The knowledge of God [II]

[Weedy]

The knowledge of God [II]

"The knowledge of God is a mountain steep indeed and difficult to
climb--the majority of people scarcely reach its base. If one were a
Moses, he would ascend higher and hear the sound of trumpets which, as
the text of the history says, becomes louder as one advances. For the
preaching of the divine nature is truly a trumpet blast, which strikes
the hearing, being already loud at the beginning but becoming yet
louder at the end."
--Excerpt from a sermon of St. Gregory of Nyssa.

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• 8 November – Blessed John Duns Scotus OFM
(c 1265-1308)

Doctor Subtilis (Subtle Doctor) Franciscan Friar, Priest, Theologian,
Philosopher, Lecturer – known as “The minstrel of the Word Incarnate”
and “Defender of Mary’s Immaculate Conception”.

A humble man, John Duns Scotus has been one of the most influential
Franciscans through the centuries. Born at Duns in the county of
Berwick, Scotland, John was descended from a wealthy farming family.
In later years, he was identified as John Duns Scotus to indicate the
land of his birth – Scotia is the Latin name for Scotland.

John received the habit of the Friars Minor at Dumfries, where his
uncle Elias Duns was superior. After novitiate, John studied at Oxford
and Paris and was ordained in 1291. More studies in Paris followed
until 1297, when he returned to lecture at Oxford and Cambridge. Four
years later, he returned to Paris to teach and complete the
requirements for the doctorate.

In an age when many people adopted whole systems of thought without
qualification, John pointed out the richness of the
Augustinian-Franciscan tradition, appreciated the wisdom of Aquinas,
Aristotle, and the Muslim philosophers—and still managed to be an
independent thinker. That quality was proven in 1303, when King Philip
the Fair tried to enlist the University of Paris on his side in a
dispute with Pope Boniface VIII. John Duns Scotus dissented and was
given three days to leave France.

In Scotus’s time, some philosophers held that people are basically
determined by forces outside themselves. Free will is an illusion,
they argued. An ever-practical man, Scotus said that if he started
beating someone who denied free will, the person would immediately
tell him to stop. But if Scotus didn’t really have a free will, how
could he stop? John had a knack for finding illustrations his students
could remember!
After a short stay in Oxford, Scotus returned to Paris, where he
received the doctorate in 1305. He continued teaching there and in
1307 so ably defended the Immaculate Conception of Mary that the
university officially adopted his position. That same year, the
minister general assigned him to the Franciscan school in Cologne
where John died in 1308. He is buried in the Franciscan church near
the famous Cologne cathedral.

Drawing on the work of John Duns Scotus, Pope Pius IX solemnly defined
the Immaculate Conception of Mary in 1854. On 20 March 1993 John Duns
Scotus, the “Subtle Doctor,” was beatified by St Pope John Paul II at
St Peter’s Basilica in Rome.

Bl John Duns Scotus, “The minstrel of the Word Incarnate” and
“Defender of Mary’s Immaculate Conception” was presented by St Pope
John Paul II to our age “wealthy of human, scientific and
technological resources, but in which many have lost the sense of
faith and lead lives distant from Christ and His Gospel,” as “a
Teacher of thought and life.” For the Church, he is “an example of
fidelity to the revealed truth, of effective, priestly and serious
dialogue in search for unity.”

https://anastpaul.com/2018/11/08/


Saint Quote:
O Lord our God!
You are one in nature.
You are one in number.
Truly have You said
that besides You there is no God.
For though many may be called gods
or thought to be gods,
You alone are by nature God.
You are the true God from whom,
in whom
and through whom,
all things are,
You are blessed forever.
Amen!
--Blessed John Duns Scotus (c 1265-1308)

Bible Quote:
Let us live decently as people do in the daytime: no drunken orgies,
no promiscuity or licentiousness, and no wrangling or jealousy. Let
your armour be the Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 13:13-14 )


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PRAYER FOR THE HOLY SOULS

O Lord Jesus Christ, King of glory, deliver the
Souls of all the faithful departed from the pains
of Hell and from the bottomless pit;
deliver them out of the lion's mouth,
lest Hell should swallow them up,
lest they fall into the outer darkness;
but let Thy standard-bearer, Saint Michael,
bring them back into Thy holy light, which Thou
didst promise of old to Abraham and to his seed.