Have you ever been on top of a mountain, or listened to the crashing of the Ocean waves, or just stared up at the thousands of stars in the night sky and have been struck by the beauty of it all? We live in a world full of beauty and wonder. Unfortunately, many times we become so focused on the negativity of life that we lose sight of the beauty of creation. In modern times, especially with technology, our lives move so fast that it can be easy to lose sight of the beauty of nature and creation. We see pictures of exotic places and animals and we share posts and like pictures online, but rarely do we take the time to think why we find those things to be beautiful or what they mean to us.

St. Bonaventure (1217-1274) was a Franciscan friar who followed in the footsteps of St. Francis of Assisi in pointing out the beauty of creation. In his work, St. Bonaventure talks about three routes by which we journey to know God. One of those routes is the material world of creation which Bonaventure described as “traces” of God. He viewed the world sacramentally and referred to the natural world as a book or a mirror because it points beyond itself to the Triune God. For Bonaventure, the material world is intimately connected to the spiritual life and our relationship to God. He describes how the soul progresses along a journey by contemplating the way God is reflected in the material world. St. Bonaventure shows our ascent to God begins with the material world and our senses which leads to contemplation of God himself. He states, “in relation to our position in creation, the universe itself is a ladder by which we can ascend into God." One of his most famous analogies compares the natural world to a stained glass window. Just as you see rays of light entering through stained glass that is colored differently, so the divine rays of light shine forth in each and every creature in different ways and in different properties. Bonaventure teaches us that creation is like a book which can be opened and read to understand and grow closer to God. Creation is a product of God’s love; our only appropriate response is to return that love.

Next time you see and experience something beautiful in the world, maybe take the time to stop and think about how that beauty is a reflection of God's love. On Tuesday, July 15 the church celebrates the feast of St. Bonaventure, hopefully this week we can all be reminded that the proof of God’s love and his existence is all around us