Happy Feast of St Clare!

Dear sisters and brothers, Saint Clare of Assisi understood vocation to be a gift from God and urged fellow believers not to underestimate its importance. In her testament, she wrote: “Among the other gifts that we have received and do daily receive from our benefactor, the Father of mercies, and for which we must express the deepest thanks to the glorious Father of Christ, there is our vocation, for which, all the more by the way of its being more perfect and greater, do we owe the greatest thanks to Him. Therefore, the Apostle [writes]: “Know your vocation'” (2-4). As we celebrate the feast of Saint Clare, let us value our vocation and our mission of service to the vulnerable – especially those suffering due to extreme poverty, disregard of their human rights, conflict, war, and for the victims of climate change. Happy Feast of Saint Clare! Markus Heinze OFM Executive Director