The Lily of the Mohawks

A Reflection on the Gospel of Matthew 10:16-23 on the Memorial of St Kateri Tekakwitha

Internet Image from Coyle

Jesus said to his Apostles: "Behold, I am sending you like sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and simple as doves. (Matthew 10:16 NABRE)

     In the Gospel today, Jesus tells us that to effectively proclaim the Gospel, like sheep among wolves, we must be a shrewd as serpents and as simple as doves. But what does that really mean? Would you compare someone described as a Lily, as also shrewd as a serpent, and simple as a dove? Many would not. Yet, on reflection, this is exactly as we must be. Today, we celebrate the Memorial of St Kateri Tekakwitha, often described as the Lily of the Mohawks. Canonized on October 11^th in 2012, this Lily, common in the eyes of the world, was effective in every way Jesus tells us to be.

The Lily of the Mohawks

     St Kateri was born with the name, “Tekakwitha,” meaning she who bumps into things, in 1656 in the Mohawk village of Ossernenon, New York. Tekakwitha’s father was a Mohawk chief named Tsaniton-gowa. Her mother was an Algonquin woman, Kahontake, who had been captured by the Mohawks. St Kateri’s mother was a Christian, yet she was not able to openly practice Christianity on fear of death. When Tekakwitha was born, Kahontake secretly gifted her child with the knowledge of, and love for, Jesus, and the importance of Christian virtue. Later, St Kateri would credit the bravery of her mother and the “Black robes,” French missionary Priests, for her faith. A Lily grows best in fertile soil.

     Smallpox ravaged Tekakwitha’s village when she was four. The disease left her partially blind and with a scarred face. Worse, she lost both parents. After being nursed back to health, Tekakwitha was sent to live with her uncle. At every opportunity, Tekakwitha continued to practice her faith as she had been taught. When missionaries came to the village, this young Mohawk maiden, although unbaptized and uncatechized, was already deeply Christian in her manner of speaking and living. In 1676, after a year of instruction in the faith, Tekakwitha was baptized and took the name Kateri, meaning Catherine. Later, though her uncle cared deeply for St Kateri, he demanded that she marry. St Kateri refused so that her one focus could remain on serving God. Her steadfast refusal to marry ultimately brought about threats of torture and death.

     Eventually, Kateri had to flee, walking nearly 200 miles to a Christian mission. There, St Kateri’s habit of deep prayer, unceasing kindness, and great desire to do penance and offer sacrifices for the enlightenment of her people converted many. Her dedication to the Lord and to preaching through both word and deed quickly spread. She never wavered in her love for Christ, always seeking a way in to convert her family, and her people. At every moment free of work or service, Kateri was in the mission chapel. She also loved to pray in the woods, carving a cross in one of the trees to make her own little chapel. On Wednesday of Holy Week, 1680, at the age of twenty-four, St Kateri went to the embrace of Jesus, whom she had loved with undivided heart, and for whom she had suffered so much. Fifteen minutes after her death, a change came over the young woman’s scarred face. The pockmarks disappeared, and her face became radiant and completely unblemished. (Paraphrased from Marie Paul Curly)

The Lily - Shrewd and Simple

     Jesus tells His disciples that they must be shrewd and simple when amongst the wolves in our world. The word used in the Gospel of Matthew for “shrewd” is phrŏnimŏs (φρόνιμος), meaning someone who has great presence of mind in pursuance of a goal. The shrewd know the true stakes of a circumstance and are single-minded in its completion. Like a serpent, the shrewd avoid the traps set for them and always finds a way in.

     The second attribute for an effective evangelist is to be “as simple as a dove.” The Greek word used for “simple” is akĕraiŏs (ἀκέραιος). It means one who is pure, guileless, innocent. The Lord is telling his disciples though they are shrewd, in their lives and how they go about their work they must remain spotless and transparent. In this way, like the pure white dove, they attract the gaze of others. St Jerome put it beautifully. You are to be.

“Wise, that [you] might escape snares; simple, that [you] might not do evil to others.” (As quoted in St Thomas Aquinas)

     One of the most beautiful aspects of a saint is that they are people like everyone else, but they embrace their love of Christ so completely that they attract others to follow, not them, but the one they love so deeply, Christ. We too can be like them. St Kateri devoted the whole of her short life in purity and innocence to Christ. Christian art often uses a Lily to represent purity, innocence, and rebirth. That is why pictures often depict the Blessed Virgin Mary, and our Lord with a Lily in their hands. St Kateri devoted her life to purity, innocence, and re-birth in Christ. Her devotion was not only directed inward to edify her own soul but, was primarily directed outward such that she could be an instrument for the conversion of her people. The same people that cruelly sought her death. She was both shrewd and simple in proclaiming her faith. Her words to her Spiritual Director were,

“Who will teach me what is most agreeable to God, so that I may do it?” (Curley)

    Once St Kateri understood what the Lord wanted of her, she was relentless in her mission. She would not stop until her task was finished. She was innocent, shrewd, and simple!

     In the Gospel, Jesus is telling the Disciples, He is telling us today, the same thing. Go proclaim the Gospel amongst the wolves. Be shrewd, be simple, be effective. Mostly, like the Lily of the Mohawks, remain spotless, focused, and courageous. In this God will attract. God will prevail.

When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you to all truth and remind you of all I told you. (Gospel Antiphon - Jn 16:13a, 14:26d)

Endnotes:

Coyle, Jim. “Vatican to Declare Mohawk Kateri Tekakwitha a Saint.” Thestar.Com, 16 Oct. 2012, www.thestar.com/news/canada/2012/10/16/vatican_to_declare_mohawk_kateri_tekakwitha_a_saint.html.

Curley, Marie Paul, and Mary Lea Hill. Saints Alive! The Faith Proclaimed. Boston, MA: Pauline Books & Media, 2013. Print.

New American Bible. Revised Edition (NABRE). Washington, DC: The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 2011. Print.

St Thomas Aquinas. Catena Aurea: Commentary on the Four Gospels, Collected out of the Works of the Fathers: St. Matthew. Ed. John Henry Newman. Vol. 1. Oxford: John Henry Parker, 1841. Print.