A Fountain Fullness Of Love

“Eight years ago, I went backpacking in Denali National Park in Alaska with my brothers (Franciscan Friar friends). One night, we were camped on a plain above a wide glacial river. The low angle sunset of the far north beautifully illuminated mountains on the other side of the river. Spontaneously and without a word, all four of us moved to sit on the edge of the valley to witness this gorgeous scene. We sat there for an hour, without a word of speech, deeply aware that we were in the presence of sacred mystery. The mountains stretched on to the horizon in a seemingly endless row. I thought of my favorite image from St. Bonaventure. Medieval philosophy teaches that goodness is self-effusive; it spreads outward from its source. Bonaventure speaks of God as “a fountain fullness.” The goodness of God overflows from the Trinity into all of creation like water overflowing from a fountain, like mountains stretching into the distance in the light of an Alaskan sunset. St. Bonaventure’s idea of God’s fountain fullness is an apt image for my life as a friar – God’s goodness overflowing into my life: a priest’s intuition that leads to two Franciscan vocations, including my own; my relationship with my aunt (Sister Miriam Regina); my experience of the compassion of the friars during my undergraduate days at St. Bonaventure University; my long and winding road to become a friar; my experience of my friar brothers at St. Bonaventure and my backpacking brothers in Alaska;…and seeing God in the overflowing beauty of creation.” —-An excerpt from the article “Reflection: The Saint, the University and Life’s Journey” by Peter Schneible, OFM

Comments are closed.