading that we priests use for the sacrament of the anointing of the sick, so it is a reading that I use very often.  Sometimes, the wise and the learned think they have all the answers in society, yet often the answer is simple and right before our very eyes.  I remember that once one of my parishioners was telling me that their remote entry system for their car went out on them while they were at a college football game.  They tried to use the remote control to open the car, and nothing happened.  The husband and wife looked at each other perplexed and wondered out loud how they would get into the car, that they would have to phone a repair service for help.  Their young granddaughter looked at them and asked: Can’t you just use the key to get into the car?  Everyone burst out laughing.  Yes, we are so used to using the remote control that we forget about the key.  We are so used to using our advanced technology that sometimes the simple solutions escape us.     

        Even though some of the saints we celebrate in our liturgical calendar are the wise and the learned, often it is the simple humble faith of the saints that speak most profoundly to us on our journey.  Kateri Tekakwitha is the saint we celebrate today.  She was born in 1656 in what is now central New York state, a native woman of Algonquin–Mohawk origin.  Beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1980 and canonized by Pope Benedict XVI, Kateri, known affectionately by many of the faithful as the Lily of the Mohawks, was the first saint of native heritage from either Canada or the United States.  She died at the age of 24 near what is now Montreal, Quebec, Canada.  When Kateri was a young girl, her parents and baby brother died in a small pox epidemic, which left her severely disfigured and almost blind.   Despite not having much of a formal education, and despite there not being Christian scriptural and catechetical materials available to the native people in their own language, Kateri became a living Bible and living catechism to her people.  Her story tells us how God can speak to us in different ways, in different cultures and in different languages.  She is seen  as the patron saint of the environment and ecology.   Her national shrine is located near her birthplace in New York State.  We unite our prayers with the prayers of St Kateri today.