Last October 23, the School of Theology held an Academicworkshop on the occasion of the retirement of Professor Gonzalo Aranda. The event was attended by many people who wanted, with their presence, to pay tribute to the educational work and research of such a distinguished biblical scholar.

Here is the testimony of Mª Covadonga García Benedi, a student of high school program in Religious Sciences. Mr. Gonzalo Aranda taught at ISCR from academic year 2000-2001 to 2012-2013.

 

About Gonzalo Aranda

My mother always says: "Chance does not exist for Christians" and experience has shown me how true this sentence is. The truth is that I was too young to remember him, but when my siblings participated in the group "Guías de Aragón" in the parish of San Pedro Arbués, Don Gonzalo was already there. My parents have good memories of his time in our parish. As it was said in the Academic Act, he was a teacher with the "smell of sheep", that is to say, he was very clear that what was proper to his priesthood was to live concerned about the souls entrusted to him by the bishop, in addition to his other vocation: the teaching. What they did not know was that when he said goodbye, his little daughter would come back to meet him.

Much has rained since February 2012, when I started the course "Jewish Apocalyptic and New Testament", which I attended more on the recommendation of a teacher than for pleasure; just hearing the word "apocalyptic" I thought of all the popular legend of natural disasters. American movies did not help me to have a positive view of topic. This meant that when a reading from the Apocalypse appeared on the official document of the Liturgy of the Hours or in the Eucharist, I never understood it and it seemed far removed from the God reflected in Jesus Christ. Perhaps something like this must have happened to me: "The Apocalypse is not an easy text to read: on the contrary, it is solid food for adult believers and not for infants1".

But everything changed when an older "little man" came in at classroom and started talking. I remember thinking: "We haven't read the same Bible". I must admit that it changed my whole view of the book of Revelation and opened up a whole new world to me that I didn't know about: apocalyptic literature. And not only that, because it gave me the bug that I still have not been able to get rid of to read as much as I can about this topic. He did it with simplicity and above all with passion for what he was teaching. There is nothing more powerful to reach the listeners than to talk about a topic that we really like and to be able to transmit it in every word. I felt that way in every class he gave us. I learned another perspective from Daniel's book, one of the books that I have always liked the most since I was a child, together with Esther's book. I understood the importance of the apocryphal texts in order to better appreciate the canonical texts as the Word of God, and I discovered the Christian hope hidden in the book of Revelation, which we need so much today in the face of so many persecutions: with and without weapons, for me the worst ones since they are subtly covered up.

As the Sacred Scripture says: "Because my thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not my ways", I ended up at the high school Superior of Religious Sciences of the University of Navarra. I have great faith that God uses people at specific moments of our lives as angels to illuminate our path and that is how God intervened through Don Gonzalo to get here. Unfortunately, I have not been able to study with him, as I would have liked, the subject "Libros Poéticos y Sapienciales". I have no complaints about the current owner, Don Diego Perez, but also gratitude for his availability for any doubt or further information, but as we say in the Army, "antiquity is a Degree" and as the proverb of popular wisdom says, in this case Spanish and not from the Middle East: "the devil knows more for being old than for being devil", since as the cultures of Semitic origin show, the wise man is not only the one who has the scientific knowledge , but also the old man for accumulating also the wisdom of life experience.

In the act of homage, Don Juan Miguel Diaz Rodelas, in the middle of his masterly intervention on the new document of the Pontifical Biblical Commission: "Inspiration and truth of the Sacred Scripture" showed Don Gonzalo's concern about the inspiration of the reader of the Bible. I found this topic interesting and perhaps, in my modest opinion, little addressed. Dei Verbum says: "the Sacred Scripture must be read and interpreted with the same Spirit with which it was written". Therefore, if it is necessary to do so, the reader also needs the Holy Spirit to be able to read the Sacred Scripture, since intelligence is his gift, which allows us to understand the revealed truths and, therefore, the Sacred Scripture.

Even so, as Don Juan Chapa said in his speech about Don Gonzalo, I only have words of gratitude and affection, because it is true, despite being at work, he had the door of his office open to the needs of whoever required it. He always had time for a cup of coffee when I attended exams and courses at update. Or when he needed some subject from bibliography for some work. Or simply, when I wanted to read something more on topics he has mastered and he would send me articles and book titles to read. There could be delay if they were emails, however, never a "no" for an answer.

But, and thank God (never better said), our time advances in a straight line and is not circular, which gives meaning to the history of our life, which is at the same time the history of salvation. It is a pity that retirement is coming, however, I am sure that you will continue to have the door of the office open, not only here, but also in the JUBILATION of eternal life, because I do not doubt for a moment that you will be able to say to God: "I have fought the noble fight, I have finished the degree program, I have kept the faith", because as a Christian, of that "profession", JUBILATION comes with death, which gives access to heaven.

Thank you very much don Gonzalo for all that I have learned, am learning and hope to continue learning with the financial aid and inspiration of the Holy Spirit.