Exploring Italy: Day 4 – Called to Serve: Inspiration from Siena and San Gimignano

Study Travel to Italy Day 4:

Scripture: Luke 4 .16-22

Our travels took us to Siena and San Gimigano today.  We drove through the beautiful Tuscan countryside. 

First, I want to share two pictures as two of our travelers- Amber Ferda and Lin Rouse celebrated birthdays on November 7.  We had a great time wishing them God’s blessings as they entered into a new year.

Our morning stop was Siena, home of Saint Catherine of Siena.  Catherine’s first vision of Jesus came when she was seven years old.

One, of twenty-five children, Catherine was born during the Plague.  She grew up always feeling a deep commitment to Jesus, eventually receiving a vision of being spiritually married to Jesus. 

Catherine joined the Order of Dominican sisters and lived at home after taking her instruction and vows. There she would give away the family’s clothes and food to any in need. She is would visit hospitals and care for the ill and those who cared for the ill.  Our St. Catherine’s hospital in Kenosha/Pleasant Prairie is named after Catherine of Siena.

Catherine also wrote a great deal that has been passed on the church throughout the centuries.  She was also highly esteemed by the Popes of her time that used her in times of church reform.

Grateful for the contributions of St Catherine, she reminds us of God’s call and claim on our lives.  Today we ponder where Gods is calling us and how God is calling us to live in the world.

Prayer:

Gracious God, we thank you for the lives of those who have gone before us and model for us a life of faith.  May we continue to consider , daily, how God is calling us to live and serve. Amen.