political and ecclesial factions leading to division and sometimes even violence civil leaders more willing to serve themselves than concerned with the common good church leaders whose personal weakness is a scandal to believers and an obstacle to evangelization

multi-leveled corruption and a seeming inability

to live out one's commitment and responsibilities

in the state, the church, and the family.

This might sound like the average American newscast

on any given evening, but I was actually describing

Siena in the 14th century. St. Catherine lived in a time

that may on the surface look very different than the time you and I are living in, but it has that

unique commonality to every era, which theologians would attribute to the universality of human

woundedness after the fall, we call original sin.

Evidence abounds that truth is not easily known and that goodness is not easily pursued.

Like every true mystic, Catherine of Sienna was a profound realist. After the so-called

enlightenment, there's a strange notion that a person of prayer is somehow

out of touch with the reality of the day-to-day world.

But the exact opposite is true.

Authentic charity, that is the love for God as the ultimate good, always includes deep

concern and willingness to act for the good of humanity.

We can look to St. Catherine as a model of a response to crisis that is informed by charity.

I don't need to prove the point that we're facing a crisis in American society and political

leadership. In the church universal,

and particular in the United States,

as well as in the lives of families and individuals

...