By Zoe Cannon
Gratitude for the Gift of Faith
“I will instruct you and show you the way you should walk; I will counsel you with my eye upon you” (Psalm 32:8).
God promises divine guidance in a personal relationship with him, assuring us that if we trust him, we will never navigate through life alone. The Church gives us the theories — doctrine, theology and truth in the Word of God in Sacred Scripture. Our responsibility is to practice these theories with moral clarity and obedience. Theory and practice are connected and the “voice of conscience” — our moral guide — help us know the difference between right and wrong.
The Doctors of the Church philosophized about theory and practice. St. Bonaventure, a Franciscan, and St. Thomas Aquinas, a Dominican, were personal friends in the mid 13th century. Their friendship was bonded by Christian dogma, they believed the world was created rather than eternal; God providentially knew, loved and cared for the world he created; and the human soul created by God was immortal.
Bonaventure insisted that reason must serve faith, and above all, love, which is the greatest way to know God and experience joy. The Franciscan emphasis is on the heart, whereas the Dominicans placed emphasis on the intellect. Bonaventure argues that our reason has been darkened by the fall into sin, and error continues without correction … we must have faith in divine revelation. He believed we needed to have faith in the supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit to have “light in the glory of heaven”.
Like St. Francis of Assisi, St. Bonaventure didn’t focus on the logical proofs of God’s existence, but the purified mind’s intuitive ability to see God’s presence everywhere. He emphasized practice more than theory. He argues that by nature and in principle man is capable of certain virtue, but in his actual life the need for divine grace is far more important.
St. Bonaventure preached that without divine grace man could not acquire even the natural Cardinal virtues of wisdom, courage, temperance and justice, much less the supernatural Theological virtues of faith, hope and charity. We need an enlightenment of the will to choose good just as we need intellectual knowledge of the mind to know truth.
The grace we receive in the sacraments is a gift, and each time we receive Holy Communion worthily, we enter into the Paschal Mystery of Jesus Christ. God’s love is the ultimate divine revelation for our salvation!
Building trust in our society cannot be lobbied, because God’s laws do not change. However, justice and mercy can coexist. It is offensive to deny consequences; moral order is real, and laws are not to punish, but to teach. Jesus reminds us that with consequence there can be reward if we are honest, forgiving and courageous.
We have the best instruction and counsel through our faith in Jesus Christ. Over 2,000 years of salvation history provides a path to the “light in the glory of heaven.” Thank your priest and share the load of saving souls in theory and practice. Family, faith, Church and community are very important. Our responsibility is to love with moral clarity. The “fall” of Adam and Eve is no longer an excuse to fail … we know better, and God is watching. Amen.