Postulant Mary Elizabeth to receive the Holy Habit

We have glad tidings of great joy!  Our Postulant Mary Elizabeth will be clothed in our Holy Habit on November 23rd, Vigil of the Solemnity of Christ the King of the Universe.  At her reception chapter, Mother Abbess gave us the following exhortation:

  I have been reflecting on many phrases and themes that Father Johnson presented to us during our recent retreat, and one that I would like to share in view of your coming investiture is that our identity has been affirmed in Christ through our Baptism.  We have no need of anyone to applaud us, to praise us, to confirm that we are good people, worthy of love, for in Christ, we know we are the Beloved of God.  We are “Of the Lord.” This is our identity as Christians.  Now, as religious, as Poor Clares, we have another call, intensifying the Baptismal call- a new identity is added to this primary one-we become, you will become, a beloved daughter of our Mother St. Clare, a member of our Holy Order in Spirit and in Truth!  Thanks be to God!

  As with the Sacred Gift of Holy Baptism, this call, this gift is pure unmerited grace-we have done nothing to earn or deserve it.  On the contrary, the opposite is often true-God chooses the lowly, the unworthy, the weak, to be His own, in order that He may be the more glorified and His Mercies may be the greater magnified.

This is confirmed in numerous place in Holy Scripture (“God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise, God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong, God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are”) and in our own experience we know it to be true-He has a preference for the poor, the simple, the weak.

  In Holy Baptism, we are clothed with a white garment to symbolize what has happened interiorly to our soul- we are washed clean in the Blood of Christ, and become Christian.  Similarly with your investiture with the Holy Habit of our Mother St. Clare: a rough, cross-form habit will be placed upon you and headcovering which is pure white, each piece full of meaning. Outwardly we will be able to see that change which has happened interiorly- you are claimed by Christ in a deeper way.  The habit shows who you are  

and to whom you now belong in a more complete way, and will encourage you to put on interiorly that which it signifies.

 As we take Holy Water each day to remind us of our Baptism in Christ, so we take up these precious garments each morning with a prayer to remind us of our special calling to follow the Lord more perfectly: “Make me a religious according to Your Heart, although I am most unworthy to wear this Holy Habit”, etc.  (You have them memorized already, surely.)  I love very much that to each part of the habit is joined a desire for spiritual gifts, directing us to look deeper than the surface value of material things and have a new way of gazing upon the world.  We do not want to strive for those passing things which might capture our hearts for a time, but for those things which last forever.

Again, Scripture teaches us this Truth: “Let not yours be the outward adorning with braiding of hair, decoration of gold, and wearing of robes, but let it be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable jewel of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious.” (1 Peter 3:3,4)

St. Paul, the great teacher also says:  “As God’s chosen ones, clothe yourselves with compassion and kindness, meekness and patience” etc… “And above all these put on love…” Truly all of our lives are spent acquiring this Love of Christ and becoming one with Him.

   Now a little word about Christ the King, since you will be clothed on the vigil of this great solemnity:  The cycles of the Liturgy for the Years A, B, & C give us a very rich image of Our Lord and Christ; He is the Good Shepherd, He is the Majestic King, He is the Suffering, Humble Lord, He is the Christ, the First Born of the Dead, He is the Faithful Witness, the Alpha and the Omega, He is the Holy One of God, whose Kingdom is not of this world.  And from the Introit for the Solemn Mass we learn too, that He is the Lamb Who was slain.

   I want to focus on the Shepherd and the Lamb for our purpose today and the similarities of these images.  Both are sacrificial types of our Lord: the Lamb was slain to give Life, abundant Life and to cleanse us with His Blood, so that we might be clothed in white garments and belong to Him forever.  The Shepherd, the Good Shepherd, lays down His life for his sheep.  He tends them with all that he is and has, clothing them, feeding them, shepherding them and defending them, to the point of ultimate sacrifice. This is the Lord we are called to follow and to imitate in sacrificial love; this is the Lord and the King to Whom we are infinitely blessed to belong.

 So, as you prepare now, and we all prepare with you, to belong more fully to this Lord and King, may you strive for those greater gifts with which to adorn your soul, so that the transformation will be complete-deep within your heart and outwardly with the Holy Habit of our Mother St. Clare.

Meanwhile, our Novitiate construction is ALMOST FINISHED!  Pictures will be coming!