February 3 is the feast day of St. Katharine Drexel.

Could you do it? Could you walk away from millions? That’s exactly what St. Katharine did.

Born and educated into a wealthy Philadelphia family in 1858, she could have settled into the easy life a socialite. However, God stirred her heart towards her true vocation: the education and care of black & Native Americans. She founded the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament in 1891 & opened their first school in Santa Fe in 1894. Fighting violent racism, she opened dozens of schools throughout the U.S., including Xavier University in New Orleans in 1915.

At age 77, Katharine suffered a severe heart attack. She accepted this new challenge from the Lord with equal vigor, living the next twenty years in contemplation & prayer in her room overlooking the sanctuary of St. Elizabeth’s Convent in Bensalem Township, PA. She died in 1955 at the age of 96. She was canonized by John Paul II in 2000 as only the second American-born saint. The Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament carry on her mission today (www.katharinedrexel.org).

“If we live the Gospel, we will be people of justice; our lives will bring the Good News to the poor.” - St. Katharine