Rich Little Poor Girl - Clare Of Assisi

1194–1253

The things you own—do they really own you? Could you give away all that you have, even if you wanted to? You need your house, your car, your smartphone. You may talk about simplifying your life, but it’s very hard to do.

That’s exactly what a girl named Clare discovered in the 1200s. Brought up in a well-to-do Christian family, she heard a sermon by Francis of Assisi and decided to devote herself to his rule of poverty. She ran away from home to join the monastery, taking her vow of poverty on March 20, 1212.

Her family wasn’t happy. They sent a squad of knights to bring her back, but Clare stood firm. She would not enjoy her family’s wealth. She would not be married off to a rich nobleman. She was wholly committed to Christ now. She had already shorn her hair.

Clare’s dream was to start a new order for women, following the same restrictions that Francis had set up for men: no personal property, no community property, dependence on alms. She actually began to win over her family, and her sisters and mother eventually joined her, but her next obstacle came from the church. Leaders liked the idea of a new order of nuns, but the Franciscan rule was a bit much. They kept trying to force Clare’s nuns into less austere systems, which she respectfully resisted. When Pope Gregory IX offered to forgive her for any personal poverty-vow breaking she needed to do, she replied, “Holy Father, I crave absolution for my sins, but I desire not to be absolved from the obligation of following Jesus Christ.”

The pope soon reversed his position, but when he died, Clare had to win over a new pope . . . and she did. The day before her death, Pope Innocent IV officially approved what became known as the Rule of Saint Clare—the commitment observed by a growing number of nuns known as Poor Clares. There are about twenty thousand of them around the world today.

As a teenager, Clare chose to let nothing get in the way of her relationship with Jesus. It was difficult, but she stuck with that commitment.

What gets in the way of your relationship with Jesus? What are you going to do about it?

[Jesus said,] “Go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

Mark 10:21