Comprehension vs. Apprehension

Homily for the Feast of St. Bonaventure

In St. Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians, St. Paul delineates between the wisdom of our world and God’s wisdom. Whereas God’s wisdom will lead to our glory, the world’s wisdom will lead to our destruction. He goes on to state that we cannot comprehend God’s wisdom through our eyes nor our ears nor through our imagination.

However, in St. Bonaventure’s great work, “The mind’s journey into God,” he speaks of vestiges or footprints of God which lie in nature. These we can see, hear, and touch. Although we can grasp the reality of God through such vestiges or footprints, this is not comprehension. Rather it is apprehension.

Comprehension would involve confining or defining God’s wisdom, much like we would solve an algebraic problem. Such comprehension is not possible for the human mind. Apprehension, on the other hand, speaks to the encounter with God through nature. In fact, this is a very Franciscan lens of approaching the mystery of God’s wisdom.

St. Francis regarded all of nature as siblings who praise God through their very existence. St. Bonaventure builds on this, urging us to see creation not as mere matter, but as sacramental signs pointing to the divine. In short, what we see, hear, and touch can absolutely stir our souls toward God—not by reason alone, but through awe, beauty, and spiritual insight.

In the Gospel reading for this feast day, we hear the familiar words from the Sermon on the Mount calling us the salt of the earth and the light of the world. St. Matthew writes that we do not light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket. Rather, we set it on a lampstand where it gives light to all. In the same way our light must shine before all people in order for them to see goodness and to give praise and glory to God.

It is through the grace of the Holy Spirit that we can apprehend the wisdom of God. We also come to apprehend God as we encounter Jesus in the Eucharist which we celebrate every day. Each time we encounter Jesus, the mystery of God’s wisdom unfolds just a little more until the day when we will be able to comprehend that mystery when we see God face-to-face in heaven. Once again, we are reminded of the “now but not yet” character of the kingdom of God and the wisdom of God. One day, our minds will meet God and comprehend God’s wisdom.