MEMORIAL OF ST BONAVENTURE, OFM. BISHOP AND DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH.

MEMORIAL OF ST BONAVENTURE, OFM. BISHOP & DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH. 

WHAT IS REVEALED TO THE CHILDLIKE? 

THE GOODNEWS:

"At that time Jesus exclaimed:

 “I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike.

"Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will. 

All things have been handed over to me by my Father.

"No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.” (Matthew 11: 25 - 27).

Wednesday July 15th 2026 in the 15th Week in Ordinary Time is the Memorial of St Bonaventure,OFM.

St Bonaventure (1221 - 1274) was Italian. A Franciscan, Bishop, Cardinal and Doctor of the Church.

Bonaventure is known as the Seraphic Doctor because of his mastery of mystical theology. 

He became friends with the Dominican St Thomas Aquinas, OP another doctor of the Church in the University of Paris.

St Bonaventure who succeeded St Francis of Assisi as the Superior General of the Franciscans, wrote the first detailed biography of the great saint.

St Bonaventure, a great man of God by all standards was a very meek and humble man.

 Although Superior General of the Franciscans for 17 years, Cardinal of the Church, eminent Theologian and Professor of Theology at the University of Paris and later to become one of the 37 Doctors of the Church, Bonaventure is childlike in character."

In our short and powerful Gospel of today, Jesus praised the wisdom and modus operandi of His Father for singling out the childlike for His special favors.

Who is the childlike? 

Where can we find one to study?

 Let us take a look at the profile of St Therese of the Child Jesus, also called St Therese the Little Flower and St Therese of Lisieux.

St Therese is one of the most beloved saints in the Church. 

She is a powerful intercessor and her contribution to spirituality can be summarized thus:

#1 Utter simplicity in everything.

#2 Profound trust in Divine Providence.

St Therese you may say was chosen to be St Therese before she was born.

 At the age of 6, she had a profound faith in the Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist and in the Blessed Sacrament.

 Asked one day how she was so sure of this, her response was disarming and profound: Jesus said: "This is My Body. This is My Blood."

 Since Jesus is God and Almighty, nothing is impossible for Him.

 Does this not remind us of the Blessed Virgin Mary? 

To the word that She would conceive by the power of the Holy Spirit and give birth to the Son of God, she replied: "Be it done to me according to Your word." No fear. No worry. No doubt.

Is there a connection between faith and simplicity?

 Simplicity in thoughts and habits may facilitate the habit of believing. This seems to be the witness of many saints.

"Unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven." (Matthew 18: 3).

Be simple like Jesus and Therese. Dare to Believe. Thank You Father for teaching us through the little ones.

The Church honors the Most Precious Blood of Jesus Christ in July.

"But you were purchased with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a sacrificial lamb unblemished and spotless" (1 Peter 1: 19).

Most Precious Blood of Jesus Christ purify and heal us.

For Prayers and Prayer intentions for the Most Precious Blood of Jesus Christ click the link below:

http://seekfirst.blogspot.com/2024/06/july-devotion-to-precious-body-of-jesus.html?m=1

MEMORIAL OF ST KATERI TEKEWITHA, VIRGIN.

MEMORIAL OF BLESSED KATERI TEKEWITHA, VIRGIN.

THE GOODNEWS:

"Jesus began to reproach the towns where most of his mighty deeds had been done, since they had not repented. 

“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would long ago have repented in sackcloth and ashes." (Matthew 11: 20.... 24).

Tuesday 14th July 2026, in the 14th Week in Ordinary Time.

 The Church commemorates the life of St Kateri Tekekwita, fondly called the Lily of the Mohawks.

St Kateri Tekekwita (1656 - 1680). Born near New York. Daughter of a Mohawk chief. Kateri died at the age of 24. 

She had great devotion to the Eucharist and Jesus Crucified. She is known as the "Lily of the Mohawks" and is the patron saint of ecologists, environmentalists, and Native Americans.

I love this quote of St Kateri Tekewitha:

"WHO WILL TEACH ME WHAT IS MOST PLEASING TO GOD, THAT I MAY DO IT." (ST KATERI TEKEKWITA, LILY OF THE MOHAWKS).

In our key Scripture for today, Jesus taught that those who have received more are expected to give back more.

 They are expected to produce more fruits. They should make more saints and send out more missionaries.

 Chorazin and Bethsaida received more of Jesus teaching and miracles. But both cities were obstinate when it comes to belief and repentance. Their hardness of heart is caused by UNBELIEF.

Why was Jesus stern in His reproach of Chorazin and Bethsaida?

The citizens of both cities locked up their hearts in unbelief.

 They were very cynical brood of vipers. 

Unbelief is very dangerous. Look around the society today and see for yourself what unbelief can produce. 

Where there is unbelief, there will be no repentance. 

It may well be the Sin of Unbelief that make some Christian theologians like St Augustine postulate a belief in predestination.

 Without repentance one cannot be saved. Unbelievers have no time for repentance. For example,

robbers who are caught red-handed on camera have sworn that they are innocent. This is the result of Unbelief. By their fruits you will know them.

Brethren, we are Chorazin. We are Bethsaida. Let us come before Jesus in humility and have our sins washed away in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. The merciful love of Jesus is waiting to give us a new mind and a new heart.

"Understood what treasures of love are freely given to those who approach Me in the Sacrament of My love, My churches would be filled day and night, and unable to contain the multitudes drawn to them. But the Evil One has schemed and plotted to cover the mystery of My presence with a dark veil of neglect, of irreverence, of forgetfulness, and of unbelief. He has obscured the mystery of My real presence, and so My faithful, beginning with My priests, have walked away from Me, one after the other, even as they did when first I spoke plainly of Myself as the living Bread come down from heaven to give life to the world." (IN SINU JESU page 226).

"If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts."

July is The Most Precious Blood of Jesus Month.

“I adore You, O Precious Blood of Jesus, flower of creation, fruit of virginity, ineffable instrument of the Holy Spirit, and I rejoice at the thought that You came from the drop of virginal blood on which eternal Love impressed its movement; You were assumed by the Word and deified in His person. I am overcome with emotion when I think of Your passing from the Blessed Virgin’s heart into the heart of the Word, and, being vivified by the breath of the Divinity, becoming adorable because You became the Blood of God.”  (St Albert the Great)."

 

Most Precious Blood of Jesus Christ purify and heal us.

For Prayers and Prayer intentions for the Most Precious Blood of the Most Precious Blood of Jesus Christ, click the link below:

http://seekfirst.blogspot.com/2024/06/july-devotion-to-precious-body-of-jesus.html?m=1

FEAST OF ST HENRY, HOLY ROMAN EMPEROR.

FEAST OF ST HENRY, HOLY ROMAN EMPEROR.

FEAST OF THE GOOD KING HENRY, MONARCH AND ROMAN EMPEROR. 

"Jesus said to his Apostles: 

“Do not think that I have come to bring peace upon the earth. 

I have come to bring not peace but the sword.

 For I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;

 and one’s enemies will be those of his household.

“Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me,

 and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me;

 and whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me.

"Whoever finds his

 life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

“Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.

 Whoever receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward,

 and whoever receives a righteous man because he is righteous will receive a righteous man’s reward.

"And whoever gives only a cup of cold water to one of these little ones to drink because he is a disciple—amen, I say to you, he will surely not lose his reward.”

"When Jesus finished giving these commands to his Twelve disciples, 

he went away from that place to teach and to preach in their towns." (Matthew 10: 34 - 11: 1).

"Monday 13th of July 2026 in the 15th Week in Ordinary Time is the feast of St Henry, King and Emperor.(973 - 1024). Henry II was German.

Crowned Holy Roman Emperor in 1014 by Pope Benedict VIII as Emperor Henry II. He was a powerful man of the world, a man of war and international politics.

He became a saint. It shows that anyone can become a saint. Henry used his wealth and power to promote the Kingdom of God by supporting missionary work. In spite of his cares of the earthly Roman Empire, his gaze was on Heaven, the eternal Kingdom.

Who do you love more than Jesus? 

“Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me." 

Today, you have heard the word of God. Harden not your hearts. Let us without fear ask Jesus how to make Him the First Love of our life. 

The Church honors the Most Precious Blood of Jesus Christ in July. 

"..... One of the soldiers opened His side with a lance

and immediately there came forth

blood and water. ”

(John 19:34). 

“Let us draw near to the Heart

of our most sweet Lord Jesus

and we shall be glad and rejoice in it.

How good and how sweet it is

to dwell in this Heart!

This is the hidden treasure,

the pearl of great price which we discover,

O Jesus, when we dig in the field of Thy Body (cf Mt 13:44).

Who, then, would cast aside this Pearl?" (St Bonaventure, Bishop and Doctor of the Church). 

Most Precious Blood of Jesus Christ purify and heal us. 

For Prayers and Prayer intentions of the Most Precious Blood of Jesus Christ, click the link below:

http://seekfirst.blogspot.com/2024/06/july-devotion-to-precious-body-of-jesus.html?m=1

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