Saint Clare
Virgin, Memorial
Other Celebrations for this Day:
Liturgical Cycle: A, B, C | Lectionary Cycle: I, II
Introduction
Though of noble birth and well-educated, Clare was attracted by the ideals of poverty of St. Francis of Assisi. Under pressure from her family, she distributed her possessions to the poor and founded the second Franciscan Order of Poor Clares, which dedicates itself to a life of poverty and prayer. Claire understood that poverty makes a person free for love: to love God undividedly and to be available to our people. Her motto was: “God, I am happy that you created me.” Isn’t that true riches?
Opening Prayer
Lord our God,
we thank you today
for the example of St. Clare.
She understood that to possess you,
one has to be free
from things that distract from you.
Grant us too the riches
of retaining our inner freedom
as regards possessions and attachments
and open us to all the riches
of giving ourselves to you and to people.
We ask you this through Christ our Lord.
First Reading
More than that, everything seems to me as nothing compared to the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord. For his sake, I have let everything fall away, and I now consider all as garbage, if I may gain Christ in return.
May I be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but the righteousness that God grants to those who believe.
May I get to know him, experience the power of his resurrection, share in his sufferings,
and become like him in his death, and thereby, God willing, attain the resurrection from the dead!
I do not believe I have already reached the goal, nor do I consider myself perfect, but I press on until I conquer Christ Jesus, as I have already been conquered by him.
No, brothers and sisters, I do not claim to have won the prize yet. I say only this: forgetting what is behind me, I race forward and run toward the goal,
my eyes on the prize for which God has called us from above in Christ Jesus.
Responsorial Psalm
R. (see 5a) You are my inheritance, O Lord.
Keep me, O God, for in you I take refuge.
I say to the LORD, “My Lord are you.”
O LORD, my allotted portion and my cup,
you it is who hold fast my lot.
R. You are my inheritance, O Lord.
I bless the LORD who counsels me;
even in the night my heart exhorts me.
I set the LORD ever before me;
with him at my right hand I shall not be disturbed.
R. You are my inheritance, O Lord.
You will show me the path to life,
fullness of joys in your presence,
the delights at your right hand forever.
R. You are my inheritance, O Lord.
Alleluia Verse
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Blessed are the poor in spirit;
the Kingdom of heaven is theirs!
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
Then Peter spoke up and said:
“You see, we have given up everything to follow you. What then will there be for us?”
Jesus answered:
“You who have followed me, listen to my words: on the Day of Renewal, when the Son of Man sits on his throne in glory, you also will sit on twelve thrones to judge the twelve tribes of Israel.
For those who have left houses, brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers, children, or property because of my name, they will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life.
Prayers of the Faithful
*Prayer over the Gifts
Lord our God,
we bring this bread and wine before you
as tokens that all is yours
and that we belong to you.
Fill our empty hands
with the gift of Jesus, your Son.
Make us generous like him,
that we may be one
in Jesus Christ our Lord.
*Prayer after Communion
Lord our God,
we admire those who are voluntarily poor
in fact and in spirit,
but often we cannot bring up the courage
to be detached from things that control us.
Help us in the poverty of our hearts
to place ourselves into your hands,
that we may commune with you in love and prayer
and become available to those poor by necessity.
We ask you this through Christ our Lord.