In the Collect at today’s Mass, we pray that through the intercession of St. Clare, and by “following Christ in poverty of spirit,” we may set eternal life as our goal and final destination. This “poverty of spirit” is not reserved only for the religious or the ordained—it is a call for every Christian. To live with Christ as the focus and center of our lives transforms our vocations—whether priesthood, consecrated life, marriage, or single life—into a source of love and joy.
St. Clare invites us to see Christ as a mirror into which we gaze daily. When we look, what do we see? Is it Christ we are reflecting, or merely ourselves?
In today’s first reading, Moses reminds us that the Lord calls us “to follow his ways, to love and serve the Lord.” These words echo what we now know as the greatest commandments: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your soul, and with all your strength… and you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
To live this love of God and neighbor is to be conformed to Christ. It is how His image is truly reflected in our lives, how we are drawn ever deeper into the love of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—and how we become instruments in the conversion of the world.
Living in Love with God 
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