Bonaventure, Thomas, and Benedict
One of the present graces I experience is the communal praying of Morning and Evening Prayer among the priests of the parish in which I live. At the insistence of the youngest among us three, we begin each of the “hours” with a hymn. Happily, our Benjamin has a good voice!
This morning, in remembering St. Bonaventure, it seemed fitting to begin Morning Prayer with a gesture both fraternal and ecumenical: we sang “O Salutaris Hostia.”
Re-Reading “Caritas in Veritate,” it struck me that these words of Pope Benedict, in the very opening paragraph, resound harmoniously with the teaching of both of the great Medieval Doctors of the Church:
All people feel the interior impulse to love authentically: love and truth never abandon them completely, because these are the vocation planted by God in the heart and mind of every human person. The search for love and truth is purified and liberated by Jesus Christ from the impoverishment that our humanity brings to it, and he reveals to us in all its fullness the initiative of love and the plan for true life that God has prepared for us. In Christ, charity in truth becomes the Face of his Person, a vocation for us to love our brothers and sisters in the truth of his plan. Indeed, he himself is the Truth (cf. Jn 14:6).
Special prayers and thoughts today to the men and women of the Franciscan family.
Lucky you: A parish with three priests. Out here in the midlands, you’re more likely to see a priest with three parishes than a parish with three priests!
St. Bonaventure is the patron of our parish. Thank you for marking his day, as I seem to be struggling to keep up with my blogging lately.
It would be a great grace to be able to celebrate the Hours communally, rather than my usual solitary practice. Enjoy the blessing!
Mr. Burke,
I realize that I am blessed in that regard — though it’s only right to add that there is one pastor here and two priests in residence, one of whom (the young one!) is the director of the deaf apostolate for the Archdiocese of Boston.
Peter Nixon,
good to have your voice, if only by way of comment. Happy feast!