The Cultivation of God's Word
The Cultivation of God's Word As an expression of evangelical spirituality, the Franciscan way oflife embraced by Bonaventure considered preaching to be an essential dimension of ministry. The origin of the Franciscan community arOW1d t he year 1209, ac ording LO the early biographers of Francis uf Assisi, was li nked :ins parabJy with the gospel mandate to announc -h kingdom or GoLl lhr(lughout the world. Francis and his friars earned a deserved reputation for a simple, direct style of preaching that moved r ople everywhere to dedicate themselves to fu llowing llrist, the Word of God. The formal Rule of Life for the Franciscan community, composed in 1221 and revised in 1223, followed the prescriptions of the Fourth Lateran Council of 1215 and urged friars to proclaim the word of God in conformity with the guidelines of the Roman Catholic Church. This ministerial injunction necessitated a formal theological education and opened the door to numerous, learned Franciscans, beginning with the noted theologian and evangelist, Anthony of Padua, to undertake the instruction of the friars. Bonaventure's CommentaJY on the Gospel of Luke underscores his commitment to the formation of educated preachers, while his numerous sermons testify to his passion for preaching.
The three sermons of Bonaventure presented in this chapter employ metaphors linked with the planting, cultivation, and harvest of God's word. These agrarian images are grounded in Bonaventure's conception of preaching as sowing the divine seed. The first sermon speaks of the seed of God's word scattered throughout the fields of human conscience. This seed bears the fruit of grace when heard with reverence and put into practice. The second sermon compares the word of God to sunlight. Just as the rays of the sun encourage a tree to
Thr Cuitlllalwn ofGod'1i W,ml --bring forth;\ harvest of good fruit , divine speech enli1-\hlcllS the soul and fosters an abl111Cl:mce of good works. God's word illuminates the soul through the understanding of truth, inn:'lmcs the soul with love, and strengthens lhe soul with hope. Receptivity is a major theme of lhe third scrm OII. The seed of God 's word is unable 1.0 germinate in the human heart if the tangled weeds of sin remain. Corurilion begins the necessary task of rOOling oul sin and is Followed by mortiOcation and the desire (or God . Only then m:.y God's word be Ilcard with reverence, embraced with fidelity. and practiced in good deeds. TILl: harvest is evident. Bon:lVenlurc sa y~, in Ihe purity. undcrst,lIlding
<l1ld intimacy with Christ, the Word o rGod, enjoyed by Ihose whose hearts have provided gl.XXl soil ror the !'>i .. "Cd or God 's word,