BIG C CATHOLICS

On July 15th, the Church commemorates the Feast of Saint Bonaventure. The Seraphic Doctor was born at Tuscany, Italy in 1221. At 22, he joined the Franciscan Order and went to Paris where he excelled in his theological studies. Fifteen years later, he was made General of his Order restoring calm at a time of enormous turmoil and internal dissent. Bonaventure is credited with the Franciscan's resurgence for his work consolidating an institution that was as yet ill defined in nature. Under his guidance, the Franciscans became the most prominent order in the Catholic Church until the coming of the Jesuits. Bonaventure was renowned for the force of his preaching, writing and scholarship. His Life of St. Francis was one of the most popular works of the Middle Ages. He died at Lyons in 1274 while assisting at the Second Council of Lyons, to reunite the Eastern church with the West. Bonaventure was so revered that Dante had already included him among the inhabitants of his literary &

Note: The philosophical concepts below have been greatly summarized. Christ, the Divine Logos, is the embodiment of truth, beauty and goodness. Aristotle's insight is but a reflection of the perfect knowledge and wisdom of God. The brilliant Greek philosopher Aristotle (384-322 BC) in his treatise on ethical conduct, Nicomachean Ethics , discusses the "Golden Mean." It is a way of acting that enables us to live according to our ideal nature, improve our character, and deal effectively with life's hardships while striving for the good of all. The golden mean is the desired middle between two extremes, one of excess and the other of deficiency. For example, to Aristotle, courage is a virtue, which if taken to extreme is recklessness, and, in deficiency, is cowardice. Aristotle's ethics is practical and decidedly teleological. He believed the end of human life is happiness (Greek: eudaimonia ). Today, happiness is understood as the emotional state of joy, cont

Saint Kateri Tekakwitha is the first Native American to be canonized by the Catholic Church. She was born in 1656, in the Mohawk village of Ossernenon. Her name, Kateri, is the Mohawk form of Catherine, which she took from St. Catherine of Siena. At four years old Kateri contracted smallpox which scarred her skin. The scars were a source of humiliation. Her entire family died during the outbreak. Kateri was subsequently raised by her uncle, the chief of a Mohawk clan. At nineteen, Kateri converted to Catholicism, taking a vow of chastity and pledging to marry only Jesus Christ. Her decision was very unpopular within her tribe. To avoid persecution, she traveled to the Christian native community of Caughnawaga near Montreal. Known as "Lily of the Mohawks," Kateri was especially devoted to the Eucharist, and to Jesus Crucified. She was also very sickly. Her practices of self-mortification and denial did not help her health. She died five years after her conversion on April

Saint Henry II (972-1024) was the eldest of four children born to Henry the Duke of Bavaria and Gisella, daughter of Conrad, King of Burgundy. St, Henry would become simultaneously the Duke of Bavaria, King of Germany and the last emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. He devoted himself to the spread of Christianity by rebuilding churches and founding monasteries. Henry was brought up under the tutelage of Saint Wolfgang, bishop of Ratisbon. He was later educated at the cathedral school of Hildesheim where he would discern the priesthood. In 995, St. Henry succeeded his father as Duke of Bavaria, and in 1002, upon the death of his cousin, Otho III, he was elected emperor. Until the end of his life he displayed the virtues of a great saint. Together with his wife, Saint Cunegunda, he founded the bishopric of Bamberg and, at his death in 1024, was buried in the cathedral there. His holy wife would be laid by his side fifteen years later. Miraculous Events in the Life of St. Henry St.

"Born in Norcia about 480, Benedict's first studies were in Rome but, disappointed with city life, he retired to Subiaco, where he stayed for about three years in a cave — the famous sacro speco — dedicating himself wholly to God. In Subiaco, making use of the ruins of a cyclopean villa of the emperor Nero, he built some monasteries, together with his first disciples, giving life to a fraternal community founded on the primacy of the love of Christ, in which prayer and work were alternated harmoniously in praise of God. Years later, he completed this project in Monte Cassino, and put it in writing in his Rule, the only work of his that has come down to us. Amid the ashes of the Roman Empire, Benedict, seeking first of all the kingdom of God, sowed, perhaps even without realizing it, the seed of a new civilization which would develop, integrating Christian values with classical heritage, on one hand, and the Germanic and Slav cultures on the other. There is a particula

Saint Benedict, the Father of Western monasticism was born in Nursia, Italy about 480 AD, and educated in Rome. He was repelled by the vices there and in 500, fled to Enfide, thirty miles away. Benedict lived as a hermit. settling in Subiaco where he resided in a cave for three years, fed by a monk named Romanus. Despite Benedict's desire for solitude, his holiness and austerities became known and he was asked by a community of monks at Vicovaro to be their abbot. He accepted, but when the monks resisted his strict rule and tried to poison him, he returned to Subiaco which became a center of spirituality and learning. A few years later Benedict left Subiaco to found the abbey of Monte Cassino on the heights of Campania. There he wrote his Rule of Benedict in which he combined the Roman genius and the monastic wisdom of the Christian East. St. Benedict died in 547. The Life of St. Benedict  Born in Nursia, Italy, he was educated in Rome, was repelled by the vices of the city a

Fr. Charles Irvin Senior Priest Diocese of Lansing ( Click here for today’s readings ) Hospitality, presence, and being personally attentive. All of these are qualities of character that should be a part of our living in relationships with others. In today’s readings the theme that comes to my mind is that of hospitality, hospitality in the sense of personal presence, an openness of heart that allows guests into the inner home of our hearts and souls. In my years of pastoring souls I have come to recognize that the way we treat others is the way we treat God and the way we treat God is the way we treat others. The Gospel account of Martha and Mary along with the Old Testament account of Abraham meeting God in his three guests give us an occasion to examine the notion of personal presence to others, and our personal presence to God in Jesus Christ. Abraham, as you may remember, felt that God was absent from him. After Abraham’s initial experience with God we find him in tod