Monastery of St. Clare Summer 2013 May almighty God bless you. May God look upon you with mercy and give you peace. Blessing of St. Clare Must Our Differences Divide Us? What Can Francis & Clare Teach Us? We become not a melting pot but a beautiful mosaic. Different people, different beliefs, different yearnings, different hopes, different dreams. -Jimmy Carter People are so different! You ve noticed: they think differently, feel differently, make different choices. Even in the same family, where one might expect that basic genetics would iron out some of this, differences remain. At issue is what we do with these differences. We can let them alienate us, separate us into cliques, harden into polarization. Or we can try to ignore them and live in a politically correct world of unreality. Let s try a different approach. Francis and Clare did. Differences they knew only too well. She lived on the hill, choice real estate. His home was on a lower Assisi street. She was of the nobility with a clan of knights to defend the family honor. Francis belonged to the rising merchant class and knighthood was a distant dream. How did they respond to these differences? That was their question as it is ours. To begin with, they listened. Francis listened to a voice calling him to change his life style and enter into a whole new set of relationships. Clare listened to that same voice, speaking through Francis. She left the castle s safe and sheltered life for the insecurity of poverty and the challenge of a new 37 McCauley Road, Travelers Rest, SC 29690 864-834-8015 www.poorclaresc.com Text continued on page 3
A Message from our Abbess Sister Mary Connor, osc Dear Friends, Each year as we celebrate the Feast of St. Clare we are grateful for God s call to each of us. For over 800 years, women from around the world, both rich and poor, sharing diverse gifts, have come to Poor Clare communities to live the Gospel Way of Life. At a time when class differences were so important, Clare wanted to make the life of the Poor Sisters available to any woman that heard the call of Jesus. St. Clare also looked to the future. When she blessed her sisters, she prayed for those present and to those who are to come. We also continue to look to the future. Often we are asked, What are you doing to promote vocations?. In May, Sr. Nancy (the vocation and formation director) and I had the opportunity to attend a workshop sponsored by the National Religious Vocation Conference in Chicago to learn how to more effectively invite other women to join us in our life of prayer. During the past few years, besides participating in retreats that are sponsored by the Diocese for Women in Discernment, we have had Discernment Retreats at the Monastery. In recent years, there has been a decline in the number of religious vocations throughout our country and we ask you to join us in prayer that the women of today will recognize the gift that is being offered and respond wholeheartedly to the love of Jesus and the opportunity to live a life of prayer for our world. We are grateful for all the ways that you support our life. With the regular contributions that we receive from your generosity, we are able to continue to make our loan payments as well as to provide for our daily needs. In early September, we will be sending out letters for our 2 nd Annual Appeal; we appreciate your being as generous as you are able. We invite you to join us again as we celebrate the Feast of St. Clare, August 11 th. We will have our special Transitus Service on Saturday, August 10 th at 5:00 p.m., when we celebrate her returning to God. On Sunday morning we will celebrate the Eucharist at 9:00 a.m. which will be followed with a reception. You will be especially remembered in our prayer these days as you are each day. With gratitude and love, We must express the deepest thanks to our glorious God; our vocation is a great gift. Testament of St. Clare We hope you can join us in celebrating St. Clare August 10 5 p.m. Evening Prayer and Transitius Clare s entrance into Eternal Life August 11 Eucharist at 9 a.m. followed by a reception All are Welcome! Page 2
Continued from page 1 Must our Differences Divide? What Can Francis & Clare Teach Us? way of living feminine religious life. These responses evoked rejection from family, friends and other citizens. Because their overriding goal was to live according to the holy gospel, Francis and Clare chose to answer such opposition with a blessing. Francis customary greeting to all whom he met was Good day, good people. And Clare gifted those who came to her by sharing gifts of healing and good counsel. Both celebrated differences, even outright rejection. How? By embracing everyone as brother and sister belonging to one and the same Father. In his well known Canticle of the Creatures, Francis included the contrasting blessings of Brother Sun and Sister Moon, Brother Fire and Sister Water. Even the polarized Bishop of Assisi and its mayor became reconciled when touched by Francis call for peace. As another example of how Francis responded to differences, during the Crusades he went to the Holy Land risking martyrdom. Brought into the presence of the Muslim Sultan he entered into such loving dialogue that the Sultan listened attentively and gave him his freedom. Within the close living of enclosed community, Clare saw each of her sisters as worthy of respect and of being listened to; no class distinctions in her community. Named abbess she remained one of the Sisters. The question for us: will we let differences polarize us or gift us? Will they lead to factions and war or to enrichment and celebration? Our culture seems to prefer the former; witness the infighting of political parties, the competition of classes, the divorce that threatens family unity. But there is an alternative: differences can open our hearts to another way of looking at something, can widen our experience, challenge our assumptions, undermine our prejudices. They can open us to something new and different and so renew our joy in being alive. Let s celebrate! -Sr. Marie Beha Celebrating the Triduum With Our Brother, Tom Hartle, ofm Hand washing on Holy Thursday Renewing Baptismal vows at the Easter Vigil Left: We rejoiced to welcome Claudia Waters into the Church 37 McCauley Road, Travelers Rest, SC 29690 864-834-8015 www.poorclaresc.com Page 3
Poor Clare Chronicles April 29 5th anniversary of our moving to Travelers Rest May 2 We hosted the Interfaith Breakfast & Prayer Service Left: Fr. Chris Lathem & Bishop Robert Above: Rabbi Marc Wilson, Don Kilburg and guest April 21 We gave thanks for The first Communion of Olivia Costello & Veronica Xavier May 3-5 Spiritual Direction Workshop with Eileen Flanagan Several of our Sisters from Cincinnati joined us. June 2 We joined parishes throughout the world in an hour of Eucharistic Adoration for unity and peace in our church as part of our Year Of Faith celebration. June 9-15 Community Retreat with Michael Blastic, ofm. Page 4
Our Poor Clare Connection December 26, 2005, Ken and I were driving home from celebrating Christmas with his family in the Aiken/ Augusta area. As we were talking he said that he was thinking of converting to Catholicism (What?!). Although both of us were raised in Christian homes neither one of us were regulars in church. Ken s uncle, who we were visiting that Christmas, had conver ted to Catholicism years before, was very active in his church, and he and Ken The Clarke Family had talked a lot about it. I always thought that once we had children I would find an Episcopal church for us to attend. Coming from a military family I didn t have a church home (my mother is Episcopalian but on base it was often nondenominational) so I didn t mind the thought of attending a Catholic church. Ken went through the process of converting and during that time we began attending a Catholic church in Greenville. We also found out that I was pregnant with Katherine and Ken found out that he had never been baptized. Katherine may have been very young but she was able to witness her father s baptism! Soon Elizabeth was born and we were driving a good distance to get to church and the usual excuses as to why we couldn t go started to come up. This was not how either of us wanted it to be and it was important to both of us that we have a church we were familiar with and felt welcomed in. Ken knew that the monastery had moved close to our home. One day, when he and Elizabeth were in the car, they stopped in to see if we could attend Mass on Sundays. There he met Sister Nancy and he was told that we would be more than welcome to attend. We have attended Mass with the Sisters ever since. Depending on our schedule we have attended Mass at local churches but we miss seeing our friends. The Sisters have embraced our family and we ve met really wonderful people. When we made the decision for Ken to take a position in Afghanistan and we told the Sisters, they gave him the blessing of St. Clare. That was a moving moment for both of us. It was very comforting to know that we had a church full of friends and nuns praying for us! The first Sunday after Ken deployed to Afghanistan was a hard one for me. I wasn t sure that I could deal with two small children in church. Katherine had just turned four years old and Elizabeth was only two! Yet Sister Bernadette, Roy and Ruth Morath and so many others really made that time easier for me to attend with the kids. We feel fortunate and blessed that the Sisters welcomed us into their home to celebrate Mass. It is wonderful to be in a place where we are there simply to pray and hear lessons from the Bible. The Poor Clares have given us the church home we had been looking for! Jennifer and Ken Clarke If you would like to share your Poor Clare Connection story in a future newsletter, please contact Sr. Nancy at nancy@poorclaresc.com or 864-834-8015 Page 5
Franciscan Monastery of St. Clare 37 McCauley Road Travelers Rest, SC 29690 Non Profit US Postage PAID Greenville, SC Permit 102 RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED Ready to make a pilgrimage? The Bishop has designated our Monastery as a place for pilgrimage during this Year of Faith to receive a plenary indulgence. Come and make a visit to our chapel. Women s Life Discernment Weekend When: October 18-20, 2013 Begins Friday evening; ends Sunday after lunch Who: Women 25-45 who are seeking God s direction in their lives Where: Monastery of Saint Clare, Travelers Rest, SC How: Contact Sister Nancy for information: nancy@poorclaresc.com or 864-834-8015