A Covenantal Relationship with God

Homily for the Feast of St. Clare

In the Gospel for this Feast of St. Clare, Jesus speaks of a deep, organic union between Himself and His followers:

1. Believers must remain in Him to bear fruit.
2. Obedience to His commandments is the path to remaining in His love.
3. This relationship is intimate, life-giving, and rooted in love.

Through the prophet Hosea, God speaks of restoring Israel after her unfaithfulness:

1. God confronts Israel’s spiritual adultery, calling for repentance.
2. A future promise—Israel will call God “my husband” instead of “my master,” symbolizing intimacy and love replacing fear and control. Idolatry will be removed.
3. God promises to respond to creation and bless the land, signaling restored harmony and covenant.

These passages together show that God desires not just obedience, but intimate relationship—one where love replaces fear, and fruitfulness flows from connection. Hosea’s imagery of marriage and John’s metaphor of the vine both point to a God who longs to dwell with His people, nourish them, and see them flourish.

St. Clare of Assisi’s life beautifully embodies the spiritual themes found in John 15:4–10 and Hosea 2:2, 16–17, 21–22, revealing a profound union with Christ and a restoration of covenantal love.

First, St. Clare abides with and remains with Christ.

1.  St. Clare lived a life of radical dependence on Christ:
2. She left behind wealth and status to embrace poverty, choosing to “remain in the vine” through prayer, simplicity, and obedience.
3. Her daily life in the Poor Clares monastery was one of fruitfulness through hidden sacrifice, echoing Jesus’ call to bear fruit by abiding in Him.
4. Clare’s love for Christ was not passive—it was active, expressed through obedience to His commandments and deep Eucharistic devotion.

Second, in Clare we see the ideal of Covenantal Love:

1. Like Israel, Clare renounced worldly idols—wealth, comfort, and prestige—to become the “bride of Christ.”
2. Hosea speaks of calling God “my husband” instead of “my master.” Clare’s relationship with Christ was marked by love, not fear, and she saw herself as espoused to Him.
3. The promise of blessing and harmony in Hosea is reflected in Clare’s peaceful, joyful witness, even amid suffering and illness.

In a homily for her feast day, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem noted that Clare’s life reveals the “extraordinary power of God” through meekness, love, and compassion, not worldly strength. She was an “earthen vessel” who radiated divine light by living the Beatitudes.

Another reflection highlights how Clare’s embrace of poverty was not compulsion but freely chosen love, echoing Hosea’s vision of voluntary covenant renewal.

1. St. Clare’s life is a living commentary on these Scriptures:
2. She abided in Christ like a branch in the vine.
3. She renewed her covenant with God, not through ritual, but through radical love.
4. Her legacy invites us to consider: What idols must we leave behind to call God “my beloved”? How can we bear fruit through abiding, not striving?

A Prayer

Beloved Vine, Eternal Bridegroom, You call me to remain in You, to let go of all that withers, and to cling to the life that flows from Your heart. Like Clare, teach me the courage to renounce what binds me— the idols of comfort, control, and fear. Let me call You not “Master,” but “Beloved,” and walk in the freedom of love. Plant me deep in Your presence. Let my soul be a branch that bears fruit— not by striving, but by abiding. Let my obedience be joy, my poverty be richness, my silence be song. You have betrothed me to Yourself in faithfulness. So I say yes again— to the covenant, to the vine, to the love that never fails.

Amen.