Unlike the rich man in the Gospel who could not leave his riches behind, St. Katharine Drexel, whose life we celebrate today, had no trouble using her riches to serve God and those poor in spirit. Katharine inherited a substantial fortune and founded the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament to work among African and Native Americans. Our Oklahoma schools, hospitals and Indian Reservations were blessed by her fortune. In her early 40s, Katherine suffered a heart attack and spent the next 20 years in prayerful retirement.
Katharine knew healing takes time, and Benedict knew this too. He knew that a person who was trying to work through a situation, to recommit herself, and to gain a new perspective, needed an environment of prayerful retirement. He encourages his monks not to meddle, to agitate nor distract a monk in prayerful retirement by conversing with them or sending them messages.
Sr. Veronica, OSB
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