“Together with Those Who Hold the Incomparable Treasure”

Abstract

It was a lovely moment! We were in the city of Assisi, in the Basilica of Santa Chiara, in the Year of Clare², and on the third morning of the gathering we were asking the question: What could the thirteenth-century woman Saint Clare of Assisi³ offer us at Assisi 2012? What might we excavate from her life and writings, from the places she dwelled, from the people she lived among, and from the women who for 800 years have continued to embody her charism to address our twenty-first-century lives? How might Clare and the San Damiano community cast light on the cultural moment when our concerns of interreligious dialogue and collegiality were at risk and the urgent task of restoring the fragmented church was so great?

First, I want to express my gratitude to three people: to Gerard Mannion, for inviting me to speak at this Assisi conference, and to two Poor Clares in the United States, Sister Dianne Short, OSC, of Cincinnati, Ohio, and Sister Beth Lynn, OSC, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. For over three years, these two women, with the support of their sisters, have accompanied us at Santa Clara University as we have worked to reclaim and celebrate St. Clare and her charism. I also want to thank the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University for its financial and collegial support.