Live Rightly to Discern God’s Will

Homily, 7-15-24; Memorial of St. Bonaventure:

Today we celebrate the memorial of St. Bonaventure, and so I asked Mary Kay to read the optional readings for his feast day. She had the challenge of reading from the letter of St. Paul to the Ephesians. It was a challenge because today’s passage was one long run-on sentence—one sentence that was 103 words long.

Bonaventure was a contemporary of St. Thomas Aquinas. In fact they both studied at the same time at the University of Paris. They also died within several months of each other; Thomas died on his way to the 2nd Ecumenical Council of Lyons, and Bonaventure died two days before the final session of that same council. Bonaventure, the name he took when he joined the Franciscan order, translates as good fortune.

I was first exposed to St. Bonaventure almost 30 years ago, when I attended my first class at the seminary: Introduction to Philosophy with then Monsignor Vigneron. I pulled out my old class notes yesterday and found one of his writings that we studied. I found this passage which seems to go quite well with the optional readings for his feast day, especially the responsorial psalm. He wrote: “A man lives rightly when he is guided by the rules of divine law, which occurs when his will assents to the compelling commandments, to the salutary warnings, and to the counsels of perfection so that he may then discern what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”

It’s about making good choices; doing what we ought to do, not simply what we want to do. Our responsorial psalm today was from Psalm 119. We heard:

How can the young keep his way without fault? Only by observing your words.

With all my heart I seek you; do not let me stray from your commandments.

In my heart I treasure your promise, that I may not sin against you.

Blessed are you, O LORD; teach me your statutes.

With my lips I recite all the judgments you have spoken.

I find joy in the way of your testimonies more than in all riches.

And our response was: “Lord, teach me your statutes.” This should be our prayer if we want to know God’s will for us. We often pray asking God to reveal His will for us, the master plan, and we come away frustrated. But, as St. Bonaventure tells us, we discern God’s by living rightly, guided by the rules of divine law; when we assent to doing what God has already taught us we should do. If we strive to avoid sin, obeying God’s commandments in every action of our lives, we will be doing His will and He will lead us to where He wants us to go and to do what He wants us to do. And in this we will fulfill our purpose. Fulfilling our purpose, being the best person we can be, leads to true joy and happiness. As the psalmist wrote: “I find joy in the way of your testimonies more than in all riches.”

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