If we wish to serve God and love our neighbor well, we must manifest our joy in the service we render to Him and them. Let us open wide our hearts. It is joy which invites us. Press forward and fear nothing." // Saint Katharine Drexel (source)
My tween daughter has taken to sharing with me the philanthropic acts done by some of her favorite celebrities to help impress upon me the good they are doing with their fortunes. I appreciate the interest that she has taken. I love that her curiosity is fueling the search for what one does with huge amounts of money. And while philanthropy is a good and generous tool for helping individuals and organizations access the tools they need to succeed, philanthropy on the public stage can be shaky ground. Thankfully, there is a long line of people who have harnessed their fortunes for the sake of the other, even when the causes were less than popular.
The Heroic Work of Philanthropy
In response to her bulleted lists, I have begun to share the ways—large and small—that I have noticed people in our sphere doing philanthropic and heroic work, often unseen or anonymously. For example, we have friends who have started a foundation to give away vehicles to people whose children’s disabilities require additional accommodations. My husband spent nearly a decade in a shelter supporting men and women through homelessness. We know folks who have donated barrels of blood, and others who have given a kidney to a stranger for no particular reason other than that they could.
The point being, we are all called to give of ourselves. The how, to whom, and the when we choose to do so is a personal conviction. So it is very fitting that someone like Saint Katharine Drexel, who understood philanthropy on a scale that most of us never will, is celebrated on her feast day today.
Meet Saint Katharine Drexel
Saint Katharine Drexel was an heiress to a tremendous fortune (roughly $200 million in today's dollars). Born in 1858 in Philadelphia to devout parents, Katharine learned early that the corporal and spiritual works of mercy are a way of life. As a family, they regularly prayed and served the poor in their community, opening the doors of their home.
A Religious Call
That Katharine suspected she might have a religious call was likely not surprising news for her parents or anyone in Philadelphia society, though certainly folks wondered if she could make it in religious life, having been accustomed to luxury. As she grew up, she traveled with her family, gaining some exposure to the broader needs of the American people. What caught Katharine's attention and her heart most of all, was the plight of the Native American people of the West. She was scandalized by their dire situation and suggested to the pope that something must be done. What was shocking was that in 1887, after writing to Pope Leo XIII and imploring him to send missionaries to the American West, he responded that she should become a missionary and go.
From that point on, Katharine surrendered to the life of a religious. For Saint Katharine that meant embracing poverty, chastity, and obedience, while giving away her fortune. In 1891, at the age of thirty-three, she founded the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament, who committed to the spiritual and educational needs of Native American and Black children in rural and urban communities.
A Contemporary Context
Against the odds, in 1915 Katharine founded Xavier University in New Orleans, the first Catholic University for African-American students. Despite Louisiana law that forbade men and women attending classes together, many of her Sisters were educated alongside students. She received special permission to operate as such, despite contemporary disapproval of such practices, including the Vatican’s. Xavier remains the only Black Catholic University in the United States.
A Tumultuous Time
Of course the Sisters faced plenty of threats from anti-Catholic and racist groups who did not condone their charism or the communities that they served. Saint Katharine and the community were privy to no shortage of persecutions from groups like the KKK—including the burning of crosses, arson, threats to priests, and bomb threats to their buildings.
Although Katharine suffered a stroke at the age of seventy-seven, after which she could no longer participate in active ministry, it is worth remembering that she lived until 1955. No doubt much of the prayer of her later years focused acutely on racial equality leading up to and during the beginnings of the Civil Rights Movement after all that she had worked for in her lifetime.
Saint Katharine Drexel is the second American-born Saint after Elizabeth Ann Seton. She was beatified by Pope Saint John Paul II as recently as 2000. Katharine is the patroness of philanthropists and racial justice. She is known for being a formidable force for the advancement of Black and Native American communities in the United States.
Saint Katharine Drexel, pray for us!
Katie Cassady is a regular contributor to the BIS blog. She is a wife and mom to three little girls in Denver, CO. Steeped in theological reflection, beekeeping and motherhood, she is appreciative of any and all wisdom she can glean from those living intentional lives of faith. Find out more about her here. Read all of Katie's posts here.
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