July 15--St. Bonaventure, Bishop and Doctor of the Church

July 15—St. Bonaventure, Bishop and Doctor

The Franciscans have given the Church many great saints, among these being St. Bonaventure.  St. ^th century, not long after the Franciscans were founded.  He became the Minister General, or leader, of the Franciscans and also was named a cardinal.  He was also influential in helping unite the Latin and Greek churches at the Council of Lyon in 1274.  He wrote many volumes on theology and philosophy.  A contemporary of St. Thomas Aquinas, he also worked on integrating faith and reason.   He died soon after the Council of Lyon.  He was named a Doctor of the Church and called the Seraphic Doctor.

Bonaventure lived in the 13

Faith and reason do go together, as shown by St. Bonaventure’s, and others, works.  Many have accused Catholics and believers of having “blind faith”, that is, faith that does not have any connection to reason whatsoever.  This is not true.  Both faith and reason are gifts from God and need to be used in the correct context.  We use reason in acknowledging the existence of God.  We use reason as a natural gift from God.  We use faith as a supernatural gift from God.  Reason tells there is a God; faith tells us that Jesus is God.  Reason tells us that the statement that Jesus is God is reasonable due to the evidence of the believers who first knew him, listened to him, and witnessed him as risen from the dead.  Faith builds on reason, just as grace builds on nature.  

“Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope …” (1 Pet. 3:15).  We need to be ready to use our reason in defense of our hope and our faith, namely Jesus Christ.  We are not “blind fools”, but rather, “We are fools on Christ’s account …” (1 Cor. 4:10).