 | | | Day 64, Feb 17, 2007: Clear with Fernando and Junior, sons of a single dad who live in a small tin shed on their modest piece of land near Sua-Sua in Venezuela. Clear met the family at 9pm the previous evening as he walked past their farm. They offered him food and a place to hang the hammock he carries for sleeping. (Photos courtesy Samuel Clear/Walk4One)
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A closer look at Samuel Clear:
Favorite book: The Simple Path by Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta
Favorite movie: “The Shawshank Redemption”
Favorite food: “My mom’s shepherd’s pie. And fresh fruit. I love fresh fruit.”
Favorite band: U2
Favorite song: “Where the Streets Have No Name” by U2
Favorite saint: Saint Francis of Assisi. “Unity is about renewing the Church, which is what Francis is all about. When he said, “I’m giving everything away,” he truly did. He’s one of my heroes. Also, Therese of Lisieux and Blessed Teresa of Calcutta.”
Best advice he ever received: “When you don’t know what to pray for, ask the Lord, ‘What should I pray for?’”
Favorite sports: “I love cricket. I also like Australian rules football. My team won the Grand Final this past season. It’s the first Grand Final they’ve won since 1963, so I’ve still never seen them win.” |
“As we draw closer to Christ we draw closer to one another…. It’s important for us to be united with those who are less fortunate, who are struggling, and to go outside of our comfort zone.” Samuel Clear is not the kind of person who shies away from adventure. Growing up in Tasmania, a small island off the coast of Australia, Clear, 29, enjoyed mountain climbing, hiking, and riding his motorbike across his island home and the country’s mainland. Still, it was not until December 2006 that Clear first traveled outside of his home country. And he hasn’t been back since.
Clear, a Catholic, is in the process of walking around the world in an effort to promote Christian unity. With little more than a backpack filled with gear, a couple of walking poles, and a whole lot of faith, Clear has journeyed thousands of miles and met hundreds of Christians of all denominations in an effort to increase awareness of his cause. He plans to make it back home to Australia by July to attend World Youth Day in Sydney.
Catholic Digest caught up with Clear during a rest day in Poland to discuss his missionary work, men with knives, and why he loves Montana.
CD: So you’re in Krakow, now. How are you enjoying it?CLEAR: I’m enjoying my rest day. Poland has been interesting. I feel a lot safer here than I did walking across Russia and Belarus. But unfortunately the reception at the churches hasn’t been terribly good.
CD: In what sense?CLEAR: I’ve had quite a few priests actually throw my calling card back at me and tell me to get lost. But then I have other priests who, as soon as they hear what I’m doing, they usher me inside and they want to feed me, and they invite people around to meet me and to extend the call to pray.
CD: Did you expect everyone to welcome you in, or were you thinking it would be up and down like it has been?CLEAR: To be honest, I thought that because I’m a Catholic missionary I would instantly be accepted within the Catholic Church, and I thought that I might find some opposition to praying for unity from non-Catholic churches. But there have been some days where I’ve been shown very little interest at all from a Catholic church and then a Protestant or Evangelical church has welcomed me with open arms and invited people around so that we could speak and pray together and invite people to pray for unity.
CD: What do you think has accounted for the different reactions? CLEAR: I think it’s personal. Some people carry the love of Christ in their hearts and some people you just catch on a bad day. Sometimes I really do have to go on the defensive and say, “Look, I’m not asking for food; I’m not asking for money,” because as soon as I open the door they start saying, “There’s a restaurant across the road.”
