Today the Church rejoices in the feast of Saint Catherine of Siena, a daughter of Italy whose voice still speaks with clarity and strength to the Church in every age.
Caterina Benincasa was born in Siena on 25 March 1347. At the age of six she was granted a vision of Christ that would shape the whole course of her life. At sixteen she took the habit of the Dominican Tertiaries and entered into years of silence, prayer, and hidden formation. It was during this time that she learned to read and experienced the mystical grace often called her “spiritual espousal” with Christ.
Emerging from that hidden life, she gave herself entirely to the service of the sick, the poor, and those far from God. After 1370, her mission widened. She wrote letters to princes and popes, worked for peace among divided cities, and called the Church to unity and reform. She bore the stigmata at Pisa in 1375, and later composed her great work, The Dialogue of Divine Providence.
Catherine died in Rome on 29 April 1380. Canonised by Pope Pius II and declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope Paul VI, she remains one of the most remarkable witnesses of faith, hope, and charity in the history of the Church.
And today, she is not distant from us. Her presence is tangible among us in the relic placed upon this altar, a sign that the saints do not belong to the past. They accompany us. They walk with us. They intercede for us as we journey towards our true homeland. Saint Catherine, who once walked the dusty roads of Siena and Rome, now walks with us as pilgrims towards heaven.
Catherine understood life as a pilgrimage. She reminds us in The Dialogue:
“This sweet and loving Word… left you himself as food, so that you, still pilgrims in this life, might not faint on the way”
Dialogue, ch. 112
Here we are brought to the very heart of the Church: the Eucharist. Jesus Christ does not abandon his people. He feeds them. He sustains them. He accompanies them every step of the journey. The Eucharist is not an occasional comfort; it is the daily bread of pilgrims, the strength for the road, the presence of Christ who walks with his people from beginning to end.
And today, Deacons Shayne, Tân, and Huy, my dear sons, you are to be ordained priests in that same mystery. You are being configured to Christ, the sweet and loving Word, who gives himself as food for the life of the world.
What Catherine says of Christ in the Eucharist must, in a real and sacramental way, be reflected in your priesthood. You are to be men of union with God, men whose lives are immersed in him, men who nourish his people not only with the Bread of Life but also with the living Word. The priest does not belong to himself. He belongs to Christ, and in Christ, to his people.
Saint Catherine reminds us that we are all pilgrims. And so, the priest must walk with the pilgrim people of God. Not ahead of them as a distant figure, nor apart from them as an observer, but among them. At times leading, at times following, at times simply walking beside. Always accompanying.
The Scriptures today speak clearly.
“If we live our lives in the light, as God is in the light, we are in union with one another, and the blood of Jesus… purifies us from all sin”
1 John 1:7
The priest is called to live in that light, not for himself, but so that others may walk in it. And yet, we must speak honestly. The life you are embracing is not measured by worldly standards.
In priestly life and ministry, the temptation is real: to measure yourselves by human standards. Is my preaching effective? Am I being liked? Are people coming back to church? Or worse, to condemn yourselves when you do not see the fruits you hoped for. But my brothers, these are the wrong metrics. The only thing God asks of you is fidelity. Fidelity to prayer. Fidelity to the Eucharist. Fidelity to the people entrusted to you. Fidelity to the truth of the Gospel.
From the Acts of the Apostles, Saint Paul warns us:
“Be on your guard… even from your own ranks there will be men coming forward with a travesty of the truth”
Acts 20:28,30
Yours is a time that demands clarity, courage, and deep interior freedom. We live in a time of paradox. The world is more connected, more advanced, more filled with possibilities than ever before. And yet, there is also loneliness, confusion about truth, and a wounded Church. The question is not: what can I achieve? The question is: how do I live the challenge of this time?
Saint Catherine gives us the answer. It is found in dialogue with God. In prayer. In silence. In charity. In truth. She writes:
“The soul cannot live without love… she always wants to love something, because love is the stuff she is made of”
Dialogue, ch. 13
And again:
“You cannot show me any love except through your neighbour”
Dialogue, ch. 64
Shayne, Tân, and Huy, this is the shape of your priesthood. A life given in love. A love that is not abstract, but concrete. A love that tends the sick, listens to the troubled, forgives the sinner, strengthens the weary, and gathers the scattered into unity.
And to you, my dear people, Christ’s faithful gathered here this evening: please do not place upon your priests expectations that belong to Christ alone.
No one person possesses every gift. The priest is called to lead, yes, but always as one who walks with you. His ministry is relational, not functional. Support him. Pray for him. Walk with him.
Saint Catherine burned with zeal for the unity of the Church. She knew that division wounds the Body of Christ. Today, that call remains urgent. Each of us has a role to play in building up the Church in faith, hope, and charity.
My dear sons, as you approach the altar for the first time as priests, remember always that you are servants of the Eucharist. You are entrusted with the greatest gift: to stand at this altar and make present the sacrifice of Christ. To feed God’s pilgrim people. To accompany them. To lead them home.
Christ says to each of you:
“Come to me all you who labour and are overburdened, and I will give you rest… learn from me”
Matthew 11:28-29
Stay close to him. Remain in him. Let him shape your heart.
And as we celebrate this sacred moment, we entrust you to the maternal care of Mary, Star of the Sea, who guides pilgrims safely to their destination. May she watch over you, protect you, and lead you always to her Son, Jesus Christ Our Lord.
And may Saint Catherine of Siena, whose relic rests upon this altar and whose spirit accompanies us, intercede for you. May she teach you to love the Church, to serve the poor, to remain faithful in all things, and to be, in Christ, a light for his people on the journey to eternal life.