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THIRD WEEK OF LENT: "CALLINGS"

Each Sunday during this Holy Season of Lent, we will offer a reflection based on the lives and writings of Saint Francis and Saint Clare of Assisi. We hope and pray that you will find these reflections helpful as you walk with Christ Jesus on the long road toward his passion, death, and resurrection.

From the Testament of Saint Clare of Assisi

Among the other gifts that we have received and continue to receive from our magnanimous Father of mercies and for which we must express the deepest thanks to our glorious God, there is our vocation, which the more perfect and greater it is, the more are we indebted to Him. Therefore the Apostle [writes]: Recognize your vocation. The Son of God has become for us the Way that our blessed father Francis, His true lover and imitator, has shown and taught us by word and example (From the Testament of Saint Clare of Assisi).

The Call to the Fishermen

Imagine the shores of the Sea of Galilee in the ancient land of Israel. It was a simpler time. Rome ruled the world. In Jerusalem, the priests of the temple still offered their sacrifices to God. And a child entered the world, a special child born to the Virgin Mary.

On the shores of the Galilee, four men fished: the brothers Simon Peter and Andrew, and the brothers James and John. Simon Peter was anxious and becoming impatient. Throughout the night, they fished and caught nothing. Now, their nets were tangled together. All of a sudden, Peter took his knife and began tearing at the tangled nets without thinking.

Nearby, on another small boat, James and John were fishing with their father. The two men bickered constantly about who was the better fisherman and who should inherit their father's possessions. Zebedee, their father, could only raise his hands to heaven and ask for a miracle that might quiet the two quarrelsome brothers.

The morning passed slowly, without any catch for the fishermen in the two boats. As they ate their lunches of bread and wine, a stranger approached from the dusty road. Like them, he seemed like an ordinary Jew. He was like them, but his eyes shone differently. He had a powerful aura around him. The fishermen were instantly attracted to him. The stranger walked by the group, turned his head, and said quietly to them: "Follow me and I will make you fishers of men."

The stranger continued on his journey while the four fishermen sat silently. After a few minutes, Simon Peter stood up and declared to them, "There is something special about that men. We have nothing to lose for a few days. Let's follow him and see what else he may say!" After a short discussion, the four followed quickly after the stranger.

The Call to Clare

Although Saint Clare lived comfortably in Assisi, she desired something different. She desired more and she desired less. She felt powerfully called by the preaching of Francis Bernadone, her fellow Assisian. Clare saw the good, but challenging work that Francis did among the lepers, the poor, and the outcasts of Assisi. Because of this, Clare felt compelled to follow Francis. She felt compelled to follow Christ. So, Clare ultimately abandoned her home, her family, her privilege, and her riches. She left the life determined for her and chose to embrace God's call to live as Francis lived.

One Palm Sunday night, Clare stood with Francis and with the brothers who also heard the call to live the gospel life. Clare demonstrated her commitment to the Lord and to living a life of poverty and simplicity by having Francis cut her long and luxurious hair. Tears filled her eyes as she saw her long locks falling to the ground. Though one may think those were of tears of sadness. But we believe that Clare wept for joy at the release she felt in trusting in God and in his call to her to follow him.

The Call to Us

Everday we receive calls and make calls. People call to remind us of an appoinment. People call us at work. People call to gossip or catch up. But there is another call, one that many fail to answer. God calls us. His first call came at Baptism when He filled us with his Spirit and his grace. And as we grew, God continued to call us to a deeper life with him.

God calls us to a particular vocation in life - married life, priestly life, consecrated life, or single life. Although each seems different, each vocation invites us to live Christ's commandment of love. Each vocation opens for us the path to love God with our whole heart, mind, and soul and to love our neighbor as ourself. Husband and wife fulfill Christ's command in their love for each other and for their children born out of that love. Priests and religious brothers and sisters follow the path of Christ by lovingly serving His people through their ministries in the Church. Single men and women exemplify the love of Christ for others in their relationships with family and friends.

Are you ready to answer God's call? Are you ready to live the vocation He has given to you? Are you ready to live your vocation with great endurance, patience, sacrifice, and love? In each vocation story, whether we remember the Apostles or Clare or Francis, we remember that each gave up something to follow Christ. However, they never gave up their personalities, their failings, their humanity. Rather, each one gave his life or her life to the call. Jesus doesn't call the perfect. He calls those who are willing to answer. Hopefully, he calls to us: to believe, to follow, to love.

Saint Francis, pray for us!

Saint Clare, pray for us!

Holy men and women of Assisi, pray for us!