August 11, Feast Day of St Clare of Assisi

 

The other day I heard a story on the radio of a young woman who had chosen to follow Jesus by entering the Order of Missionaries of Charity, which was started by Mother Teresa. When she began the process of entering the order, there was a large group of young women with her, but at each step of the formation process, several decided it was too much of a commitment, and they dropped out.

As the eight remaining young women prepared to take their final vows, they all had their long hair gathered into ponytails, which were then cut off. They were instructed to form a procession and lay the ponytails on the altar, like bouquets offered to Jesus. They sang a song as they processed. “I have decided to follow Jesus. No turning back. No turning back.”  

 

As I listened to this story, I could not help thinking of another story. Nine hundred years ago, Clare of Assisi made a similar decision. Her family was negotiating to marry her to the son of a wealthy family, forming a financial as well as emotional bond between the two families.

Clare heard Francis of Assisi’s preaching about living in poverty as the best way to have a connection with God. Clare became distressed about living in a wealthy home while so many people were hungry and homeless, and decided she also wanted to live in poverty.

 Francis and his community of brothers helped Clare escape her family, with the assistance of the local priest. Her family tried to bring her back home, but Francis had already cut off her beautiful hair, and she was no longer acceptable as a bride for a wealthy young man. Soon Clare started her own community of women who chose to live together in poverty and care for the poor people in their town.  

Clare was not a wimpy woman. She insisted repeatedly that she had the right to live in poverty. She defended herself and the women in her community with the power of the cross several times. She was the first woman to write her own Rule of Life for her Order of Poor Ladies and then to get Vatican approval for the community and the Rule. Her writings remind us to take time to enjoy the presence of the Divine.

I invite you to ponder this quote. “Place your mind before the mirror of eternity! Place your soul in the brilliance of God’s glory!” St Clare intends for us to realize that when we look into the mirror of eternity, into God’s glory, we do not see ourselves reflected as sinful beings. In God’s mirror, we see ourselves as God sees us, sinless and beloved.

 In God’s eyes, today and always, YOU are a beloved child of God, sinless and filled with Divine love. Amen 

Credit: 

https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-the-turning-the-sisters-w-82262169/episode/1-no-turning-back-82669141/