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Giovanni Fidenza ...
and Why Our Children do not Love God
"Why",
we ask, "don't our children
Love God?"
They do not
love God for the same reason
that they do not love Giovanni
Fidenza.
"Who?"
Precisely the point.
How can your children
or you possibly love
Giovanni Fidenza? You have
no idea who he is! How can
you love someone you do
not know? You cannot.
Moreover, whoever this Giovanni
Fidenza is, why should we
take the time to know him
so that, perhaps, knowing
something about him,
we may come to love
him?
In some way it must benefit
us to know who he is; there
must be something advantageous
to us in our having some
acquaintance with him. In
some way it must redound
to our good. After all,
that is why we choose to
know anything at all ...
right? Whatever it may be,
we deem our knowing
it as somehow good for us,
useful to us in a word,
we benefit from knowing
it.
The problem, however, is
that we do not know Giovanni
Fidenza and not knowing
him we cannot possibly see
how our acquaintance with
him could in any way be
beneficial to us. No one
has told us about him. Whoever
he is, those who know
of him must first hold him
in great esteem in order
to be motivated
to tell us about him
they may even love him
this mysterious person of
whom we know nothing.
In fact, it is one of the
quirks of the human psyche
that we wish others to love
whom we ourselves love.
We tell others about whom,
or what, we love there
is something akin to a compulsion
in it. We have found something
wonderful and we absolutely
love it! So great a good
is it, that we wish others
to share in it as well
at the very least those
whom we love. Most especially
your children.
If you love Giovanni
Fidenza, it is almost certain
that your children will,
too. They will know who
he is precisely because
you love him, and after
your telling them why
you love him, they themselves
will, presumably, come to
love him as well.
But, perhaps you are not
a great lover. Perhaps you
are tepid. You know him,
and love him abstractly
but, to your credit,
you nevertheless recognize
that it is a great good
to know Giovanni. But, really,
you love little, and consequently
you are not motivated much.
You entrust your children
to Giovanni's acquaintance
through others, presuming
that others will speak of
him where you do not.
The problem is
that your children
will not listen to others
as they will listen to
you (despite your
protestations to the contrary).
In a sense, perhaps in a
very profound sense, they
will find Giovanni in you,
see something of his face
in you, in your great love
for him. Love is like that.
It communicates the beloved.
And so it is with God.
It is also why your
children do not love God.
They are not to blame. They
do not know Him you
do not speak of Him
so how can they possibly
love Him Whom they do not
know?
Your children will know
God as you love God
much or little.
If you want your children
to love God,
introduce them!
They will get on splendidly.
It will make them happy.
It will make God happy.
It will even make Giovanni
happy!
Oh, yes ... Giovanni ...
You know him as St. Bonaventure,
the Franciscan "Seraphic
Doctor", contemporary and
friend of St. Thomas Aquinas
and King St. Louis of France.
His name is actually an
utterance from the lips
of St. Francis himself who,
praying over the sick child
Giovanni, foresaw his tremendous
stature in the Church and
exclaimed, "O, Buona
Ventura"! "O, Good
Fortune!"
Greater fortune still, those
who behold the greatness
and goodness of God
and in knowing Him, invincibly
love Him and introduce
Him to all they know ...
who have no acquaintance
with Him.
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