The Soul's Journey Into God (Mukuka L. Lunda)

Name: Mukuka L. Lunda, Ofm Cap,

Reg.No.11048T

Book: The Soul's Journey Into God, St. Bonavunture.

Bonaventure was born in Bagnoregio, a small town in central Italy. The date of his birth is not certain but it was considered to be 1221, However, it is generally accepted by specialists to be 1217. He was born when the Franciscan Order was at its peak in its early development. It is unlikely that Bonaventure ever met Francis, however he strogly testifies to having been snatched from the 'jaws of death' (serious illness) whilst still a boy through Francis's invocation and merits. 

The essence of Franciscan spirituality!

Bonaventure entered the Franciscan Order in 1243 and studied theology at the University of Paris under Alexander of Hales and John of LaRochelle. He lectured on the Bible, the Senteces of Peter Lombard and wrote a commentary on the Sentences. About 1253, he became master in theology up to the time he was elected minister general of the Order in 1257. He was named cardinal bishop of Albano by Pope Gregory X and helped to prepare for the Council of Lyons, which took place the following year. In his life time, he accomplished a lot both in the Order and the in the Church. His works can be classified under three headings: the scholastic treatises, spirtiual writings and lecture series. The Order believes him to be the second founder of the Franciscan Order after St. Francis. He died in the year 1274. He was canonised in the year 1482, by Pope Sixtus IV, and he was declared Doctor of the Universal Church by Pope Sixtus V, with the title "Seraphic Doctor".

My motivation for choosing to study "The Soul's Journey into God" is that this work pictures the essence of Franciscan spirituality as Bonaventure perceived it. It is one of the Franciscan books which expresses the Franciscan awareness of the presence of God in creation. It presents God expressing Himself in the variety of creatures and in His gifts of grace. The soul is seen as the mirror reflecting God and as a rung in a ladder leading to God with Christ as the road and the door. True to the spirit of Francis, Bonavenuture claims that one can enter on this journey only through Christ.

Reflection: On the Stages of the Ascent into God and Contemplation (1st October)

In the first chapter of The Soul's journey into God, Bonaventure begins by saying that true happiness is nothing other than the enjoyment of the highest good who is no other than God Himself. He goes on to say that it is not easy for anyone to experience happiness unless one rises above one's own mind, heart and inclinations. This reminds of St. Augustine's words when he prayed that, "You made us for yourself O God, our hearts are restless until they rest in you alone." According to Bonaventure, a person can attain that harmony with God through what he calls vestiges and contemplation.

What the Seraphic father is saying is that God in his own kindness and generosity has given us a ways of experiencing Him. These ways which Bonaventure calls stages are not so complicated that we can fail to reach God because we have them implanted in us by nature, but deformed by sin and can only be reformed by grace.

Because of original sin, man's nature has been affected in two ways: the mind with ignarance and the flesh with concupiscence. It is because of this limitedness that man must always seek the grace of God for the enlightenment of his mind and heart. Through deep reflection on creation, on the goodness of God and the avoidance of sin one  is likely to ascend to God and contemplate Him. St. Francis would say everything around us reflects the presence and glory of God and if used correctly, they can led one to God.

Equally, Bonaventure sees creation as a ladder that can help us reach God, through Christ. He speaks of contemplation, by which we first consider things in themselves, then through the eyes of faith and finally by way of reasoning. Through the visible world, one rises to consder the wisdom, power and goodness of God.

Comment:

Bonaventure is inviting us to be ecologically sensitive and responsible by beginning to perceive the glory of God in creation and in our neighbour. Thus, I conclude by sayinbg that if we wish to be happy, we must love God, our neighbour and creation for God's glolry shines all around us. Are you able to see the glory of God around you? Take time and reflect.

Pax et Bonum!!

            Contemplating God in The Sense World (21st October 2012)

In chapter two of his book The Soul's Journey into God, Bonaventure speaks of the sense world (creation) acting like a mirror through which we can see God as omnipresent. We can see God through creation because creation is God's vestiges and through contemplation on these we can reach God by three ways, perception, apprehension and judgement. The sense world is macrocosm and our soul is microcosm.

Perception is the first step in this process of contemplation. A human being is a microcosm with five senses which are like five doors through which the knowledge of the sense world enters his soul. Through these doors enter both simple and and composite bodies, that is things material and things immaterial like smell, colour or taste. Thus, through our five senses we perceive the motion of bodies and finally are led to the knowlegde of the spiritual movers as from effect to cause. This leads us to the second step called apprehaension.

Apprehension is a process by which the sense world enters our soul through their likeness and not their susbtance. Thus, apprehension of a suitable object brings about pleasure depending on the senses involved. The senses take pleasure in the object perceived through an abstracted likeness.

After apprehension comes judgement by which we determine not only whether something is white or black, but also give a reason as to why it is so. Through judgement, the sensible species enter the intellective faculty by a process of purification and abstraction. Thus, the macrocosm can enter into the human soul through the door of the senses by the three operations, perception, apprehension and judgement.

Finally, God in his own goodness and wisdom has given us the sensible world through which we can know Him, reach Him and praise Him without even asking to touch Him like Thomas the apostle (Jn 20:25). God is invisible, but he has made himself known through things all around us including human beings. Everything around us is a mystery, a work of God, we do not need to see Him to believe for there is enough evidence to believe in Him. Thus, the invisible God has revealed himself first in His Son, Jesus and then in the sense world. "Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed," Jn 20:29.

The Soul’s Journey Into God: Summary and Reflection

Introduction

            The universe and life in all its forms are a testimony to God’s creative power, his love and his enduring presence. The Creator has placed people at the centre of creation, making them the responsible stewards, not the exploitating despots of the world around them. Meanwhile, God still reveals himself to people who can perceive him almost by intuition and contemplation. In his work, The Soul’s Journey into God, Bonaventure reflects on the seven stages of contemplation that can lead one into God. This paper is a summary of St. Bonaventure’s book, (The Soul’s Journey into God). It is divided into two parts, the first part is a summary of the named work and the last part is a personal reflection and insight on the work. Since this work is just a summary of the whole book, we do not intend to discuss in detail all the seven stages proposed by Bonaventure, rather, we shall only select a few points that will help us bring out the core issues of this work.

Creation as Vestiges

Bonaventure begins by writing that there is no happiness other than the enjoyment of the highest good above. He goes on to say that no one can claim to be happy unless he rises above himself by an ascent of the heart with the help of the higher power which he calls divine aid. Meanwhile, divine aid is available only to those who seek it from their hearts, humbly and devoutly. As in relation to our position in creation, the universe is a ladder by which we can ascend into God and for us to reach God we must first pass through these vestiges which are material, temporal and outside us. However, whoever wishes to ascend to God must first avoid sin, which deforms our nature (59-62).   

What the Seraphic father is saying is that God in his own kindness and generosity has given us ways and means of experiencing Him. These ways which Bonaventure calls stages are not so complicated that we can fail to reach God because we have some of them implanted in us by nature and others are outside. However, our nature is deformed by sin and can only be reformed by grace. Because of original sin, man's nature has been affected in two ways: the mind with ignorance and the flesh with concupiscence (62-63). It is because of this limitedness that man must always seek the grace of God for the enlightenment of his mind and heart. Through deep reflection on creation, on the goodness of God and the avoidance of sin one is likely to ascend to God and contemplate Him. St. Francis would say that everything around us reflects the presence and glory of God and if used correctly, they can lead one to God.

Contemplating God in the Sense World

In chapter two of his book The Soul's Journey into God, Bonaventure speaks of the sense world (creation) acting like a mirror through which we can see God as omnipresent. We can see God through creation because creation is God's vestiges and through contemplation on these we can reach God by three ways, perception, apprehension and judgment. The sense world is macrocosm and our soul is microcosm (69).

Perception is the first step in this process of contemplation. A human being is a microcosm with five senses which are like five doors through which the knowledge of the sense world enters his soul. Through these doors enter both simple and composite bodies, things material and things immaterial like smell, colour or taste. Thus, through our five senses we perceive the motion of bodies and finally are led to the knowledge of the spiritual movers as from effect to cause. This leads us to the second step called apprehension. Apprehension is a process by which the sense world enters our soul through their likeness and not their substance. Thus, apprehension of a suitable object brings about pleasure depending on the senses involved because the senses take pleasure in the object perceived through an abstracted likeness (70-71).

After apprehension comes judgment by which we determine not only whether something is white or black, but also give a reason as to why it is so. Through judgment, the sensible species enter the intellective faculty by a process of purification and abstraction. Eventually, the macrocosm can enter into the human soul through the door of the senses by the three operations, perception, apprehension and judgment (72).

Finally, God in his own goodness and wisdom has given us the sensible world through which we can know Him, reach Him and praise Him without even asking to touch Him like Thomas the apostle (Jn 20:25). God is invisible, but he has made himself known through things around us including human beings. Everything around us is a mystery, a work of God; we do not need to see Him to believe for there is enough evidence to believe in Him. Thus, the invisible God has revealed himself first in His Son, Jesus and then in the sense world. "Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed," Jn 20:29.

Contemplating God Through His Image

            Contemplating on the sense world leads us into another step that involves entering into our minds where the divine image of God shines forth. It is in our minds that the blessed Trinity shines in splendor, and it is only through the eye of reason that our soul has three operations namely, memory, intellect and choice. Memory retains and represents not only corporeal and temporal things, but also successive, simple and eternal things. It does this through the three corresponding ways of remembrance, reception and foresight. The function of the intellective faculty consists in understanding the meaning of terms, prepositions and inferences. Lastly, the faculty of choice is found in deliberation, judgment and desire. Deliberation consists in inquiring which is better between two things. Whereas in judging our deliberative power touches the divine laws if it reaches the solution by a full analysis, desire tends towards what moves it most and that is happiness. Therefore, these powers lead us to the most blessed Trinity itself in view of their order, origin and interrelatedness (80-84).

            Since God is so close to our souls, the image of our soul should be clothed with the three theological virtues by which the soul is purified, illumined and perfected. It is made into a temple of the Holy Spirit, grounded on faith, built up by hope and dedicated to God by holiness of mind and body (89-90). Through the light of Eternal Truth which shines upon our minds, we can contemplate God not only outside through his vestiges, within in his image, but also above us.

            In conclusion, we have briefly looked at how the mind beholds God outside itself through his vestiges and in his vestiges. We have also looked at how the mind/soul contemplates God. This is within itself through his image and in his image, and above itself through the similitude of the divine Light shining above us and in the Light itself until it reaches that point where it contemplates on the First and Supreme Principle and on Jesus Christ the mediator between God and man. We have also seen that Christ is the way and the door, the ladder and vehicle, like the Mercy Seat placed above the ark of God. Thus, whoever turns his face fully to the Mercy Seat with faith, praise and love, beholds him who hangs upon the cross (111-112).

Reflection

This work expresses the Franciscan awareness of the presence of God in creation. The physical universe and the soul are seen as mirrors reflecting God and as rungs in a ladder leading to God. Bonaventure pictures Francis’s joys in the sacrality and sacramentality of creation that captures an essential element in Franciscan spirituality. Besides, Bonaventure points out clearly that there is a natural link between the Franciscan attitude towards material creation as sacramentally manifesting God, and the Franciscan devotion to the incarnation as the fullness of this manifestation.

The soul’s journey into God is an important piece of work in that it contains significant Christological material with emphasis on the mystical Christ. The mystical Christ in the crucified figure, in the midst of the Seraph’s wings, is the gateway and door into mystical consciousness. Christ is presented as a Bridegroom united to the soul in the embrace of love, one who draws us into the wonder of contemplation and ultimately in the darkness of unknowing. In this work we do not find the human Christ, the historical Jesus as described in the Gospels, who was born in humble state in a manger. Here Bonaventure evokes the mystical affections of desire, longing, wonder and joy. In meditating on Christ as the greatest coincidence of opposites, one is drawn up like Francis to the heights of union with God. Bonaventure, meditation on Christ as the centre of the holy of holies reveals the logic of the coincidence of opposites, which permeates all of his thoughts: his philosophy, theology and spirituality. In Christ there is harmony of opposites, he is seen as the alpha and the omega, the highest and the lowest, the circumference and the center, the caused and the cause, the Creator and the creature. The coincidence of opposites in God as Being, in the Trinity and in Christ as the union of the divine and the human is what Bonaventure contemplates throughout chapters five to seven in The Soul’s Journey to God.

Conclusion

All creation reminds the believer of the mystery and love of God. The Creator has placed man at the centre of creation, making him co-creator and steward. According to Bonaventure, a person can attain that harmony with God through what he calls vestiges and contemplation. Moreover, Bonaventure sees creation as a ladder that can help us reach God, through Christ. He speaks of contemplation, by which we first consider things in themselves, then through the eyes of faith and finally by way of reasoning. Through the visible world, one rises to consider the wisdom, power and goodness of God. Finally, Bonaventure is inviting us to be ecologically sensitive and responsible by beginning to perceive the glory of God in creation and in our neighbour. Therefore, if we wish to be happy, we must love God, our neighbour and creation for God's glory shines all around us.