The Wealthy Woman Who Became Rich

Katherine Drexel was born in Philadelphia in 1858 into a family of considerable wealth. Her parents taught her that possessing wealth brought with it a responsibility for those less fortunate. Ministry to the poor was a regular part of the Drexel family life. On family vacations, she saw the plight of Native Americans and African Americans in the South and endeavored to help them. While in Rome, she met with Pope Leo XIII and encouraged him to send missionaries into the American West. He suggested that Katherine become a missionary.

Katherine founded the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament, a religious community to serve Native Americans and African Americans in 1891. She had to resist ongoing prejudice and even threats of violence. With her vast fortune, she launched charitable missions such as the Society for the Preservation of the Faith Among Indian Children, and many schools, including Xavier University. Though coronary illness kept her from active work for the last twenty years of her life, she continued to support the work of her sisters through prayer and writing.

Unlike many of her era, Katherine Drexel could see Christ in those who were discriminated against. She worked to eradicate that discrimination not only with her wealth but with her whole life. Life in Christ removes all kinds of barriers to others and allows us to see the diversity of God's gifts.

Reflect on the Word

All of you are God's children because of your faith in Christ Jesus. And when you were baptized, it was as though you had put on Christ in the same way you put on new clothes. Faith in Christ Jesus is what makes each of you equal with each other, whether you are a Jew or a Greek, a slave or a free person, a man or a woman.

Galatians 3:26-28(CEV)