The Fullness of Life
A God-centered life (Part IV)
Like St. Elizabeth of Hungary, St. Catherine of Siena lived a short but very fruitful life. She died at the age of thirty-three on April 30, 1380. Although she never enjoyed a formal education yet she became so well-known for her wisdom and insights into divine things that many people would go to her for counsel. Her love for God and love for the poor and the suffering, and her love for the Church were inseparable. She was indefatigable in her care for the sick and the dying. But she is well-known for her efforts of bringing unity to the Church. From her obscure life as a servant of her big family, she was summoned to defend the cause of the Church. At the time when there were two claimants to the throne of St. Peter, which was causing division in the Church, she was instrumental in bringing about the return of Pope Gregory XI from Avignon to Rome in 1377. She is one of the few women saints who were proclaimed as Doctor of the Church, sometime after her canonization in 1461.
A God-centered life, as we saw in the lives of a few holy men and women selected for our purpose, is possible in whatever state of life one may find oneself called to -- whether single or married, freed from the distracting cares of secular life or burdened with many preoccupations. In the few examples we have considered as well as in the lives of countless other unknown holy men and women, some basic elements are essential which we shall study. I would like to point out also that while the examples we have considered are mainly Catholic Saints, nevertheless a truly God-centered life is possible also in other traditions, as our Lord Jesus implied in His words, "I am the Good Shepherd; I know My own and My own know Me, as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. And I have other sheep, that are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will heed My voice. So there shall be One flock, One Shepherd." (John 10:14-16).