Today is the Feast day of St. Kateri Tekakwitha. In today’s Blessed Among Us feature in Give Us This Day, Robert Ellsberg writes:

St. Kateri was born in 1656 near present-day Auriesville, New York. Her mother, a captured Algonquin, was a Christian, while her father, a Mohawk chief, viewed the new religion with deep suspicion. Both parents died from smallpox when Kateri was four. Her own scarred face showed the marks of the disease, which also darkened her vision, causing her to stumble in the light. As a result her people called her Tekakwitha—“the one who walks groping her way.” When a Jesuit missionary arrived in her village in 1674 she requested baptism. She was given the name Kateri—a Mohawk version of Katherine.

Don’t we all stumble at times and grope our way forward? I know I do. Kateri Tekakwitha may be just the companion we need for these complex days of chaos and uncertainty. Just because we stumble in the light does not mean the light is not there. And even if we must at times grope our way, we can walk the way of peace, love, justice, and integrity in gratitude and hope.

I love these two images of Kateri Tekakwitha. The first, a painting by Nancy Marek, is new to me. The second is a photo I took of a statue on the path near a lake in Collegeville a few years ago. Knowing what I now know about her name and her challenge making her way in the light I love these images even more.

Do you see her posture? Sitting in one, standing in the other, looking ahead in both in faith, wonder, and awe, she is surrounded by the goodness of God’s creation. So too are we, even if we don’t always see it.

Pray for us St. Kateri Tekakwitha. Help us to face forward in hope, love, and trust even if we stumble or grope to find our way. Journey with us as we nevertheless walk together in faith. Inspire us to look for goodness and wonder. Be with us on the journey.