ST Clare of Assisi saw in poverty her ability to imitate the life of Christ, newly-appointed Cathedral priest Fr Francis Fernandes said at the livestreamed 8am Mass this morning.
Fr Fernandes said St Clare – a contemporary of St Francis of Assisi and a mystic whose feast day it is today – recognised that before Jesus worked any great miracles “he first lived in poverty in a poor family amongst poor people”.
“She points out how Jesus was so poor that He had to, in a sense, beg for His flesh from the Virgin Mary,” he said.
“Ultimately she pointed to Jesus’ total poverty on the Cross even after He had emptied Himself of all His gifts, He emptied out His very life for us.”
St Clare made this poverty central to her spirituality and did not want her order to own any possessions and was happy to beg for necessities.
Fr Fernandes said not everyone was called to live that level of poverty, but everyone “from the richest to the poorest” could draw on her insight and recognise some poverty whether it was physical, social, mental or spiritual.
“We have some parts of our lives that we feel outright helpless and if we can identify them, we can use that poverty to gain a sense of the helplessness which Jesus embraced in order to save you and me,” he said.
“In that sense, we can then feel a solidarity with Him and feel His nearness and tenderness to us in a way that we could never have when everything is going really well.”
He said from that poverty, we could in confidence pray daily – “Lord Jesus, in this area of my life, I feel poor. In my poverty, I see your poverty: Your poverty in your childhood relying on your parents; in Egypt, relying on foreigners; in mission, relying on the women; and in death, relying on the Father. Thank you for becoming as poor as me, so that I could become as rich as you. Lord Jesus, let this poverty turn my thankfulness into love for you and the world, Amen.”
You can watch the livestreamed Mass here: http://archbne.org/bzw
