Beyond Vision

Sunday was a historic event in our Church as Hildegard of Bingen was named a Doctor of the Church. This woman was a Benedictine Nun who composed music, functioned as a healer, spoke truth to power, and had a mystical connection to God through her visions. I first heard of Hildegard in 1994 and hold her in high regard as a model of what it means to be a woman in the Catholic Tradition. There is a quality of beauty about knowing who Hildegard is and last year I watched the movie Vision and continue to be touched by real things that she encountered through her own strengths and growing edges. Her heart was out there and she risked so much for what she believed in. Every time I reflect on Hildegard I wonder if I have the courage to risk as she did. And, every time I come up short. It is great to have a woman of such personal inspiration be recognized by the whole, yet whether she received this honor or not my life is challenged, enriched and strengthened because of her.