St. Clare of Assisi worked tirelessly with the poor and homeless in medieval Italy.
Within the context of the medieval world of the 13th century, Clare lived and struggled with many of the issues that are present in our day. She was a woman of strength and courage, of wisdom and insight, of patience and with an innate gift of leadership. Looking closely at her, we can learn much about the response to life that enables us to be free in a world where oppression abounds.
As a medieval woman born into a rich and powerful family, her role in life was defined for her when she was still a child by the men who ruled the clan. She would be married to a man of their choosing, someone whose assets and social standing would make the clan even more powerful. Her wishes were considered irrelevant, until the day she sold her inheritance, instantly making her worthless in the marriage market.
Clare's society was rigidly stratified. She broke down those class structures by insisting that everyone work with their hands and that everyone was equal in every way. Without hesitation, she swept away all the artificial class distinctions that society had created and which led to wars and violence. Clare has much to teach us about living together on our planet earth as sisters and brothers, all children of the one God.
Clare understood the links between money and power. Economic freedom equals social freedom which in this context paves the way for spiritual freedom. Clare's life of absolute poverty cuts through all the enticements of our consumerist culture. Clare exhorted her sisters who served outside the monastery to: Praise God for every green and flowering plant that you see; for every human person and for every creature. The environmental crisis is the result of a lack of care and reverence for the good things that God has given us for our use and our happiness. In beholding a flower, a sunset, the vast ocean, the varieties of animals, the sun, moon, stars, human beings so often fail to see, as Clare did, the reflection of a loving Creator of all these wonders.
Her wisdom and holiness were recognized far and wide, and Popes and prelates came to her to recommend themselves to her prayer. In our contemporary world, women all over the globe are experiencing their worth and dignity in a new way and are struggling to resist the forces of oppression and domination which perpetuate the evil of unhealthy dependence. In this struggle Clare has much to teach all of us.
Clare is as relevant today as she was in the thirteenth century. Perhaps even more so because like all holy people, she was a prophet whose message is timeless.
(This information was obtained from the Home Page of the Duncan (BC) Community of the Poor Clares.)
