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BONAVENTURE and HIS LESSONS on ST. FRANCIS: Chapter XIII—The Stigmata of St JANUARY 2017 BONAVENTURE AND HIS LESSONS ON ST. FRANCIS: Chapter XIII—The Stigmata of St. Francis 1. St. Francis never failed to keep himself occupied greater abundance than ever. He was borne aloft not doing good; like the angels Jacob saw on the ladder as one who would search curiously into the divine (cf. Gn 28:12), he was always busy, either raising his majesty and by crushed by its glory (cf. Prv 25:27), heart to God in prayer, or descending to his neighbor. but as a faithful and wise servant anxious only to He had learned how to distribute the time in which discover God’s will, which he wanted to obey with all he could gain merit his heart and soul. wisely, devoting part of it 2. By divine inspiration he to his neighbor by doing learned that if he opened good, and part to the the Gospels, Christ would restful ecstasy of reveal to him what was contemplation. According God’s will for him and to the demands of time or what God wished to see circumstances he would realized in him. And so devote himself wholly to Francis prayed fervently the salvation of his and took the Gospel book neighbor, but when he from the altar, telling his was finished, he would companion, a devout and escape from the holy friar, to open it in the distracting crowds and go name of the Blessed into solitude in search of Trinity. He opened the peace. There he was free Gospel three times, and to attend exclusively to each time it opened at the God and he would cleanse passion, and so Francis any stain he had understood that he must contracted while living in become like Christ in the distress and the agony of the midst of the world. his passion before he left the world, just as he had Two years before his death, after a period of intense been like him in all that he did during his life. His activity, he was led by Divine Providence to a high body had already been weakened by the austerity of mountain called La Verna, where he could be alone. his past life and the fact that he had carried our There he began a forty-day fast in honor of St. Lord’s Cross without interruption, but he was not Michael the Archangel, as was his custom, and he afraid and he felt more eager than ever to endure soon experienced an extraordinary in-pouring of any martyrdom. The unquenchable fire of love for divine contemplation. He was all on fire with Jesus in his goodness had become a blazing light of heavenly desires and he realized that the gifts of flame, so that his charity could not succumb even divine grace were being poured out over him in before the floodwaters of affliction (cf. Ct 8:6-7). Bonaventure—Major Life of St. Francis (1263) 1 VISITOR'S MESSAGE Homily by Fr. Robert Altier... Reading (Hebrews 4:1-5, 11) Gospel (St. Mark 2:1-12) Saint Paul, in the first reading tells us, that we strive to enter into that rest, that no today, speaks about the rest one may fall after the same example of that God entered into on the disobedience. This is what is being placed before us: seventh day of creation and tells the example of a disobedient people who saw us, as the Psalmist would say, extraordinary things that have never been seen that this generation (speaking of the people out in since on the face of the earth, and still their hearts the desert), because their hearts had gone astray, went astray. They did not trust God and they would never enter into His rest. We have to grumbled against Him. remember that these were the chosen people. These We know our own weakness well. We know how are the people that God brought out of Egypt with easily we can fall into the exact same trap. Given the strong hand and outstretched arm, as Scripture wimpy society in which we live, it has gotten to the says, with all of the miracles and all of the point just about that if we scratch our finger we extraordinary events that took place; and yet he said complain against God. What is going to happen when that not one of them would enter into His rest things get really bad? How much faith is the Son of because of their disobedience. Man going to find? Will He find any at all? We need More than that, Saint Paul tells us that His works to realize that we are exceedingly weak. We need to were accomplished at the foundation of the world, realize that we can fall very easily. And we need to that God knew from all eternity exactly what was realize that we cannot do this by ourselves. We need going to happen. Even though this was a wayward to remember also that God is not going to make it people, He still accomplished all of those miracles for easy for us. The grace is going to be there, but it is them knowing fully well that they were going to go not going to be easy. So let us not deceive ourselves astray, that none of them were going to be faithful into thinking, “Well, because I believe in Jesus either to Him. We need also to keep in mind, then, that God I’m going to be raptured out of here,” – which is knew from the foundation of the world that the nonsense! – “or nothing is going to happen to me.” present situation would be going on, that the evil in That is not true. It is like saying that because He was the world was going to be happening around us. We Jesus nothing was going to happen to Him either. need to remember also that He specifically created Well, that did not occur either. us in this time for a reason, and He Who is faithful It is going to get very bad. There is only one way, will give the grace necessary for us to be faithful to and it is the One Who called Himself “The Way”. If Him. we are not on that Way, then we are going to be So the choice is entirely ours. The people of Israel wandering in the desert and we are going to grumble out in the desert had the grace to do God’s Will, but against God. It keeps coming back to the exact same they chose to rebel against Him. Now, at this point, thing. If we do not pray – and I mean pray; not say we are not quite at the point where we would be some prayers, I mean pray – if we are not deeply rebelling against God. Remember what happened rooted in prayer, focused solely on Jesus Christ, we out in the desert. The people wandered around out will not make it. Saint Paul makes that very clear, there, they had no food, they had no water, they had and he lays out to the people two thousand years little children, they were starving, they were ago how easily they can fall into the same example dehydrated, and they grumbled against God. When of disobedience, these people who had also seen things get really bad, chances are that we might do extraordinary things: the miracles of the apostles, the same. It was the disobedience over and over and the miracle of Pentecost. These people were so close over again of these people that brought about the to the Resurrection, and Saint Paul is warning them condemnation that they would not enter into God’s that they too can fall astray so easily. We must not rest. be arrogant and think we are not going to be tested, or even worse, “It’s no problem because I can handle We are going to see some very difficult things; yet, it.” No, we cannot. Unless we are cooperating at the same time, just like the people in the Gospel, completely with the grace of God, we will not be able we are going to see some extraordinary things. We to handle it. will all one day be sitting back, saying, “We have never seen anything like this,” for the good as well So that is the point. We are like the paralytic lying as for the ill. So we need to make sure, as Saint Paul on that mat, and the only way we are going to get 2 up and walk is if Jesus tells us to. That is what we ability. There is only one way, and that way is Jesus have to keep in mind: We cannot do this alone. We Christ. cannot do it by our own strength or by our own This text was transcribed from the audio recording of a homily by Father Robert Altier with minimal editing. ADMINISTRATOR'S MESSAGE... Martyrs of Love During the Christmas We do it day to day. One event to another. In every Season there were several situation we put others first. messages on love in the We can't be martyrs if we don't die in the process. Office of Readings. One that That does not mean we need to physically die, but it jumped out was a discussion could. We may need to actually, factually put of us becoming martyrs of ourselves last in situations that could be life- love. We die for love of the threatening.
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