St. Bonaventure´s Wisdom
Mary Esther Stewart is a Secular Franciscan living in Flagstaff, Arizona and a member of San Francisco de Asís Parish. She retired from education after 40 years of teaching and administration. She is a grandmother, an artist, a gardener, and a lover of St. Bonaventure. She published an introductory volume to the saint entitled: Meet Our Brother Bonaventure. She has also published articles and given presentations on Franciscan topics. Esther volunteered her services for our Journey into God Retreat, traveling with us across the globe for several years.
….We can feed each other on our Journey and keep this wonderful Franciscan spirituality alive among us.
Why Bonaventure?
In a recent commentary that I’ve been reading, the author demonstrates how Bonaventure was such a pivotal person for his day. In the “dark ages,” folks must have chugged down the highway of life with business as usual on a daily basis, survival being primary. But in the 13th century, with the resurgence of Aristotle and the interpretation of his work by Averroes, the effect on Western thinking could have taken some serious turns. Folks hit a fork in the road. Maybe it was like the technology explosion for us. Bonaventure, with the help of his friends, was able to integrate the best of Plato, Aristotle and Augustine into a view of Christianity that is positive, holistic, and psychologically sound. He gave structure to Francis’ spirituality and dealt with the issues of his day, all of which is pertinent and beneficial to us in century 21! Positive, holistic and psychologically sound are pretty convincing to me. So why not Bonaventure?
And a thought for the season:
In chapter V of the Itinerarium we read about God as Being. God is a happy being and diffuses His/Her love in a three-way, Trinitarian relationship. There was no need for God to create. But He did. We share in God’s being, but it is not necessary. And if creation was not necessary, the Incarnation was not necessary either. I look at my Christmas crib in my living room and I say to myself, “None of this had to be. But it did ‘be,’ it was, and it is.” It causes me to live in awe. “God so loved the world . . . .”
Mary Esther Stewart OFS