Two Catherines

Honoring a saint and my goddaughter

11/25/2024

Matthew 10:28-33 Jesus said to his Apostles: "Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna. Are not two sparrows sold for a small coin? Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father's knowledge. Even all the hairs of your head are counted. So do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. Everyone who acknowledges me before others I will acknowledge before my heavenly Father. But whoever denies me before others, I will deny before my heavenly Father."

I am the godfather to many children who are now grown adults. And today, the feast of St. Catherine of Alexandria, is the patronal feasts of one of them, namely, Catherine Hartnedy, now married to handsome Mr. Regin Reginio. Today I want to give a brief homiletic shout-out to my goddaughter Catherine and her patroness, St. Catherine.

Catherine (my goddaughter) was married on October 5 at St. Edward’s Church in Little Rock. And as usual, I missed it because I had a wedding here in Fort Smith. Even though I cannot always be present in the lives of my godchildren, their patron saints are never absent, and their powerful presence is of no small consequence.

St. Catherine lived from 287 to 305 in Alexandria, Egypt. At the tender age of only 18 she gladly gave her life for Christ, being martyred at the hands of Emperor Maxentius. She was so astute intellectually that she became a brilliant scholar and converted to Christianity at the age of 14. She subsequently converted hundreds of other people to Christianity by her learning and life. Indeed, over 1,000 years later St. Joan of Arc would look to St. Catherine as her model for behavior as a Christian woman.

Now, some of the stories surrounding the brief life of St. Catherine start to sound like the stuff of legend. But as my church history professor told us in seminary many times: “If it isn’t true, it should be.” For example, when Emperor Maxentius began to persecute Christians, intrepid Catherine went to rebuke the emperor for his cruelty. That was not the first or last time a courageous Catholic woman would go toe-to-toe with a tyrant. Sometimes that happens in our own homes.

The hapless emperor then threw Catherine into prison and sent 50 of his sharpest philosophers and theologians to engage the saintly teenager in debate. But she bested all of them with her beauty and her brilliance. As a matter of fact, several of her interlocutors were so moved by her arguments that they converted to Christianity and were promptly put to death.

By the way, my goddaughter Catherine was one of Ben Keatings best friends in Little Rock. They both belonged to a group of intensely committed Catholics who wanted to learn and live their faith more robustly. I have no doubt Catherine was very influential in Ben’s decision to pursue the priesthood. Both Catherines used their beauty and their brilliance to help men draw closer to Christ.

Foiled at his attempts to ruin Catherine’s faith, the emperor next devised various tortures and used pain as his new argument against Catherine and Christianity. All to no avail. Finally, he used a spiked wheel to put Catherine to death. Incidentally, if you visit St. Edward’s Church in Little Rock, where my goddaughter was married last month, in the high back altar you will see a stunning statue of St. Catherine.

And can you guess what she is holding in both her hands? That’s right: the instrument of her martyrdom: a large, spiked wheel that is actually slightly broken where it crushed Catherine’s body. Even the wheel was ashamed of what it was called to do to Catherine’s innocent and virgin body.

In the gospel today Jesus teaches his disciples: “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.” And later our Lord adds: “Everyone who acknowledges me before others, I will acknowledge before my heavenly Father.” Those two sentences from the lips of our Savior perfectly summarize the life of St. Catherine.

She displayed a fearless faith even in the face of death, and she used her beauty and brilliance to bring other people closer to Christ. And I pray one day that will likewise be the legend surrounding my goddaughter Catherine Reginio. Because, you know, “if it isn’t true, it should be.”

Praised be Jesus Christ!