Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity are fully aware that this time of the year is a prime vocation discernment time. As we thank God for our many blessings that include the loving and selfless vocations of our Sisters in Community, our families and friends, we offer two pieces of Clarian advice for those sincerely seeking to know how you are ‘called to be’ for others.
Community Director, Sister Louise Hembrecht summarized St. Clare’s own way of following in the footprints of Jesus Christ at a recent day of recollection at St. Clare Parish, Askeaton, Greenleaf, and Wrightstown, WI. We invite you to ponder this wisdom:
As Clare focused her life on the Mirror of God, Christ the Lord, she saw blessed poverty, holy humility and inexpressible charity, and through God’s grace, she adorned herself with those virtues and countless others and became a mirror of the Lord she contemplated. Though she lived hidden in the confined areas of the monastery, her life was visible; though she was silent, her reputation became widespread.
St. Clare’s own Testment, a classic autobiographical text, is another powerful place to pause and pray:
“Among the benefits we have received and continue daily to receive from our Benefactor, the Father of mercies, and for which we must give heartfelt thanks to the glorious Father of Christ, is our vocation. And the more perfect and strong that vocation is, the greater is our debt of gratitude” (TestCl 2-3).
May Thanksgiving be more than a day, but a way of life! Peace and all good from all of us Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity!
Note: If you feel inspired to contemplate your call from God with other young women like yourself, we also invite you to register for our next vocation discernment retreat. Click here.
