Christian Mission and Poverty

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Christian Mission and Poverty

theologian and author, a political advocate, and a caregiver for people on the margins. She often put her own health at risk by her service to others and severe fasting. Yet this single-minded, almost obsessive devotion also opened her to receive dramatic revelations from God. Alongside these revelations, her theological acumen earned her the title of “doctor” of the Roman Catholic Church. Much like other medieval women theologians, including Julian of Norwich, Catherine phrased her writings as God speaking to her and her responding to God (hence the title The Dialogue ). While she received mystical, ecstatic visions of God, she was also a skilled writer and astute thinker. One wonders if, in addition to the special revelations she received from Christ, Catherine was aware that as a woman her ideas might be better received if she didn’t present them as her own. Either way, we see in Catherine a similar combination of prayer and work that we have seen in several other thinkers. In this reading, Catherine makes a distinction between the general commandments given to all Christians and the special counsels given to those who would lead a single life of religious devotion. While the Protestant Reformation would later push back against this two-tiered distinction of calling (and in its place offer the priesthood of all believers), Catherine’s distinguishing of commands and counsels points to an important idea. Catherine goes to great lengths to explain why those committed to family life may interpret the ideal of poverty in a more figurative sense while those committed to celibacy in ministry may interpret the ideal of poverty in a more literal sense. Not unlike Paul in 1 Corinthians 7, Catherine recommends this latter calling as preferable or more “perfect,” while