St Cajetan: The Quiet Counter Reformer

Today in the book In Caelo et in Terra, we read about St Cajetan. He was ordained as a priest one year before Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door in Wittenberg, sparking the Protestant Reformation. Martin Luther became world famous for throwing out the baby with the bath water, and trying to start a brand new church without the sacraments. If you study the life of Martin Luther, you'll be unhappy with what you find, no matter your background.

Meanwhile, St Cajetan and others like him saw the same problems and corruption in the church, but also saw that the solution was to work within the sacraments, in the church that Jesus founded, and repair what was wrong. They quietly and patiently went about working for this change, and in the meantime they served the poor and fed the hungry. Because of their work, much of the corruption and most of the problems that Martin Luther correctly identified were addressed and resolved. 

Martin Luther is world famous. You have probably never heard of St Cajetan. That's how it usually goes in this life. Those who respond badly and scream loudly as they go off the reservation make the news and become famous. Those who quietly go about the work of fixing the problems and making the world a better place are seldom heard of, and often live lives of quiet obscurity. You can read more about St Cajetan here.

God, thanks for the example of quietly working for the good of the church and of the world in this faithful servant. St Cajetan, pray for us.