Writings on the Spiritual Life

V: Some Conclusions

Writings on the Spiritual Life 76 V Some Conclusions The self-described “wanton Gospeller” Nancy Mairs dared to ask and explore several important questions: “What does it mean to live in the presence of God? Present to God? What responsi­ bilities do I bear for the creation of my life? What choices must I make to sustain it?”260 Posed in her twentieth-century memoirs, these questions are essentially variations on those posed by most spiritual seekers. While Mairs does not look to Bonaventure for guidance in answering her questions, one can assume rightly that in him she would have found a dialogue partner who could have offered her a theological framework within which she might consider her questions. He could also have offered her some practical guidance with regard to the kinds of choices she might make in the pursuit of a Gospel way of life even in her radically different historical circumstances. The Seraphic Doctor’s theology of the spiritual life provides a detailed and well-developed understanding of how a person might “fix [one’s] heart only on God” and “single-mindedly set out for God.”261 In his various works of theology and spiritual writings, he is always inviting the reader into a better personal understanding of the different ways one might partake worthily of the gift of grace and enter more deeply through experience into the 260 Mairs, Ordinary Time. 261 The images are taken from Francisco de Osuna, The Third Spiritual Alphabet, trans. Mary E. Giles (NY: Paulist Press, 1981), 47-48. Osuna was an influential sixteenth-century Franciscan spiritual director and writer. His work reflects his indebtedness to the Franciscan theological tradition and it also represents a new and creative synthesis that was articulated in the historical circumstances in which he lived. Writings on the Spiritual Life 77 wisdom of God. As noted above, Bonaventure achieved a new and creative synthesis of the theological tradition he inherited. His insights and perspectives were significantly influenced by his own religious experience and the life of St. Francis, his spiritual father and brother. The retrieval of Bonaventure’s medieval thought in radically different historical times presumes, of course, that an individual not only has access to the texts but also, more often than not, a teacher or mentor who is able and ready to invite a spiritual seeker (1) to read and explore the texts and (2) to critically and creatively explore the enduring wisdom embedded in those texts. In this way, successive generations of Franciscans have been empowered to understand Bonaventure’s teachings and to consider how he was inviting them to follow Christ after the example of St. Francis. This kind of “formative learning experience” is best pursued in the company of brothers and sisters – formators, spiritual directors, preachers, teachers, ministry supervisors and the like – who look to the FranciscanBonaventurian tradition as a source of inspiration and guidance and who give an authentic witness to its truth and relevance in different ages and times. This introduction and the texts contained in this volume provide yet another generation of Englishspeaking spiritual seekers with an opportunity to enter into an informed reading of some of Bonaventure’s texts. Hopefully, this volume will, with its texts, notes, and indexes, offer many helpful ways of entering into a fruitful dialogue with the spiritual wisdom of the thirteenthcentury Franciscan spiritual master, St. Bonaventure of Bagnoregio. ...