…You Will Set the World on Fire

The Mom Weekly, Volume 145: May 19, 2026

You can read this, or any other previous Mom Weeklies, by going to the home page here.

Notes

When I heard this podcast episode a week or two ago, I realized I really wanted to share it! So I re-listened, and I am sharing the relevant quotes here.

The title of this Weekly is not about burning down the world in a negative sense, but rather, the second half of a quote attributed to St. Catherine of Siena, “If you are who you should be, you will set the world on fire!”

“Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire.”

This wasn’t her exact quote, as far as I can see from research, but it captures the spirit of what she meant to say:

If you are what you should be, you will set all of Italy ablaze!

Remember how much I love you,

Mom

“…You Will Set the World on Fire“

The podcast, “Dominican Sisters Open Mic,” put out by the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist, is a lovely listen or watch. (on YouTube). I’ve listened to several episodes while mowing or doing other activities, and I enjoy many of them. Here’s a NY Times article (gift link!) about the podcast.

There is something so normal, healthy, and edifying about hearing these well-adjusted sisters talk about the religious life, their stories about their faith, and their normal lives and struggles.

It’s not just a dry discussion, but funny and engaging.

This episode with Sister Catherine Thomas, who was a teacher for at least one of you kids in high school, is par for the course. Since we know Sister Catherine fairly well, I think you will find it a good listen.

But knowing that everyone is not as enamored of podcasts or videos as I am, I want to summarize one of the best parts. But truly, all of it is really good and worth listening to!

This episode includes the fact that Sister Catherine, as a non-practicing Catholic, attended Saint Louis University for college, and how that led to her re-conversion to Catholicism, and also to her vocation as a sister. So many connections with our connections!

Sister Catherine shared three “truths” of St. Catherine of Siena, based on how she is quoted in the catechism. And here they are:

First of those truths: CCC 313
God loves us first. His love is primary.

Second of those truths: CCC 356
The dignity of human beings made in the image and likeness of God.

Third of these truths: CCC 1937
The interdependence of human beings.

“Every human being stands in need of receiving something from every other human being, and every human being has something to give as well, to every other human being.”

At the end of this exchange, Sister summarized:

“The three nuggets… that St. Catherine has to say to a world, truths that will heal its hurts:

—that God love you God loves you first.

—You have an incredible, beautiful dignity.

—The world needs the gifts that you have, but you also have needs, and we have to depend on each other.

It’s a cure for the isolation and division that many people experience.”

I’m just going to leave the message there because it is really true! God loves you, you have infinite dignity, and we are all dependent on each other.

Interesting/Notable

A Sacred Cloth and the Love That Formed a Priest

A centuries-old tradition at a priest’s first Mass points to a deeper truth about vocation, sacrifice and the role of a mother.