July 15, 2015

Bonaventure

July 15, 2015:  St. Bonaventure, Bishop and Doctor

  • 'Tree' pin, red in shirt, :  Burning bush (1st reading)
  • 'Angel' pin:  Angel appeared to Moses (1st reading) (its slant doesn't make it a "fallen angel" :-)
  • Sandals:  "Remove your sandals" (1st reading)
  • 'Crown' tie bar:  The Lord crowns you with kindness and compassion.  (psalm)
  • 'Children' pin:  "You've revealed hidden things to the childlike." (gospel)
  • 'Medical' tie:  St. Bonaventure, 'doctor' of the Church
  • White in shirt:  St. Bonaventure memorial
Listen

Read
  • Ex 3:1-6, 9-12  Moses, leading the flock, came to Horeb, God's mountain, where an angel appeared to him in fire flaming out of a bush that, surprisingly, wasn't consumed.  When he decided to look and approached, God called from the bush, “Moses!  Come no nearer!  Take off your sandals; you're standing on holy ground.  I am the God of your father, of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  I've heard the Israelites' cry and seen the Egyptians oppress them.  I'll send you to Pharaoh to lead them out.” / “Who am I that I should go to him and lead them out?” / “I'll be with you....”

  • Mt 11:25-27 [Hear it proclaimed by Msgr. Brennan] “I give you praise, Father, for you revealed to the childlike what you've hidden from the wise.  You handed everything over to me.  No one knows me but you, and no one knows you except me and anyone I wish.”
St. Bonaventure
  • Universalis:  Bishop, doctor, teacher, philosopher, friend and colleague of St. Thomas Aquinas, defended/ruled Franciscan order.  See Catholic Encyclopedia, Wikipedia.  (Universalis also mentions Swithun, bishop, and Osmund of Salisbury, bishop and royal chaplain.)
        Reflect
          • Creighton:  To accept God’s truth like a child is to embrace faith transparently, being humble and reaching peace.  “The wise and the learned” are blinded by arrogance or bias.  May we seek and live God’s word consistently with Jesus' teachings even when it challenges our views, and may we share with love and respect the truth we've accepted.
          • One Bread One Body:  "Depending on Revelation":  The Father reveals what was hidden.  God's revelation is precious.  What we don't know does hurt us, but what we do know can transform us.  Moses was a victim of oppression, he never knew his parents, he had a speech defect, and he was a murderer, but when he received God's revelation at the burning bush, he became a new man; his job, residence, and face changed, and he became a liberator.  God's revelation resulted in the liberation of Israel.  Revelation leads to transformation and liberation.  We receive divine revelation by being dependent on the Lord, by adoration, submission, prayer, fasting, reading and living Scripture....
            St. Bonaventure
          • Passionist:  Those who have lost much (like Moses) and the childlike ("like babies") find God.  Moses grew up in the palace with fine clothes, social standing, education, power, security, and comfort, but now we see him as a lowly shepherd, under the sun, choked with dust and sand.  Jesus' experience was that the rabbis and the wise rejected him, but the simple accepted him.  It's the heart that matters....
          • DailyScripture.net:  Jesus' prayer tells us God is Father and Lord of earth and heaven, Creator, origin, and authority, and he shows loving care for his children.  He warns that pride can keep us from knowing and loving God; pride, coldness of heart, and stubbornness of will shut God out.  Pride vanquishes the heart and closes the mind.  Jesus contrasts pride with simplicity and humility.  The simple see purely and acknowledge their dependence on and trust in the Lord; they seek the "greatest good," God himself.  Simplicity is wedded with humility, because humility inclines us towards grace and truth; it's the only soil God's grace can take root in.  It takes the right attitude before God, allowing God to do all.  Only the humble can receive wisdom and understanding of God....
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