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Mt 5:13-19 -- The Salt of the earth and Light of the world - Il-melħ ta' l-art u d-dawl tad-dinja
JULY 15 - PROPER GOSPEL ON THE FEAST OF SAINT BONAVENTURE, BISHOP, DOCTOR
Evanġelju
Il-melħ ta' l-art u d-dawl tad-dinja
Mt 5,13-19
Il-melħ ta' l-art u d-dawl tad-dinja
Mt 5,13-19
Qari mill-Evanġelju skont San Mattew
F’dak iż-żmien, Ġesù qal lill-Appostli tiegħu: [Mt:5:13] "Intom il-melħ ta' l-art. Imma jekk il-melħ jaqta', biex jerġa' jieħu t-togħma? Ma jibqa' tajjeb għal xejn iżjed ħlief biex jintrema barra u jintrifes min-nies.
[Mt:5:14] "Intom id-dawl tad-dinja. Belt li tkun qiegħda fuq muntanja ma tistax tinħeba. [Mt:5:15] Anqas ma jixegħlu l-musbieħ u jqegħduh taħt il-siegħ, iżda fuq l-imnara, u hekk idawwal lil kull min ikun fid-dar. [Mt:5:16] Hekk għandu jiddi d-dawl tagħkom quddiem il-bnedmin, biex jaraw l-għemejjel tajba tagħkom u jagħtu glorja lil Missierkom li hu fis-smewwiet.
[Mt:5:17] "Xejn taħsbu li ġejt inwaqqa' l-Liġi jew il-Profeti; jiena ma ġejtx biex inwaqqagħhom, iżda biex inwassalhom għall-perfezzjoni. [Mt:5:18] Tassew ngħidilkom, li sa ma jkunu għaddew is-sema u l-art anqas l-iżgħar ittra jew tikka waħda mil-Liġi ma titneħħa sa ma jkun seħħ kollox. [Mt:5:19] Jekk mela xi ħadd iġib fix-xejn wieħed mill-iżgħar minn dawn il-kmandamenti u jgħallem lin-nies biex jagħmlu l-istess, dan jissejjaħ l-iżgħar fis-Saltna tas-Smewwiet. Imma min iħarishom u jgħallimhom, dan kbir jissejjaħ fis-Saltna tas-Smewwiet.
R/. Tifħir lilek Kristu
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Christian Identity vs. New World (dis)Order
On the Feast of the "Seraphic Doctor," St. Bonaventure (Bishop & Doctor, Franciscan - Jul 15, 2019), Fr. Alan explains in the homily St. Bonaventure's acknowledgement of the supremacy of love over knowledge and what that means for Christians today. That love of Christ to which we are called entails identifying with Him in suffering for the salvation of souls.
In today's secular culture, the proclamation of the "New World Order" affirms love of man to the exclusion of love of God, which is the inversion of right order. Christians must be light and salt for the restoration of right order: love of God, then love of neighbour in God.
In today's secular culture, the proclamation of the "New World Order" affirms love of man to the exclusion of love of God, which is the inversion of right order. Christians must be light and salt for the restoration of right order: love of God, then love of neighbour in God.
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Bonaventure - By Lydia Schumacher
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St. Bonaventure: Centered on Christ
by Veronica Arntz (July 15, 2016)
https://catholicexchange.com/st-bonaventure-centered-christ
Ratzinger wrote his habilitation thesis (a post-doctoral qualification in Europe) on St. Bonaventure’s understanding of salvation history and the concept of revelation. Furthermore, in the first ( http://w2.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/audiences/2010/documents/hf_ben-xvi_aud_20100303.html ) of a three-part Wednesday audience series on Bonaventure, Benedict XVI explained, “Among the great Christian figures who contributed to the composition of this harmony between faith and culture Bonaventure stands out, a man of action and contemplation, of profound piety and prudent government.”
What is it about Bonaventure that merits such high praise? Born around 1217, Bonaventure lived in the 13th century, which was a powerful time for the Christian faith, in which it penetrated society and influenced many works of literature, theology, and philosophy. When Bonaventure was still a child, he fell seriously ill, such that even his father, who was a doctor, had lost hope for a cure. His mother, however, prayed fervently to St. Francis of Assisi for her son’s cure, and he recovered from the illness. This incident perhaps influenced his later decision to join the Franciscans, who he discovered while studying the liberal arts in Paris. Benedict XVI quotes from one of Bonaventure’s letters, explaining why he chose to join the Franciscan Order:
I confess before God that the reason which made me love the life of blessed Francis most is that it resembled the birth and early development of the Church. The Church began with simple fishermen, and was subsequently enriched by very distinguished and wise teachers; the religion of Blessed Francis was not established by the prudence of men but of Christ.
When Bonaventure was elected as the Minister General of the Franciscan Order, his main goal was to unify the Franciscan movement and to rekindle a love for the Poverello, their founder, St. Francis. Benedict explains the key point that Bonaventure emphasized (and indeed, even lived himself): “Francis is an alter Christus, a man who sought Christ passionately. In the love that impelled Francis to imitate Christ, he was entirely conformed to Christ.” This is the message that Bonaventure wished his fellow Franciscans to understand, that they too were called to be “another Christ” and conform themselves completely to him. Bonaventure wanted the Franciscans to invite Christ to live within their hearts, so that they could more fully live out their vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience and preach the Gospel joyfully to all individuals. Indeed, this desire of Bonaventure is something that all of us can strive to fulfill, regardless of our state in life.
During Bonaventure’s time, an error arose within the Franciscan Order. A group called the “Spiritual Franciscans” radically followed the writings of Joachim of Fiore, who interpreted the whole of history “as a history of progress: from the severity of the Old Testament to the relative freedom of the time of the Son, in the Church, to the full freedom of the Sons of God in the period of the Holy Spirit.” Bonaventure saw this as a grave misunderstanding of St. Francis’s mission, and therefore intensely studied the works of Joachim of Fiore, so that he might work to correct this error within the Order. From this study, Bonaventure developed a remarkable understanding of the history of the Church. Bonaventure rejected Joachim’s Trinitarian rhythm of history, saying instead, “God is one for all history.” He also affirmed that “Jesus Christ is God’s last word; in him, God said all, giving and expressing himself.” This means that God has revealed the Church as she is, and there is nothing more “new” to be revealed that is not already present in revelation.
Benedict addresses a possible objection: “This does not mean that the Church is stationary, fixed in the past, or that there can be no newness in her.” Indeed, Bonaventure’s idea of progress in history was innovative in comparison to the Church Fathers. As Benedict explains, “Christ was no longer the end of history, as he was for the Fathers of the Church, but rather its center; history does not end with Christ but begins a new period.” Bonaventure was not attempting to reject the Church Fathers, but rather, in St. Francis, Bonaventure saw that Christ could bring newness to the Church and that Christ’s riches are inexhaustible. With Christ at the center, there is the possibility for us to discover more deeply the treasures that he has given to us in his Word. It is because Christ is one that we are able to discover newness in the Church’s teachings and traditions.
As such, it would be wrong, as some believe, that the Church is declining. As Benedict explains, in light of Bonaventure’s theology, “Christ’s works do not go backwards but forwards.” Moreover, we cannot at any point say that the Church is “completely new” and all of her traditions in the past are obsolete. As Benedict explains about the newness of the Church, “What would the Church be without the new spirituality of the Cistercians, the Franciscans and the Dominicans, the spirituality of St. Teresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross and so forth?” Through Bonaventure’s theology, we come to a new understanding of spirituality within the Church’s history: the movement of the Church is always forward, with Christ at the center and at the end in the Beatific Vision. Bonaventure came to these truths through a deep devotion to Christ in prayer. He modeled for us how to “learn at the school of the divine Teacher,” and we ought to follow his example. The desire for refreshing the mendicant orders in the 13th century can inspire us as we seek to refresh, or re-evangelize, those who have fallen away from God.
As already hinted, Bonaventure’s theology greatly influenced Benedict XVI’s own theology, particularly with regard to the progress of history. We find evidence for this in The Spirit of the Liturgy (Ignatius Press, 2000). He writes:
The goal of worship and the goal of creation as a whole are one and the same—divinization, a world of freedom and love. But this means that the historical makes its appearance in the cosmic. The cosmos is not a kind of closed building, a stationary container in which history may by chance take place. It is itself movement, from its one beginning to its one end. In a sense, creation is history (p. 28).
Just as the Church is not stationary, as Bonaventure explained, so too the cosmos is not static, which is the creation of God and the place where the Church exists. Creation and worship are both oriented to God, and both are moving toward a final fulfillment in him. For Ratzinger, this movement is embodied in the liturgy, which is the place where Heaven and earth meet, where “the logos of creation, the logos in man, and the true and eternal Logos made flesh, the Son, come together” (p. 50). Furthermore, “All time is God’s time. When the eternal Word assumed human existence at his Incarnation, he also assumed temporality. He drew time into the sphere of eternity. Christ himself is the bridge between time and eternity” (p. 92). As such, Christ is at the center of man’s redemption, and it is through the liturgy, which takes place in time, that we encounter him, that we have a taste of the eternal while still in time. This is why Ratzinger says that liturgy is both historical and cosmological: it occurs within time but is also the celebration of the eternal liturgy.Bonaventure’s emphasis on renewal in the monastic tradition makes him an appropriate saint for our times, especially for the New Evangelization, because it is so necessary in our times to help ourselves and others refocus on Christ as the center of our lives and the universe. While Christ is the “end goal” of all creation in a certain sense, he is also at the center of salvation history—he wants to unite himself to us in our heart and be our “center.” As Ratzinger has shown, in adopting Bonaventure’s theology, we encounter Christ as the center of the liturgy. The liturgy is the place where Heaven comes down and touches earth, the celebration of the Cross, when we are able to consume Christ in the Eucharist. With Bonaventure, we can therefore pray, “How wholesome it is, always to meditate on the Cross of Christ.”
image: St. Bonaventure by Fr. Lawrence Lew, O.P. / Flickr
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http://www.sanfrangisk.com/ + CLICK QADDISIN
15 ta’ Lulju
SAN BONAVENTURA
(1221-1274)
Bonaventura twieled Bagnoregio fil-Lazio, l-Italja tan-nofs, fl-1221. Meta kien ghadu tarbija marad sewwa izda jinghad li fieq b’mod mirakuluz bit-talb u l-intercessjoni ta’ San Frangisk. Ghalhekk baqa’ devot lejh u meta sar zaghzugh dahal fl-Ordni tieghu. Studja f’Parigi taht il-majjistru Frangiskan Alessandru ta’ Hales, imbaghad sar hu stess majjistru fl-istess studju teologiku. Fl-1257 Bonaventura nhatar Ministru General ta’ l-Ordni li, tul il-ftit ghexieren ta’ snin li kien ilu mwaqqaf, kien kiber b’mod tal-ghageb. Huwa dam sbatax-il sena General tal-Frangiskani. Il-gvern tieghu tant kien tajjeb, tant mexa bil-ghaqal, u tant halla marka sabiha fuq it-tradizzjoni ta’ l-Ordni, li dan il-qaddis huwa meqjus bhala t-tieni fundatur tal-Frangiskani. Wiehed mill-atti principali tal-generalat tieghu kien il-hrug tal-kostituzzjonijiet “Narbonizi” li fuqhom inbnew il-kostituzzjonijiet kollha li gew wara. Kiteb ghadd kbir ta’ trattati filosofici, teologici u mistici. Fost l-ohrajn kiteb ukoll wahda mill-aqwa hajjiet ta’ San Frangisk li ígib l-isem ta’ “Legenda Maior” (= ir-Rakkont il-Kbir). Bhala Kardinal u Isqof ta’ Albano, Bonaventura ha sehem fil-koncilju ta’ Lyon li, bil-hidma tieghu, mexxa lil-Latini u lill-Griegi pass iehor lejn il-ghaqda. Miet fil-belt ta’ Lyon fil-15 ta’ Lulju 1274, assistit mill-Papa Girgor X, li kien f’dik il-belt góall-koncilju. Il-qdusija, il-gherf u l-ispiritwalità ta’ San Bonaventura, u mhux anqas l-imhabba li kellu ghall-misteru ta’ Kristu, hallew marka li ma tithassarx fuq it-tjieba Nisranija, u qalghulu t-titlu ta’ Duttur Serafiku.
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St. Bonaventure’s Good Venture
to Know God
by Matthew Chicoine - (July 15, 2019)
Rarely, does God act in such a plain or shallow sense. Along with being elevated to the status of Doctor of the Catholic Church, St. Bonaventure is also the patron saint of something quite ordinary, yet awkward at the same time—bowel movements. As a young child Bonaventure had a life threatening sickness affecting his bowels. This sickness almost took his life. The intercession of St. Francis of Assisi cured him. Because of this, the Catholic Church recognized Bonaventure as the patron saint of individuals suffering similar illnesses.
My youngest son struggles with digestive and bowel issues. During a particularly rough evening, my wife and I prayed to St. Bonaventure, as we tried everything else medically to help our son. Our pleas for help to the 13th century saint forged the beginning of what I hope to be a lifelong friendship.
While St Bonaventure wrote on various subjects this article will solely focus on arguably his greatest work—The Journey of the Mind into God. Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI in St. Bonaventure: Literary Work and Doctrine calls this work, “a manual for mystical contemplation.” Providentially, Bonaventure pondered this work at the same place whereby St. Francis of Assisi received the stigmata—Mount La Verna in Italy!
Creation as Reflection of God
In Chapter 1 of The Journey of the Mind Into God, the Seraphic Doctor tells us that the first rung of the ladder to God is the created world. When we don the glasses of faith, we see nature pointing to the glory of God. Bonaventure refers to the created world as “the university of things” as a kind of stairway to climb toward God (Chapter 1 no. 2). Later in the chapter he describes the world as “a mirror through which we passover to God. Plants, animals, mountains, oceans, the moon and stars above point to a Creator—because of the beauty and order within nature.Bonaventure draws us up the holy ladder in his next chapter. “It must be noted that this world (the universe), which is called the macrocosm, enters our soul, which is called the microcosm, through the gates of the five senses…Man, who is called the microcosm, has five senses like five gates, through which acquaintance with all things, which are in the sensible world, enters into his soul” (Chapter 2, no. 2). Catholicism values the created order as not something to be jettisoned. The sacramentals utilize various forms of matter (things) because they hold intrinsic value and point had a higher order of being.
Human Mind—Mirror of the Trinity
Bonaventure brings the reader up another rung on the ladder of mystical contemplation by focusing on the natural powers of the human soul. According to the 13th century saint, the three highest faculties of humanity are memory, intellect, and will. He saws these three powers as a natural reflection of the Holy Trinity.The Seraphic Doctor plainly declares, “According to the order and origin and characteristic of these powers (the soul) leads into the Most Blessed Trinity itself!” (Chapter 3 no. 5). As a perfect spirit, Bonaventure argues, God has memory, intelligence, and will. In the remaining chapters of The Journey of the Mind Into God, Bonaventure details how grace guides the soul in knowing and growing in knowledge of God, seeing God’s unity through His being, and finally viewing God as a communion of Persons in the Holy Trinity.
I had to read this work at least three times before I could wrote this reflection on St. Bonaventure’s gem of a work. This is not an indictment on his ability to write clearly or my ability to discern (at least I hope not!). Instead, any and all writings on the subject of God, in particularly a Trinitarian understanding of God has to be mysterious. “When you contemplate these, see, that you do not consider yourself able to comprehend the incomprehensible (The Holy Trinity). For in these six conditions (steps) you still have to consider what leads the eye of our mind vehemently into the stupor of admiration (Chapter 6 no. 3).
Journeying into God is not an easy task, but it will certainly end with both wonder and awe. St. Bonaventure’s closeness to the God is quite evident in this spiritual treatise. If you are a parent of young children such as myself, perhaps you may not have time now to read this holy book. Bonaventure can still help you on your spiritual, and parental journey, because at some point your kid will get severely constipated. Ask the Seraphic Doctor for help. Believe me it arrives. If you have more time available for spiritual reading, I strongly recommend you add The Journey of the Mind Into God to your top ten list!
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Eucharistic Miracle of St. Bonaventure, Seraphic Doctor of the Church
by Rev. Fr. Laurence Costelloe, O.F.M. (Monday, July 15, 2013)
http://spiritual-matters777.blogspot.com/2013/07/eucharistic-miracle-of-st-bonaventure.html
Not all Eucharistic Miracles are accompanied by visions.
On his deathbed our Saint longed with all the ardour of his seraphic soul for the sweet intercourse of Sacramental Communion. But the cause just mentioned made this impossible [i.e. his infirm state of health with a certain unknown type of epidemic that do not allow him to receive Communion]. Still, as far as possible to appease his pious longing, the Consecrated Host was brought into his room and placed beside him, so that his eyes might rest upon it. This only intensified his desire, until it would appear that the Lord could no longer withstand the ardour of his pleadings. A wonderful thing was then seen to happen. Without any visible agency the Sacred Host left the ciborium and, moving through the air towards the dying Saint, vanished within his breast!
At an earlier period in his life a somewhat similar occurrence is recorded. Bartholomew of Pisa and the author of the Chronicles of the Twenty-four Generals relate that, on a certain occasion, the pious General [Bonaventure], thinking himself unworthy, abstained for a long time from saying Holy Mass. But the Lord was touched by his humility, and one day as he was devoutly hearing Mass, a particle of the Consecrated Host, solely at the command of the Saviour, left the altar and entered his mouth, filling his soul with divine sweetness. It may be that both records are but different versions of the same fact, and we may doubt which of them is authentic. But if Bonaventure's malady were such as described, we should like to think that the Lord, pitying the loneliness and extremity of His dying servant, afforded him, even by a miracle, the supreme consolation which his passing spirit sighed for.
From:
Saint Bonaventure:
The Seraphic Doctor
Minister-General of the Franciscan Order
Cardinal Bishop of Albano
by Rev. Fr. Laurence Costelloe, O.F.M.
Download the free eBook (PDF) at:
https://ia600209.us.archive.org/13/items/saintbonaventure00costuoft/saintbonaventure00costuoft.pdf
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Mind's Road To God, Saint Bonaventure, Full-Length Catholic Audiobook
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Holiness Of Life - By Saint Bonaventure
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San Bonaventura (15 ta' Lulju)
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