Gateways

Tradition tells us that Clare of Assisi left her home and lavish life on Palm Sunday night to go follow Francis. My first time in Assisi, while on pilgrimage in college, we did the ritual of Clare’s Walk one night, retracing her steps through the city and out of one of the gates of the city. It was that moment, standing outside the gate of Assisi and looking out over the dark valley, that God and the Franciscan spirituality/life became real to me. It’s incredible to look back and think about how walking Clare’s journey had some an impact on my life.

Clare, who lived most of her live cloistered in the Monastery of San Damiano, still found ways to show and support the beauty of God that she saw in others. Her letters to Agnes of Prague (my favorite Franciscan writings) do just that. Clare and Agnes never met in person, but they had much in common, with both of them giving up wealthy lifestyles to live a life dedicated to others. These letters are not instructions but instead Clare telling Agnes about how the beauty of God can shine out through her. This is where we get the famous quote, “What you hold, may you always hold, and what you do, may you do and never stop”. In her own way, Clare told Agnes to recognize the unique light that she had in her, and to live it out in her own way, just as we are called to do. Clare recognized that each of us has something important to give to the world and those around us.

Oftentimes when I think of Clare’s walk out of the city, I believe that she stopped one last time when she arrived at the gate, standing between everything she ever knew and everything that she could become. We can find ourselves in this same scenario many times in our lives, in some sort of change or transition that makes us take a step back and think, “can I really do this?”. It is hard to become who we are to become, but Clare gives us the perfect example of remembering our own light and going forward through the difficulties by living out that light in our own unique way. 

May you recognize your own light this day, and when you stand in front of the gate of becoming once again, may you live out that light knowing that the world and those around you are in need of it.