St. Bonaventure is a doctor of the
Church, an honor given only to a select group of only 33 men & women who
have contributed greatly to our Catholic faith in theology & doctrine. St. Bonaventure lived way back in the 13th
century; he became a Franciscan friar after having been very sickly as a young
boy & after have been inspired by St Francis of Assisi through that illness. Bonaventure not only gives us the example of
a great theologian & accomplished scholar, but he also led a life of great
holiness & devotion. This is one of
Bonaventure’s famous quotes: “When we pray, the voice of the heart must be
heard more than that (voice) proceeding from the mouth.”
In the Gospel today, heard in the
light of this quote from St. Bonaventure, we wonder why the Pharisees thought
with just their minds & their intellects, why they did not open their
hearts to all of the teachings & wisdom that he had for them. The Pharisees tried to trap & ensnare
Jesus; they were always trying to accuse him of something, trying to get him
into trouble with the religious authorities.
And we can practice our faith in that manner as well. We can try to
trick Jesus or accuse him, we can try to follow a rigid form of religion in
which our hearts are completely closed to Jesus. Yet, we know that this is not what our faith
demands of us. May the spirituality
& devotion of St Bonaventure & the rest of the saints inspire us to
open our hearts to the Lord, even when it is difficult to do so.
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