On June 22, 2022, the Pontifical Theological Faculty of St. Bonaventure and the Graphology Department at the Seraphicum in Rome, ended the 2021/2022 academic year with a closing Mass.
The Most Reverend Marco TASCA, OFM Conv., Metropolitan Archbishop of Genoa, Italy, presided. In his homily, he expressed his hope that the theologians present, including the faculty, students and others committed to spreading the Gospel, would find the right paths to communicate the message of Christ. In contemplating Luke’s Gospel (Lk 1:5-17), which describes Zechariah’s turmoil in the presence of the Angel, despite the fact that he was a priest and a God-fearing person, along with his wife Elizabeth, showing that there was at least one path he could follow. How many of us believe in the wonders that occur in our lives thanks to the intervention of the Holy Spirit, which is dispensed at Pentecost? Rather than relating to the God we believe in, even we Christians pride ourselves on our scientific and rational outlook. We only observe what we see around us, depriving ourselves of the beauty of the inexplicable. Perhaps from here we can start to respond to the invitation of the former Minister General, Friar Marco TASCA, to discover how to communicate the Gospel to the people of this generation, to recognize the humility of our human condition, while finding logical, scientific and technological answers, if necessary, to accept with joy the unexpected and unquantifiable things that happen around us. This is how humanity can rise up, freely allowing itself to be enveloped in the mystery that inevitably, by grace, is revealed to those who seek God and trust in his immense love.
At the end of the touching celebration, Friar Jan MACIEJOWSKI, the Vice Grand Chancellor and Vicar General, and Friar Raffaele DI MURO, the Dean of the Faculty and Director of the Graphology Department, thanked the participants, some of whom were given a certificate for having achieved important milestones in their theological studies.
Vincenza SPIRIDIONE