St. Bonaventure was a saint that we celebrated earlier in the week. He was named a doctor of the Church, which testifies to his great influence on Catholic theology and spirituality. St. Bonaventure lived way in the 13th century. He became a Franciscan friar after having been very sickly as a young boy and after having been inspired by St Francis of Assisi through his illness. Bonaventure not only gives us the example of a great theologian and accomplished scholar, but he also led a life of great holiness and 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 and their intellects, why they did not open their hearts to all of the teachings and wisdom that Jesus offered them. The Pharisees were always trying to trap and ensnare Jesus, trying to accuse him of something, trying to get him into trouble with the religious authorities. 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 and devotion of St Bonaventure and 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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