Poor Yet Rich in God's Sight

When we were moving from the Sherwood area to the Bestwood area in Nottingham almost 10 years ago, one of the first things I thought of was where is the church located.  By doing some Google-search, I found where the church is located.  Our Lady of Perpetual Succour Parish has its own website and I surfed through it, enjoying the pictures of the church on display in the web. I left a message on the web's guest book.  

We moved eventually to Bestwood, started to worship at Our Lady's, and got to know more the people there.  Out of the blue, someone sent me an e-mail welcoming me to the parish.  No, it wasn't the parish priest. Nor was it someone from the parish pastoral council.  It was one Sr Margaret, a nun from the Poor Clare Monastery which just next door to the parish church.  I was surprised and, at the same time, touched by Sister's gesture. Surprised because, based on what I was told in the Philippines, Poor Clare nuns don't interact with people outside their convent. Touched because, in spite of that 'border' between those inside the monastery and outside, I felt being one with her community.  That oneness continues till this day.

My family sees the sisters as a part of our support system. We contact them every time we need prayers, for ourselves or for others. So much is our closeness to them that we named our daughter Chiara Francesca, after Saints Clare and Francis, the founder of the Poor Clares and the Franciscans respectively. When Chiara was baptised, the sisters at that time (Mother Mary Francis and Sr Margaret) were unable to attend the ceremony, but they gave her numerous gifts.  

On another occasion, while visiting the sisters at Christmastime in 2009, Mother Mary Francis gave her rosary to Chiara - she saw that the little girl was getting uneasy then.  I thought she just gave it to her to play with so I returned it to her before going home. She told me to keep it, for my daughter.  Little did I know that that would be our last meeting - both sisters moved to another monastery south of England early the following year.  We still continue to keep in touch through letters.

Even though there was a change in leadership and composition of the monastery, the sisters have continued to show the same kindness and warmth to us.  Mother Mercy, the present Abbess, is very complimentary to the Filipino Rosary Crusade-Nottingham North.  She once took Chiara by the hand and brought her to their chapel to show her a statue of St Clare. Both of them knelt and prayed in front of the  woman's statue.  Last Christmas, the sisters gave our group a box of cakes and, a doll for Chiara!

St Clare's rule for her order is "to observe the holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ by living in obedience,without possessing anything as my own and in chastity". "Without possessing anything as my own". For the materialistic this is unthinkable.  For the selfish this is suicide. For the power-hungry this is madness.

Strangely, St Clare and her daughters (mind you, they have been in existence for the last 801 years!) shame those whose notion of happiness is to acquire or worse hoard material things.  I suddenly remembered Msgr David Forde's punchline in his homily last Sunday: "Enjoy your wealth, but don't let it control you".

Gifts, a rosary, a box of cakes, a doll, prayers. Whatever the nuns gave, they gave cheerfully. St Clare and her daughters through the ages mirror Jesus who "though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich" (2 Corinthians 8:9).

Thank you, Poor Clare sisters (be it in Bulwell, Arundel, or elsewhere) for your generosity of heart, simplicity of spirit, humble service, and joyful friendship.  May our faithful Lord bless you always through the intercession of St Clare!

Happy feast day this 11th of August!