"Saints of Empowered Prayer: St. Katherine Drexel"

St. Katherine Drexel: Katherine was born in Philadelphia in 1858. She had an excellent education and travel widely as the daughter of a wealthy family. In the life of wealth however, she witnessed her mother welcome into her home the poor three days a week and witnessed her father spending half an hour in prayer each evening. She helped care for her stepmother realizing that all the Drexel family money could not buy safety from pain or death, and as a result her life took a profound turn.

Katherine always had an interest in the plight of the Indians and while visiting in Europe she met with Pope Leo XIII, asking him to send more missionaries to Wyoming. The pope replied "Why don't you become a missionary?" His answer shocked her into considering new possibilities.

Back home Katherine visited the Dakotas, meeting with the Sioux leader and the local Bishop. Newspaper headlines screamed, "Gives up Seven million", which is what she did. After three years of training, Mother Drexel and several other nuns opened a boarding school in Santa Fe. She is the foundress of "The Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament for Indians and Colored". Mother Drexel opened many schools for black people, for which she was greatly harassed. She also opened 50 missions for Indians. She is the founder of Xavier University in New Orleans, the first Catholic university in the United States for African Americans.

At the age of 77 after suffering a heart attack Mother Drexel retired. She lived until the age of 96, and during those years she spent her time in quiet and intense prayer as revealed in her writings.

She was canonized in 2000. Her feast day is March 3rd.

1) Is there an area of my life that I am being asked to surrender?

2) Who or what situation in my life caused a profound change in my spiritual journey?