Tuesday, August 11, 2026

 

Memorial of Saint Clare, Virgin

(Ezekiel 2:8-3:4; Matthew 18:1-5.10.12-14)

“Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven?” This sounds like a question people today would ask.  Superbowl champions, World Cup winners, Academy Award recipients – these are the greatest in the world today.  But who is the greatest before God?

Jesus gives a surprising answer.  The greatest is not a figure like Peter who recognized Jesus as the Son of God.  Rather the greatest is more like St. Clare whom the Church remembers today.  Clare became “humble, like this child” as she imitated Francis, “il poverello.”  Both these great saints personified humility, not only because they lived simply but also because they recognized goodness in others.  They found worth even in those who might be considered the dregs of humanity.  This lesson might be drawn from the gospel parable. 

We recall that the “Parable of the Lost Sheep” is found in the Gospel of Luke as well as that of Matthew.  In Luke it is introduces chapter 15, which leads to the “Parable of the Prodigal Son.”  The parable is misnamed, of course, because it is really about the prodigal love of the father representing God Himself.  Matthew, however, focuses more on the lost sheep who is worth the risk of losing ninety-nine to find.

Today the lost sheep include our friends and relatives who no longer come to church.  They have settled for striving to be great in the world.  That is, they work to satisfy their desire for money, pleasure, prestige, and power.  We call them back to church by telling them of their goodness and bidding them to thank God for who they are.

Monday, August 11, 2014

Memorial of Saint Clare of Assisi, virgin              

(Ezekiel 1:2-5a.24.24-28c; Matthew 17:22-27)

Next to St. Francis himself, St. Clare was responsible for the Franciscan revolution of the thirteenth century.  Their innovations, along with those of St. Dominic, transformed religious life.  They rejected the privilege to which monks and nuns at the time had long been accustomed.  In its place they begged for the food they ate to conform themselves radically with the gospel.  Interestingly, their rules of religious life were not spurned by contemporaries but attracted phenomenal numbers of adherents.  In today’s gospel Jesus shows himself to be an even more daring innovator.

People think of God with such a powerful persona that suffering for Him would be contradictory.  Yet Jesus, accepting the title of Christ or Son of God, openly announces his imminent passion and death.  The passage also has Jesus humbly paying his taxes.  He refuses any privilege of office as he has come exclusively to serve. 

In a world that still pays great homage to power, we must remember who our Savior is.  He did not crush foes but allowed himself to be executed as an innocent person.  We follow him by rendering humble service to others and by refusing to be impressed by displays of force.

Homilette for Monday, August 11, 2008

Memorial of St. Clare, virgin

(Matthew 17:22-27)

Justice is the virtue by which we give to each person his or her due. It is absolutely essential for harmonious social life. Love is the virtue by which we join ourselves spiritually if not physically to others. Family life would be inconceivable without it. Both virtues have natural and supernatural dimensions. Natural justice, for example, assures that we compensate properly the person who works for us. Supernatural justice moves us to secure the rights of all people, whether or not we owe them anything personally. Pursuing supernatural justice, which is bestowed only through God’s grace, we merit everlasting life.

Parents, of course, love their children. Because they naturally identify their children’s welfare with their own, they make it a priority. Supernatural love moves people to identify with and to seek the good for God and others, beyond family and friends. We see supernatural love operative in the life of St. Clare of Assisi who exhausted herself in prayer and charitable works.

The gospel today presents a negative instance of natural justice and a positive instance of supernatural love. Jesus instructs Peter that justice does require him to pay the temple tax because he is the son of God for whom the temple is constructed. However, because supernatural love moves him not to give scandal to the tax collectors, Jesus provides for the paying of the tax. In paying the tax voluntarily, Jesus demonstrates in a rather banal way that he is indeed of divine origin.