St. Katherine Drexel Regional Fraternity
Regional Spiritual Assistant
St. Francis Renewal Center
1901 Prior Road
Wilmington, Delaware 19809
tel: (302) 798-1454
fax: (302) 798-3360 email: pppgusa@gmail.com
March, 2010
Dear Sisters and Brothers in St. Francis,
The Lord give you His peace!
According to her promise, Clare
went to the cathedral, San Rufino, on Palm Sunday. It was March 27, to be exact.
She wore her richest jewels, like a bride.... It was a glorious happy morning,
a morning of exultation and adoration.... The people flocked around the altar
to receive the blessed branches ... Clare remained in her place, absorbed in a dream ... Bishop Guido, the proud, hot-tempered
powerful Bishop Guido, went down the steps of the altar and alone walked forward, majestically, carrying in his hand the last
olive branch. When he reached the girl he solemnly gave it to her, as though
this were a part of the rite.... Evening falls ... Night comes on. Better to try ... the (door) opened only in days of battle.... She finds herself on Via del Parlascio.... It is Pacifica, Guelfuccio’s daughter, who is going to accompany Clare to the Portiuncula ... (She) enters
the small church, (her) bridal dress shining against the rough habits (of the
friars) ... Clare goes to the altar. One
by one she takes off her jewels.... She received from Francis’s own hands
the poor habit of a Friar Minor. Silently she kneels and looses her hair ...
Clare’s golden hair has fallen under the scissors.... Now she is a humble servant of Poverty ... And never would Francis
forget the joy of that Holy Monday dawn. (Francis of Assisi, by Arnaldo Fortini, pgs.338-341)
We focus so much on our Seraphic Father, that we quite easily forget,
or take for granted, the presence of our Holy Mother Clare in the whole ‘saga of the Franciscan Family’. Her vocation
and response to God’s call was incisive and dramatic, as was that of our Father Francis.
Her response reached the depths of her family’s pride and social standing in Assisi.
She was the daughter of a well-to-do family; she was protected and guided by her uncle who had assumed the responsibility
for her in place of her deceased father. A young woman as she - in her late teens
- was expected to be obedient to her tutors and submit to their plans for her and ‘their’ future. Enticed by the spirit and life of Francis Bernardone, she spoke with him on occasion to understand this
‘eccentric’ yet beautiful life that was beginning to pluck at the heartstrings of so many people. The Bishop, tough man that he was, mellowed before the beauty and simplicity of this determined young woman
and blessed her desire and plans. Nothing was going to, and as we know from our
readings of the history of our Franciscan family, nothing did keep her from fulfilling her desire. Clare’s courage and determination allowed her to become the Mother of a vast Family of Consecrated
Women who have blessed the Church and the world with their presence and prayers for the past eight hundred years since her
flight from her family home on that fateful Palm Sunday night in the year 1211. Lent
was a most fruitful season for Clare. She broke with the past and moved into
the future without putting her hands to the plough and looking back with regrets. She heard, she reflected, she responded with confident determination.
Francis and Clare, two sides of the same coin, call out to all their
spiritual children to ‘let go and let God take over’... ‘listen to God’s voice and don’t be
afraid to answer with all your heart’. They both tell us that it
is not enough to be attracted to a life or enticed by its appealing nature. As
long as we stay on the side-lines wishing, watching, and waiting, we are no more than mere spectators. The Franciscan is one who sees the gift that is offered, hears the call that invites, and does all that
he or she must to respond with ‘confident determination’. With every
privilege there is a responsibility. The response is the ultimate result of deep
reflection and personal resolve that leads to an ongoing process of continuing conversion.
The decision does not end the journey but places us on another one more intimate and meaningful.
Both St. Francis and St. Clare did not have to leave a ‘bad’
life for a ‘good’ one; that was not their ‘conversion’. They
were both loved, somewhat coddled, and they both had anything ‘money could buy’... and their families were relatively
good Catholic families. Yet, the ‘conversion’ was necessary if their
lives were to be complete and fulfilled. It is that fulfillment that all their
spiritual children hope to share as they seek to follow Christ in the footsteps of St. Francis and St. Clare. Even the patrons of our Secular Family, St. Elizabeth of Hungary and St. Louis of France, understood that
living in society, and as far as the higher echelons of the social ladder, it is possible and necessary to evaluate all things
in the light of truth and set our hearts where the real treasure is ... Jesus; He reminds those who follow Him: Where your treasure is, there will your heart be. Our hearts must
be in Him, and He in ours.
St. Francis and St. Clare understood this well and undertook to live
a Gospel lifestyle that their innumerable spiritual children would emulate and seek to imitate through the centuries. God’s Word in Scripture was their
inspiration; the Holy Spirit was their Guide; Jesus was the image they ‘gazed upon’ to assure they kept on the correct road that led to the Father, and Life. Wisdom came
to make her dwelling among us (cfr. Sirach 24). Eternal Wisdom challenged
them to follow the road of conversion, that they might become prophets of God’s love, achieved by emptying (kenosis) themselves of self-sufficiency, self-seeking, self-will; this is that the total poverty St. Paul praises
in his letter to the Philippians: He emptied Himself and took the form of a slave ...
and it was thus He humbled Himself ... Because of this God highly exalted Him. (Philippians 2: 6-11) Faith, trust, love,
and humility are the effects of the process they passed on to all their children, expressed in the basic characteristics of
the Franciscan Family: Fraternity, Minority, in Gospel Living.
Lent this year fills the entire month of March. In fact, the last day of March is the last full day of Lent. The Paschal Triduum begins on April 1st
with the celebration of the Lord’s Supper. During these weeks leading to our celebration of the Lord’s Passion-Death-Resurrection
we intensify our Lenten journey. After the first two weeks of our pilgrimage
from ashes to palms, we notice how consistent or weak we are regarding our lenten resolutions. The weaknesses we may recognize
should not dishearten us; they actually offer us opportunities to go deeper into our hearts to reflect on what is more crucial
for our growth in the spirit, rather than on the things we have chosen ‘to do’, and begin working on what we are
called ‘to be’. Additional prayers, sacrificial practices that put
aside foods, entertainments, travel, or anything of the sort, even increased offerings made to the needy, and so much more
that we can imagine as ‘good’ for Lent, all begin to take their true place as ‘good’, ‘helpful’,
‘commendable’, but secondary to what really matters. Rend your hearts and
not your garments, says the Lord, Scripture reminds us. Gently, yet undoubtedly,
we become aware that ‘conversion’ must be within. External practices,
even those not fulfilled as planned, serve to help us refocus and re-center our lives.
Sts. Francis and Clare realized that holiness requires ultimately that
we live in humility and love, so that self-centeredness of any kind can be eradicated from our life. That is what the ‘emptying
of ourselves’ is all about: Faith overcomes self-sufficiency; Trust calms self-will; Love for the other fulfills the
quest in self-seeking. As simple as this process seems and is, it can be quite
difficult and ‘painful’ for so many. Unless we change our hearts,
the conversion we seek will be only for a brief time and superficial. New wine into new wineskins! Any residue left in any container of food or liquid will ferment and ruin anything
fresh that is sealed with it. Jesus’ simple instruction is key for a fruitful,
effective, and long-lasting transformation in the Spirit.
God saves the one who allows him/herself to be saved; that person is
the one who is open to conversion. To be converted means that we are open to
Jesus in our life and the working of His Spirit. Isaiah tells us that we must
lower the mountains, fill in the valleys, straighten crooked paths if we are ever to encounter the Lord:
-We must lower the mountains of pride, prejudice and personal prestige by acts of humility and trust in others.
- We
must fill in the valleys of depression, discouragement and disillusionment by accepting the truth about ourselves, correcting
our faults, learning from the past, and moving confidently forward directed by God’s Word and grace.
- We
must straighten the roads of crafty behavior, calculating speech and connivance by a transaparency of life that seeks as St.
Augustine prays: Lord, that I may know You; that I may know myself; and the simple
reminder of St. Francis to his brothers: You are what you are before God and no more.
To live in that knowledge and truly accept who I am leads to inner peace and serenity, thus allowing me to seek the Lord rather
than how to camouflage my life.
My sisters and brothers in St. Francis, the flight of our Mother St.
Clare on Palm Sunday in 1211 has served as a starting point for our reflection this month. Her Lent finally brought her to
a decision that led her away from an earthly home to the ‘vestibule of Paradise’ at San Damiano.
We have entered fully now the sacred season that leads us to Calvary. This Calvary is not where we die but where
we are reborn in and through the blood of Christ. How this will all turn out depends on each one of us. We have myriads of examples in the saints and holy people we have met and meet each day. But we do not become holy by osmosis! I don’t look like a million bucks by living near a bank; nor am I a genius because
I go to the library. Ridiculous examples, but some think that holiness works
that way. Holiness is a challenge and duty that only ‘I’ can accomplish
for myself with the help of God and my will. As Lesser Sisters and Brothers living
the Gospel in Fraternity, let us encourage one an another this Lent to grow in God’s Word and Will, in mutual support
and love for each other, living the Gospel message in a world that desperately needs and seeks to see the image of Jesus and
the Father’s compassion, love, and mercy through us. No greater gift can we give to ourselves and the world!
My prayers are with and for each one of you as we celebrate our Lenten Journey to Calvary ... and the Empty Tomb.
Let the peace of the Lord increase within you as Lent prepares us for and leads us into the Easter Season and the New
Life Christ acquired for us by His Passion-Death-Resurrection. Be open to the
Holy Spirit of joy and gratitude during this Holy Season that speaks to us of God’s love, mercy and providence. May
God bless you; Our Lady guide, guard, and protect you, and our Seraphic Father, St. Francis of Assisi, watch over each one
of you, his Spiritual Children, with his loving care.
Peace and Blessings
Fr. Francis A. Sariego, O.F.M. Cap.
Regional Spiritual Assistant
