If “a picture is worth a thousand words,” what is the value of a really wonderful and inspirational video? During the day on New Year’s Eve, I picked up a book that had been sitting on my bookshelf for some time. The title of the book is Sr. Clare Crockett: Alone with Christ Alone.
I don’t recall where or when I got the book, but it had been sitting on the shelf for well more than a year, maybe more than two years. I had heard about “Sister Clare” from a few people over the past year or so, and I happened to notice the book on the shelf while I was looking for something else. As I read the first few pages, the introduction and preface referenced a video called All or Nothing, which tells the story of Sister Clare’s life (and death) and was available on YouTube. I decided to “check out” the video and … was “blown away”!
Since we have transitioned from a print to an online edition of “The Beacon,” there may be some readers for whom “reading online” is a new experience. One of the advantages of reading and writing online is the ability of the writer to include a link so that the reader can “click” on the link and go from the article to another source of information, such as a video on YouTube. I hope that you will read the rest of this article (before or after you watch All or Nothing), but even more so, I hope that you click on this link and watch All or Nothing:
There are many reasons why I found the video so inspiring: it tells a beautiful, real-life story in a compelling way. It seems that the video was produced by members of Sister Clare’s religious community, the Servant Sisters of the Home of the Mother. The quality and “production value” are excellent. As it tells Sister Clare’s story, the video “introduces” us, not only to Sister Clare but also to her parents and family, her religious community and ministry, and the (almost) UNBELIEVABLE story of her vocation, the ways in which she “heard” and responded to God’s call. I really hope that you will take the time to watch the video.
I describe Sister Clare’s vocation story as “almost UNBELIEVABLE” because her story, like so many of the lives of the saints and of “unknown/ordinary” people who live lives of extraordinary lives of holiness, only “makes sense” and is possible when we are willing to “see” with the “eyes of faith.”
If you have concerns or worries about the Church or your family, if you are concerned about people who are suffering in parts of the world impacted by war, violence, and poverty; if you are concerned about our younger generations growing up in our secular, materialistic, and technological culture, I can offer you 1 hour and 24 minutes of HOPE. In the 1 hour and 24 minutes that make up the video All or Nothing, you see a young, talented adolescent and teenager growing up in a community suffering from war, violence, and division, being raised by parents and a family who believe, but are not what we would call “practicing Catholics.”
In this video, we see, in such a beautiful way, the “in-breaking of Grace” as the young girl has a profound, unexpected experience of God’s unconditional Love and Mercy as she reverences the Cross with a kiss on Good Friday. We then see the “ups and downs” so often experienced by one who begins to have a sense that God could be personally calling her (or him) to “leave behind” family and worldly opportunities to live a vocation that includes promises or vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. If you spend the 84 minutes to watch the full video, you can see how that “Yes” to God can lead one to a profound sense of Joy and Peace. You will hear Sister Clare try to explain and recount the story of her vocation, but you will (literally) “see” that Joy and Peace in her smiling face.
I hope and pray that ANY young (or not so young) person can watch the story of Sister Clare Crockett and “hear” somewhere in his or her heart or soul the voice of St. Pope John Paul II, saying, “Don’t be afraid to open wide the door to Christ.” Sister Clare’s life and witness – and how it is portrayed in this video, is also an example of what we try to describe when we speak of the Church as the “mystical Body of Christ.” From her baptism through her first Holy Communion and Confirmation, all of which did not seem to “mean” much to her when she was invited (partly tricked) into attending a Holy Week Retreat in the year 2000, her life and openness to the Faith were preparing her, within the Church, to hear and respond to God’s call. The Retreat in Spain would lead to an experience of World Youth Day in Rome in the summer of 2000 and then there were worldly temptations and the opportunity for the success and fame as an actor for which she had longed since her childhood. Then the “in breaking of Grace” and an inner strength, courage, and conviction that were not (simply) her own led her to the decision to painfully leave her home and family to enter formation for religious life.
I could write many, many more pages trying to tell you the rest of Sister Clare’s story, but it would not do justice to what you can see and hear in an 84-minute video. I am about a third of the way through the book, which adds some detail and expands on some of what we hear and see in the video. After you watch the video, you may want to purchase the book. You can also read and learn more about Sister Clare and see some beautiful pictures on her community’s website.
I had heard that Sister Clare’s community would soon be opening the formal process to see whether, at some point in the future, she may be canonized as a Saint. When I clicked on the option for “News” on the community’s website, I was very happy to read the following:
The opening of the cause for the beatification of Sr. Clare Crockett will take place on Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025 in the Cathedral of Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, Spain, at 5:30 p.m.
I hope you will enjoy “meeting” Sister Clare as much as I did. I am convinced that we will be hearing more and more about the life, ministry, and vocation of Sister Clare Crockett.
