29 April 1992
Ljubljana, Yugoslavia

My dear Sisters,

The Italians today are celebrating the feast day of one of their national Patrons, St. Catherine of Siena. The whole Church today is honoring this remarkable woman, whose love for God was so intense that in the short span of thirty-three years she reached the heights of mystical union with God. St. Catherine, however, was no cloistered nun. As a Dominican tertiary, she undertook difficult and dangerous journeys in the interests of Church unity and of peace in her nation. She was a strong-minded woman, and did not hesitate to tell the Pope of her day, Gregory XI, that he should leave France, where he and his predecessors had resided for seventy-four years, and return to Rome. Pope Gregory accepted the advice of this young lady of twenty-nine years of age and at once set out for Rome. Catherine became, a year or two later, one of the advisors of Pope Gregory's successor, Pope Urban VI, and she tried strenuously through negotiation to reconcile the political leaders of her time, so that the people could enjoy a measure of peace. St. Catherine was a strong woman, but because her heart was full of the love of God, she always showed the highest respect for the Popes and Bishops of her day, and acted with simplicity, a virtue which St. Vincent loved so much and which he wished should shine out in the character of every Daughter of Charity.

All the great saints had deep insight into a truth that is expressed in today's Gospel:

"God so loved the world that He gave His only Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but should have eternal life." (Jn 3:16).

In that one sentence you have an answer to the questions: who, how, why and what of our Christian convictions. Who? God, the eternal, Creator of the universe. How? Jesus Christ, truly God, truly man, born of the Virgin Mary. Why? God loved humanity, even in its sinfulness and rebellion. What? Eternal life. It is eternal life that Jesus Christ is offering to those who will accept it, a share forever in the joy and happiness of God.

The tragedy of the world is that it does not see the gift of God. Humanity does not know, or chooses not to know and recognize, the depth of God's concern and interest in the welfare of the men and women He has created, and of His personal love for each one of them.

When you see a mother caring for and caressing her sleeping infant, that is a feeble image of what God is doing for us at each moment of our lives. The infant accepts the love and care, but is not able to say thanks. The infant cannot appreciate the love and care that is being poured out on it. So, too, with us. We are blind and insensitive to the intense love which God has for us and which reaches its high point in this life when He gives Himself to us in Holy Communion. "O love of my Saviour," exclaimed St. Vincent in the middle of a conference, "O love, Thou art incomparably greater than the Angels could, or ever will, comprehend." (Coste XII, Fr. ed., p. 109).

God so loved the world that He gave His only Son so that the world might share eternal life in the intimacy of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Because God loved the world and because He loves each one of us, as if we were the only human being on this earth, there must be in each one of us a special quality of beauty which rejoices the heart of God. St. Paul understood this when he wrote to the Ephesians and told them that they were "God's work of art." (Eph 2:10).

I, a work of art? With all my physical blemishes and moral defects? Yes, each one of us is God's work of art. It is true that we are defective. Still, each of us is unique and God sees in each one of us a special beauty which He sees in no other person. And He rejoices as He contemplates us, just as a father will rejoice as he looks on his infant child, even if it should be handicapped or devoid of good looks.

Because each of us is God's work of art, we must respect our own bodies and our minds and the bodies and minds of others. When you go into an art gallery, you would not dare touch the portraits, lest you damage them. So with God's art gallery, which is His Church, we must respect and not damage the masterpieces which God in His love has created. Masterpieces can be flawed and still remain masterpieces. We are flawed by sin, but we are nonetheless God's masterpieces.