Saint Catherine’s Bridge

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23 NRSV-CI

God gave Saint Catherine of Sienna, a Doctor of the Church, a vivid picture of humankind separated from God. She saw a great, raging river that made it absolutely impossible for humans to reach God, as much as they might try. This unnavigable, powerful river swept everyone to their death.

But God was not willing for us to suffer this deadly separation from His love—even as a result of our own sin. God said to Saint Catherine, “And so, wishing to remedy your great evils, I have given you the Bridge of My Son, in order that, passing across the flood, you may not be drowned.”

What a clear picture of Romans 6:23. Jesus is the bridge. On the one side, are sin and its wages—death. On the other side is the gift of God—eternal life. Jesus is our bridge, our roadway from sin and death into a new life of grace and joy.

But we must walk across the bridge. God warned us through Saint Catherine, “In order that you should have life, it is not enough that My Son should have made you this Bridge—unless you walk across it."

We walk across the bridge when we accept Jesus’s death on the cross as the payment for our sins and give ourselves to God in loving obedience to Him and service to others.

Let us pray: Dear God, I see the raging river that separates me from you and I know that my own sin has caused it. I choose today to return to you through Jesus. I place my whole life in your hands. Amen.

The joy of the gospel fills the hearts and lives of all who encounter Jesus. Those who accept his offer of salvation are set free from sin, sorrow, inner emptiness, and loneliness.” Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium 1

(Dialogue of Saint Catherine of Sienna, 33, 34. https://www.catholicplanet.com/ebooks/Dialogue-of-St-Catherine.pdf Cited in Catholic Christian Outreach, Discovery, available at https://cco.ca/)