Overview:

The Memorial of Saint Clare, Virgin

A Reflection for the Memorial of Saint Clare, Virgin

I continue my pursuit toward the goal,
the prize of God’s upward calling, in Christ Jesus. (Phil 3:14)

Find today’s readings here.

Reading the Scripture selections for today—both the ordinary ones and the optional readings for the Feast of St. Clare of Assisi—I’m struck by two intertwined themes: those of sweetness and those of perseverance. The sweetness appears in our ordinary first reading from Ezekiel, in which the prophet has a vision of being fed a scroll, presumably with God’s law written on it, and it tastes sweet to him and prepares him to preach to the people of Israel. Likewise, in the ordinary Gospel, Jesus delivers his famous discourse, “unless you become like children,” telling his listeners to approach God like children, with, in my reading, a sweet innocence.

These readings, though, are paired with an emphasis on perseverance: The first reading for the Memorial describes the pursuit of eternal life with words that could well be an inspirational quote on Instagram: “Forgetting what lies behind, but straining forward to what lies ahead, I continue my pursuit toward the goal, the prize of God’s upward calling, in Christ Jesus.” The Memorial Gospel assures us that “everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands for the sake of my name will receive a hundred times more, and will inherit eternal life.” The ordinary Gospel, after urging us to be like children, adds that God perseveres in loving us, using the parable of the lost sheep.

The life of St. Clare of Assisi blends these themes: Her love for God is childlike, both in its simplicity and deep devotion, and in the audacity it gives her to refuse marriage despite her family’s wishes. The family promises her wealth and nobility in return for leaving the convent, but Clare perseveres, even clinging physically to the altar as her family pulls her away. Children, after all, are not interested in being rich so much as they are in loving and being loved. It is only as we grow into adulthood that so many of us fall prey to the temptation to prioritize money over love.

Clare maintains this devoted love as she grows older and gains authority, becoming an abbess and even clashing with a pope who tried to dispense her from her severe, self-imposed poverty. Clare responds with a perseverance rooted in deep love: “Holy Father, never and in no way do I wish to be dispensed from following Christ!” The pope, seeing her devotion, leaves her alone and officially reapproves an exception allowing the Poor Clares to live in extreme poverty.

I find myself deeply inspired by this combination of themes. Often, I think, I hear a call to perseverance as a sort of tough, emotionless pushing-through. I picture a weightlifter or an Olympic athlete, all muscles and focus. But the perseverance called for in today’s readings is something different: It’s the perseverance of devotion, of deep and simple and sweet love.

As I write this, I am in Rome without my husband and son, having to take care of some pressing immigration issues. At times, fighting the uphill battle against Italian bureaucracy, further slowed by the summer heat and ensuing sluggishness, feels Sisyphean. And yet, the motivation I feel to persevere each day doesn’t come from the dogged pursuit of a career in Vatican journalism; it’s the simple desire to be with my family, a desire for the simplest, most ordinary, sweetest love.

Colleen Dulle is the Vatican Correspondent at America and co-hosts the "Inside the Vatican" podcast. She is the author of Struck Down, Not Destroyed: Keeping the Faith as a Vatican Reporter (Image, 2025).