Although in the diocese of Portsmouth today is kept as the feast of St Swithun (about whom I have reposted an entry from elsewhere today) in the Church’s general calendar today we honour the great medieval Franciscan theologian St Bonaventure. In the thirteenth century he was one of the earliest friars accompanying St Francis of Assisi, leading the order after his death. His renown as a theologian was such that he was rather reluctantly made a bishop and a cardinal. At the heart of his writing was a deep sense of God’s love for us; someone who wrote a dissertation about him as a young priest and academic was Joseph Ratzinger, later Pope Benedict XVI.
Something we learn from Bonaventure is that serious academic theology is not at odds with deep spirituality and the commitment demanded in a religious order identifying strongly with poverty: that is why it is always shameful if good education is denied to those who are poor. Please pray for vocations to the Religious life (especially the Franciscans) and for theologians.
God bless and take care
Fr Ashley