A Hero and a Saint – Jake and Kateri

Native American at Canonization Ceremony at Vatican for Tekakwitha. Photo by Trisha Thomas

I leaned out over the Colonnade that surrounds St. Peter’s Square this morning peering down at the crowd below trying to locate my hero, Jake Finkbonner, the 12-year-old boy who gave the final push to make Kateri Takekwitha the first Native American Saint.  Eventually I saw him when he went to get communion from Pope Benedict XVI.

Jake Finkbonner getting Communion from Pope Benedict XVI. Freeze Frame of Vatican Television

It has been a long, painful journey that has brought Jake to the center of the Catholic world.  Jake has undergone 29 operations since he was attacked by a skin-eating bacteria.  As he explained in an interview with Associated Press, he was five-years-old when he took a tumble playing basketball, and hit his mouth at the base of the hoop.  What is known as a “Strep A” or “flesh-eating Bacteria” entered his body.  His mother Elsa said just a few days later a priest was called in to give him his last rites at the Children’s Hospital in Seattle.  His family thought it was the end.   Jake is of Native-American descent, from the Lummi Nation, a group of Native Americans based in Washington state.  The priest called in to give the last rights was Father Tim Sauer, who was the priest on the Lummi Reservation.  Father Tim decided to urge the family, friends and members of the parish to pray to Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha for his recovery.  One nun, Sister Kateri Mitchell even brought a relic of Tekakwitha and held it over Jake’s leg and prayed for Kateri’s intercession to save Jake.   Jake survived and his case was chosen by the Vatican as the second miracle needed to raise Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha to sainthood.   Jake came this week to Rome with his family to take part in the Vatican ceremony today that made Kateri Tekakwitha a saint.

KATERI TEKAKWITHA, FIRST NATIVE AMERICAN SAINT

Kateri Tekakwitha was born in 1656 in what is now upstate New York to a Mohawk father and an Algonquin mother.  When she was 4-years-old small pox ravaged her village, killing her parents and brother.  Kateri survived but was covered with scars and left nearly blind.  The tribe began calling her Tekakwitha meaning “she who bumps into things”. Through contacts with Jesuit missionaries in the area, Kateri became a Christian.  When her Uncle organized a marriage for her to an Iroquois man, Kateri chose to flee her village and headed north, joining a Native-American Christian community called Kahnawake in Canada rather than marry.   In Kahnawake, Kateri made a vow of chastity and dedicated herself to helping the elderly, the sick and working with children.  She spent long hours in prayer and penance  on her knees outside, despite the bitter cold.  She became ill at age 24 and died of exposure.  The Jesuits, who kept records of her life, say immediately after her death all the pockmarks on her body disappeared. Following her death, Native Americans and settlers began praying for her intercession and Kateri Tekakwitha was credited with physical healings and divine acts.  In the 1880s Catholics began pushing the Vatican to make her a saint.

For someone to become a Saint, the Vatican must have proof of a miracle attributed to that person.  Jake Finkbonner has provided that miracle. Jake himself takes a very realistic view on the issue, noting on his website www.jakefinkbonner.com, “Please don’t confuse the issue which is that my survival is a miracle.  We thank the doctors at Children’s Hospital for all that they did to save my life.  I wouldn’t be here without them.  I also thank all the people that prayed for me.  Obviously, God heard their prayers.  This decision to canonize Blessed Kateri is something that the Vatican and the Pope declared, based on testimonies given by parishioners, my family and my doctors.”

As a mother, I am thoroughly impressed with the poise, determination and courage of young Jake, and the strength of his parents.

Jake Finkbonner and his Mom Elsa Finkbonner during interview with AP. Freeze frame of AP video shot by Paolo Santalucia.

Following the cermony today I was thrilled to meet and briefly interview Native Americans from all over North America and Canada who had come to the Vatican for the Canonization ceremony.  They were there in traditional dress with beautiful beaded garments, fringed tunics, colorful earings and feathered headdresses. There was Yolandra Toya and her daughter Anya from the Apache Nation in New Mexico, Clementine Little Hawk Fernandez, a Sioux from South Dakota,  Michelle Jacob from the Yakama Reservation in Washington State, Aron Hieniens, a Mohawk from Kahnawake, near Montreal Canada, and Carol Bendercraft, a Chippewa from the Bad River Indian Reservation in Wisconsin.  All of them shared enormous pride in Kateri Tekakwitha.

 

Native American taking photos during Canonization ceremony of Kateri Tekawitha. Freeze frame of Vatican TV video.

I love this shot that Vatican TV got of a Native American man in a full headdress taking a photo during the Canonization ceremony, with St. Peter’s Basilica reflected in his mirrored shades.

10 thoughts on “A Hero and a Saint – Jake and Kateri”

    1. Thanks for your comment Cyndy, and you are right, let’s hope Kateri Tekakwitha can inspire medical researchers to come up with a cure for Strep A. As I mentioned in the post, I don’t think Jake Finkbonner had any doubts that it was not just a simple “miracle” that saved his life. On his website he specifically and repeatedly thanked his doctors and medical team. The whole “miracles” question is a bit hard for non-Catholics to swallow. A colleague of mine who covers the Vatican and was also covering the canonizations this week said to me “these miracles are all smoke and mirrors baby, smoke and mirrors”

      I understood where she was coming from, but I don’t agree totally. Covering the Vatican over the years, I’ve been to a lot of places where people go to pray for a miracle — Lourdes, San Giovanni Rotondo (Padre Pio) and I often find it hard to understand. I think the bottom line is, when it seems like there is no hope left, people need something to grab on to. It is human instinct to hope for a miracle, and not to give up.

      I do think that in Jake’s situation it was helpful to believe that someone upstairs was rooting for him. For the family, parish and friends to pray specifically to a Native American who might have more interest and understanding of Jake’s specific case, perhaps gave them more confidence and courage.

      But I am getting into a topic that is far too complicated for a comment, I will try to do a specific post on Miracles.

    1. Thank you for reading it. Maybe you would be the appropriate person to do a blog post on Miracles. Miracles are such a fascinating concept. It is so hard for many non-Catholics to understand it. Why do people want to believe in miracles? Why are miracles so important to the Catholic faith? Are miracles necessary if you are going to “have faith” in anything. Starting with Jesus turning water into wine, walking on water and making the blind man see– miracles are a central part of Christian belief. And what makes a miracle, what qualifies as a miracle? It is a fascinating topic.

  1. What an intriguing story, so many beautiful elements. I can just imagine this young woman fleeing to find her own way in the world. Tragic that she died so young, and it is fitting to see the pride over her sainthood. I am so admiring this young man who made a difference in this story, and happy for his recovery. You know what it’s like to have a child in hospital for an extended time. Who knows with such ancient cultures what is possible.
    sending love
    lisa

    1. Thank you Lisa. It is tragic that Kateri died so young. The idea of her on her knees praying outdoors in a cold Canadian winter is pretty grim. I, also, am so admiring of Jake Finkbonner and of his parents. They have displayed such incredible courage in the face of a frightening, debilitating disease and have given an example to people like me how to face what sometimes seem insurmountable problems with determination. Love, Trisha

  2. Wendi Sue Sunshine

    The most incredibile miracle is the honor of motherhood. That in itself catapults us into an entirely new dimension. God bless those who recognize the gravity of juvenile illness. It takes many forms…some more hopeful than others. Science has given us, as parents, the means to cope with or live with many medical evils….(speaking as the mother of 4 boys: one epileptic, one diabetic). One might say it’s an unfortunate ratio 2 out of 4……I am only grateful that pharmaceuticals and technology have made them manageable. However, I must admit that I am no longer able to sit back and digest the impossible, the uncurable. Too close to home. God bless Jake, and his mother and their faith; their ability to accept and believe in a miracle. God bless Kateri and those who heed her teachings…..we have so much to learn. Thank you Trisha for observing, for reporting and for sharing……but most if all for sharing, for sharing unites and conquers.

    1. Wendi — It is wonderful to hear from you and thank you for such a thoughtful comments. I agree with you that motherhood is a miracle in and of itself and I think you are correct that it “catapults us into an entirely new dimension.” I think I have been catapulted so far I can never go back. And just as well I suppose. Motherhood is a wild, exciting, frustrating, and sometimes scary adventure. Thank you for sharing with me. As you know, I also have a diabetic son and some other big challenges on the medical front with another child, and I am also grateful for the scientific advances that have made our problems more manageable. I loved the story of Jake and Kateri because Jake and his family took advantage of everything available to them– all the medical help they could get combined with their deep faith and a link to their Native American heritage.

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