February, 2012
Dear Sisters and Brothers in St. Francis,
May the Lord
grant you peace!
The first person to offer us insights concerning
our mother, St. Clare of Assisi,
is Bl. Thomas of Celano in his First Life of Francis of Assisi. Writing of the experience St. Francis had before the Crucifix in the Church of San Damiano in Assisi, Thomas writes:
This is the blessed
and holy place where the glorious religion and most excellent Order of Poor Ladies and holy virgins had its happy beginning,
about six years after the conversion of the blessed Francis and through the same blessed man. The Lady Clare, a native of
the city of Assisi, the most precious and strongest stone
of the whole structure, stands as the foundation for all the other stones. For
after the beginning of the Order of Brothers, when this lady was converted to God through the counsel of the holy man, she
lived for the good of many and as an example to countless others. Noble by lineage,
but more noble by grace, chaste in body, most chaste in mind, young in age, mature in spirit, steadfast in purpose and most
eager in her desire for divine love, endowed with wisdom and exceeding humility, bright in name, more brilliant in life, most
brilliant in character. (1 Celano 18)
These words were written during the lifetime of
Clare. She was the abbess of the monastery of San Damiano and was well known
to all the Assisians. Her origins were well noted in the registers of the city
as well as in the minds and hearts of the people of that town. The family was counted among the upper class citizens of Assisi. She had gone with
her family into exile to Perugia, a nearby town, for a brief
period during one of those ‘wars’ that were so common between Papal allegiance and Imperial allegiance. Peace
(or truce) eventually brought the family back to Assisi. Stories heard and incidents witnessed about the eccentric son of Pietro Bernardone,
offered Clare the opportunity to get to see, wonder, inquire, and finally to meet and enter a spiritual journey with Francis. This spiritual friendship would eventually lead Clare well beyond her family homestead
and security, and make her the mother of many.
Our Seraphic Father had left an indelible mark on
most of Christian Europe before his death. Some in Assisi may have still remembered the excitement
caused between Francis and his father Pietro when Francis decided to return everything to him in the public square of Assisi before his father, the bishop of Assisi, and all the townspeople.
He gave his father even the clothes on his back and from then would call only God my
Father. The people remembered the gossip - perhaps they had even been participants
in it - when the wealthy Bernard, the farmer Giles, the priest Peter, and the other first followers sought to follow the ‘beggar-son’
of the wealthy merchant. After all the initial criticisms, cautious doubts, interested questioning, and patient observation
to see ‘how it would all work out’, the people of Assisi were proud of Francis, The Universal Brother. God Himself
had set His Seal of approval on Francis two years before he passed to eternity, imprinting on his body the five wounds of
the Passion of our Savior. Before his death, thousands had accepted to follow the Gospel lifestyle he proposed. His Lesser Brothers had reached the far corners of Europe, arriving
at the Middle East and North Africa, joyfully proclaiming the time of fulfillment and
the kingdom of God
in our midst in Jesus Christ. Francis had set in motion a tsunami of Gospel
Life that did not devastate but ennobled those it engulfed. The waves of consecrated Brothers and Laity seeking the Poverello
as their guide in this evangelical endeavor, gave witness to the excitement and beauty of lives dedicated to the Lord and
His people in the Name of Jesus. Is it any wonder that our Holy Mother St. Clare
would be captivated and enamored by this ‘Herald of the Great King’, the messenger of God’s Peace and Blessings to all who heard and received the message?! Is it any wonder a young, spiritual, and enthusiastic
girl would want to be part of something so exciting?!
The story of a soul is the story of a call, a response
and a commission. Most people think of ‘vocation’ as pertaining solely
to service in the Church, usually as consecrated religious and/or priests. While
this traditionally is how most people view the word ‘vocation’, truthfully, it pertains to everyone. We are all called by God to hear, listen, respond and fulfill God’s Will. God speaks to us in varied ways. The first official words
of Jesus to the crowds was: This is the time of fulfillment (God has kept the pledge
He offered the world centuries before); The kingdom of God is at hand (His presence
is now among all creation in His Incarnate Word made flesh, Jesus); Repent and believe the Good News (Listen to, reflect on, and live what you have come to know of what
God wants for you). Our holy mother St. Clare heard a call to repentance and
conversion and was assisted in understanding and courageously responding to it by our St. Francis. On March 18th
this year, we will celebrate the eighth centenary of the charism of our holy mother St. Clare of Assisi. We celebrate the night she left her family home to be received at the Portiuncula
by our Seraphic Father and the Lesser Brothers as the mother of a host of virgins
(preface for feast of St. Clare) and consecrated women down through the centuries. Though she was not a ‘great sinner’
the call to repentance and conversion was no less necessary in her life than in the life of anyone.
Repentance is a positive experience. Most think that ‘repentance’ involves the return of a sinner to grace; that is part of it. But, ‘repentance’ also involves the awareness a ‘saint’ has
that he/she must always progress in the will of God. Understanding repentance in this way, we can easily see how our mother
St. Clare could be attracted to the ‘Penitents of Assisi’. Francis stated When
I was in sin... in his Testament, and continues to speak of his vocation and that of those who sought to follow their
call with him. Clare speaks of the vanities
of the world from which she and the Poor Ladies of San Damiano were called. The life of St. Clare was one of detachment from what kept her from ‘taking
flight’ into the arms of her loving God, and leading others to seek the same. Her conversion journey was one that went
from good to better.
We are on the road that leads to Life. Whether we
believe we must go from bad to good (as the sinful woman in the Gospels), or from good to better (as the young man in the
Gospels seeking ‘to be good’), we must listen to and accept the call to repentance. In both cases the process
involves:
- Discovering
something wonderful about ourselves: We are God’s beloved children. We are redeemed in the Blood of Jesus in-with-through
Whom we seek forgiveness of sin and/or coherence to grace.
- Recognizing
the spiritual and natural talents specifically ours which God has entrusted to us to be used well and with which
to grow in age, wisdom, and grace before God and all people.
- Acquiring
new vision to see beyond the limits that convenience, comfort, complacency often place before our eyes conditioning
us to ‘stay put’ rather than forge forward where God leads us.
- Taking
a new direction, especially if it means having to make a one hundred eighty degree turn in values, principles, desires,
character traits that lack propriety though not sinful, spiritual practices that lack heart and are only pious actions without
substance, and so forth.
- Setting
more worthwhile goals. Christians are never satisfied with the ‘ordinary’,
knowing they are called to be light and salt
in the world. We sincerely strive to achieve those goals that lead to a fuller grace-filled life that affects not only our
relationship with God but with ourselves and others in all we do.
- Ultimately,
in living a more committed Gospel Life, with our feet well grounded and our hearts in the heavens. We live rejoicing as not rejoicing, buying as not owning, using
the world as not using it fully (1 Corinthians 7: 29-31).
The road to conversion through repentance is always
exciting and leads to joy. Aspects of the journey may be difficult and even painful.
Nevertheless, confident in the hope of acquiring the end result for those who persevere, we the ‘Penitents of Assisi’
are urged to continue. Let us never forget that the Christian life is a continuous
process of conversion. The repentant person who is transformed by grace rather than conformed to the age in which he/she is
called to be a pilgrim and stranger, is transformed (converted) and thus, called
to discipleship. A response to repentance leads to conversion as it invites us
to discipleship that we in turn might be sent as apostles to call others in the Lord’s name to repentance-conversion-commission.
Jesus had more difficulties with the ‘saints’
of His day, rather than with the ‘sinners’. The sinners needed and
wanted someone who would see, hear, understand and forgive them. The ‘saints’
forgot the adage: Every saint has a past and every sinner has a future. Thinking themselves secure on the correct road and in the favor of God for fulfilling all the ‘laws’,
they forgot that stopping on the climb to holiness means sliding down to levels that make the re-climb more difficult.
What were the problems then with those who held
back from accepting the call to repentance-conversion? They are the same today
as then and anytime. More than dealing with a sinful life, they deal with an ‘un-fulfilled’ life. This sense of ‘un-fulfillment’ often stems from our own faulty human nature and sinfulness. The ‘call’ urges us to go forward even beyond the limits that fear,
complacency, indifference, and so on, have created in our lives. They are false securities and spiritual illusions
that masquerade as the tranquillity of God’s pleasure with us for having satisfied all they were required to do to be
‘holy’ and live in God’s Presence. Spiritual lethargy stifles any desire to move forward
or even to consider the need to ‘go beyond’.
God never abuses the gift of our freedom. The invitation to intimacy with God here and for eternity begins with an acknowledgment of our need and
deep desire to be what we could and should be.
- ‘Could’
because God never expects the impossible from us unless He is willing to offer us all that we need to achieve what He has
planted in our hearts. It can be done!
- ‘Should’,
because whatever God asks is really an offer we would be foolish to refuse. If God asks, Who knows us better than we ourselves,
how can any reasonable person refuse what ultimately will lead to the greatest fulfillment of his/her life?
Recognizing our unworthiness of such a ‘divine’
gift, for which we have determined to live and work, other signs manifest themselves more strongly:
- a dissatisfaction with oneself
... Our hearts can find no rest until they rest in God. This profound yearning - for something better - can be found
in all people, even those who as yet do not understand the working of God and His Spirit;
- a longing for something better
... Complacency leads to spiritual sloth and keeps us from seeing an attainable goal that goes beyond the limits we set in
our lives;
- a sense that something is awry, something is missing
... Love desires and demands to be one with the beloved. Until we know that we
are one with God Who loves and calls us, we feel an emptiness or an incompleteness.
The whole process is really not as long-drawn-out
or difficult as it can seem. It is not a ‘heady’ problem to solve,
but a ‘hearty’ relationship to strengthen. Once we open our hearts
and lives to God and His Loving Will, all we have to do is surrender and ‘enjoy the ride’ even when it gets rough
and demanding. It is something like a spiritual roller coaster ride. God takes
us on an ‘exciting ride’ when we place ourselves totally and trustingly in His hands. Let go and let God. To make it all happen be open, honest,
humble, and courageous.
Courage is definitely necessary. The word itself means to let the heart take over (cor=heart ... age=do, act); when heart speaks to Heart,
or Heart speaks to heart, how can we do anything but let go! Our courage demands
an end to self-deception, a confrontation with the sad realties of our lives, admission
of guilt for those areas we have conveniently tried to ‘cover up’ in our hearts, a sincere request
for forgiveness, and a firm resolve to change, that leads to conversion through repentance to transformation
in God’s grace.
Lent begins this month. Hopefully we can celebrate
this holy Season of Penance as a joy-filled time of repentance-renewal-rebirth in the Spirit.
The lenten road may have its pains and sacrifices. As we advance on the
journey, we strengthen and deepen our relationship with God, Christ, the Church, all Humanity, and even all Creation. Having responded wholeheartedly, we are now ready to accept the ‘commission’
to be ‘Apostles of God’s Love, Mercy, Providence’.
As Spiritual Children of our Seraphic Father St.
Francis of Assisi and our Holy Mother St. Clare, we prepare
to enter a yearly experience that is never the same each year, and that has eternal effects. Our Father Francis and Mother
Clare responded to the invitation to follow in the footsteps of the Savior, poor and humble, Who emptied Himself, though God,
that we, through His poverty, could poor in this world’s goods, but rich in those of eternal Life. What more could we
ask? Why do we hesitate to give all?
With the example of the courage and total response of our heavenly patrons and parents to urge us on, let us, Penitents
of Assisi, enter the lenten journey with joyful hearts and ready wills.
May God bless you; may Our Lady guide, guard, and
protect you; and may our Seraphic Father St. Francis of Assisi
and our Holy Mother St. Clare look over each one of you, their spiritual children, with loving care.
Happy and grace-filled Lent to all!
Peace and Blessings
Fr. Francis A. Sariego, O.F.M. Cap.
Regional Spiritual Assistant
