May 30--St. Joan of Arc, Virgin

May 30—St. Joan of Arc, Virgin

What seems more amazing, a woman hearing voices from the saints or a woman leading men into battle?  Both are found in one woman, St. Joan of Arc.  Born a peasant, Joan of Arc claimed a special mission from God, to lead the French in victory over the English during the Hundred Years War in the 15^th century.  She was able to convince the French leadership of her special calling and raised the siege of Orleans, while also leading her men in holiness by requiring them to attend Mass on Sundays and to avoid the sins of a soldier’s life.  She was eventually captured, sold to the English, tried on trumped-up charges of heresy and witchcraft and finally, burned at the stake.  She was vindicated in a second trial after the Hundred Years War, beatified in 1909 and canonized in 1920.  She is a co-patroness of France.

Joan of Arc’s crime was her success.  She listened to the voices that spoke to her and was punished by men.  When she defied the voices that spoke to her she was rewarded by men, but lost sight of her calling.  We, too, have a voice that speaks to us.  It is the voice of God who speaks to us:  in Scripture, in the Magisterium of the Church, in the sound advice and just commands of those who love us.  God also speaks to us through our hearts, in our consciences.  If we violate our conscience, we defy the voice of God.  Does that mean we can do whatever we desire?  No.  We are also called to form our consciences by those other voices that God gives to us: the Bible, the Church, our parents, and authority that follows God and God’s natural law.  We, too, will be punished by others when we stand for love, justice, and right.  But we will be following in the footsteps of one greater than Joan of Arc.  We will be walking the way of the cross with Jesus.