St. Clare Society inspires synodality at Clifton parish

Father Peter Glabik, who has been pastor of the 750-family St. Clare’s Parish in Clifton since 2015, said the St. Clare Society of his parish serves three purposes.

“The goal is first to have a relationship with Jesus and understand who St. Clare is,” he explained. “Second is to pray for the priests and to be collaborators in ministry with the priests. And third, to take an active part in the church and become a member. To become more of an active participant in the liturgies, to be an active participant in helping with fundraising projects, and being a member of the community.”

Father Glabik realized something more had to be done to encourage increased involvement from parishioners, so he suggested the commencement of the St. Clare Society in 2016.

He said, “As a Catholic Christian community, Jesus calls us to travel two by two and to work together to build up a community of faith. It is the people of God and the priests in collaboration.”

Every year, Father Glabik and his flock celebrate a novena to St. Clare, which has become popular with parishioners.

“It started out as a component not only to pray to Jesus through St. Clare but also to pray constantly for the priests who serve in the parish,” he said. “Priests go through a lot sometimes, and the prayer component for them is very helpful.”

The St. Clare Society, since its inception, discussed having parish missions more often, and held two prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, and recently hosted one with the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal.

Father Glabik, one day, would like to see his flock go outside church doors and serve, perhaps at soup kitchens and aiding Catholic Charities in various ways.

He said, “Our focus is to build a community after COVID-19, and we are doing it in little ways.”

Some of those “little ways” are the parish holding a coffee and treat get-together once per month after Sunday Masses and greeting church attendees and making them feel welcome.

“It’s a beginning,” Father Glabik said. “The goal is really to promote a culture of servitude within the parish community, a culture of belonging, and a culture of relationship with Christ, the priests, and St. Clare. It is very important to realize that we are all intimately connected through our baptism, and it is not my vocational call to run the parish. It is our call together and in collaboration to build up a community of faith in the church.”

The St. Clare Society meets on the fourth Thursday (except holidays) of every month at 7 p.m. in the parish hall.

St. Clare of Assisi was born on July 16, 1194. At age 18, she heard St. Francis preach, and it fostered the desire to give her life to God. She left her home on Palm Sunday and went to the chapel of Portiuncula, where St. Francis cut off her hair and accepted her vows. She started the Order of the Poor Clares and lived in the convent of Saint Damiano. She became an abbess in 1216. The patron saint of both eye disorders and television, she died on Aug. 12, 1253, and was canonized in 1255.