July 15, 2026
Memorial of Saint Bonaventure, Bishop and Doctor of the
Church
Lectionary: 391
Reading 1
Thus says the LORD:
Woe to Assyria! My rod in anger,
my staff in wrath.
Against an impious nation I send him,
and against a people under my wrath I order him
To seize plunder, carry off loot,
and tread them down like the mud of the streets.
But this is not what he intends,
nor does he have this in mind;
Rather, it is in his heart to destroy,
to make an end of nations not a few.
For he says:
“By my own power I have done it,
and by my wisdom, for I am shrewd.
I have moved the boundaries of peoples,
their treasures I have pillaged,
and, like a giant, I have put down the enthroned.
My hand has seized like a nest
the riches of nations;
As one takes eggs left alone,
so I took in all the earth;
No one fluttered a wing,
or opened a mouth, or chirped!”
Will the axe boast against him who hews with it?
Will the saw exalt itself above him who wields it?
As if a rod could sway him who lifts it,
or a staff him who is not wood!
Therefore the Lord, the LORD of hosts,
will send among his fat ones leanness,
And instead of his glory there will be kindling
like the kindling of fire.
Responsorial Psalm
Psalm
94:5-6, 7-8, 9-10, 14-15
R. (14a) The Lord will not abandon his people.
Your people, O LORD, they trample down,
your inheritance they afflict.
Widow and stranger they slay,
the fatherless they murder.
R. The Lord will not abandon his people.
And they say, “The LORD sees not;
the God of Jacob perceives not.”
Understand, you senseless ones among the people;
and, you fools, when will you be wise?
R. The Lord will not abandon his people.
Shall he who shaped the ear not hear?
or he who formed the eye not see?
Shall he who instructs nations not chastise,
he who teaches men knowledge?
R. The Lord will not abandon his people.
For the LORD will not cast off his people,
nor abandon his inheritance;
But judgment shall again be with justice,
and all the upright of heart shall follow it.
R. The Lord will not abandon his people
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Blessed are you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,
you have revealed to little ones the mysteries of the Kingdom.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
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.”
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/071526.cfm
Commentary on Isaiah
10:5-7,13-16
Today we have a powerful passage from Isaiah, full of
eloquently poetic images, but with one very simple message: the Lord God is
master of all that happens. On the face of it, the conquests of Assyria
(and later of Babylon) seemed to be the work of a powerful empire. Yet,
in truth, Assyria, for all its power, is in the prophet’s eyes merely the
unwitting instrument of God.
So the prophet cries in God’s name:
Woe to Assyria, the rod of my anger—
the club in their hands is my fury!
He says this because what Assyria does is wicked and evil.
Isaiah is probably referring to Sennacherib at the time of his invasion in 701
BC. It is “the rod of [God’s] anger” because it is an instrument unknowingly
doing the work of the God in which it does not believe. Later on, Babylon
will play the same role.
Assyria is being sent “against a godless nation”, namely,
God’s own people in Judah who have turned their backs on their Lord to indulge
in idolatry and immorality. It is with the Lord’s permission that the
Assyrians under Sennacherib:
…take spoil and seize plunder,
and…tread them down like the mire of the streets.
Maybe Sennacherib believed this was all his own strategy—but
no:
…this is not what he intends,
nor does he have this in mind…
The Assyrian’s aim was:
…to destroy
and to cut off nations not a few.
But in reality, he was bringing the punishment on Judah
which its sinfulness had merited.
Not aware of the supporting role he was playing in a bigger
drama, he makes his boasts (in a verse left out):
Are not my commanders all kings? (Is 10:8)
As he made one conquest after another, he put his commanders
as rulers of vanquished territories:
Is not Calno like Carchemish?
Is not Hamath like Arpad?
Is not Samaria like Damascus? (Is 10:9)
In this verse, he lists off the cities that have become part
of Assyrian territory.
And what he has done to other idolatrous territories, will
he not do the same to Jerusalem and its idolatrous images? And so he
continues with one boast after another:
I have removed the boundaries of peoples
and have plundered their treasures;
…I have brought down those who sat on thrones.
In language filled with contempt for his opponents he
boasts:
…as one gathers eggs that have been forsaken,
so I have gathered all the earth,
and there was none that moved a wing
or opened its mouth or chirped.
Altogether in his statement, Sennacherib refers to himself
nine times. He really believed all that happened was his own doing:
By the strength of my hand I have done it,
and by my wisdom, for I have understanding…
However, as a godless people, Assyria’s lot would be no
better than those it was trying to crush (it appears reminiscent of the
arrogance of Hitler at the height of the Nazi regime).
Sennacherib’s power is all an illusion. The prophet says:
Shall the ax vaunt itself over the one who wields it
or the saw magnify itself against the one who handles it?
Sennacherib is in God’s hands. And so his ultimate impotence
is revealed when some sort of sickness, probably some kind of rapidly spreading
plague, brought death to 185,000 of his troops in 701 BC as they prepared to
lay siege to Jerusalem, forcing him to withdraw (2 Kings 19:35).
Again we have to read this passage with care. In some
ways, there are natural explanations for all that happened both to the
Assyrians and to God’s people. We need to avoid the image of a vindictive
God who hits back at his disobedient people by bringing terrible calamities on
them. The principal message is rather that ultimately everything comes from God
and we are—as Paul would say—like putty in his hands.
The message for God’s people is that, by turning their back
on him, they will gain nothing and lose everything. This applied equally
to the Assyrian conquerors and the defeated people of Judah. Even the
most powerful people in our society ultimately have “feet of clay” and can be
brought down by the simplest of things (like an invisible virus). Yet, how many
of us, sometimes in small and silly ways, think that we can wield power and
seek to have power over others?
True life and true happiness consists in our being at all
times malleable instruments in God’s hands, bringing life and happiness to
others.
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Commentary on
Matthew 11:25-27
Yesterday we saw Jesus severely chiding the people of three
cities, where he had shown many signs of his divine origin, for their slowness
to believe in and accept him. Today he speaks with warmth and praise of those
who have become his followers.
He remarks, in a prayer he makes to his Father, that it is
not the learned and clever, the scribes and Pharisees, the religious experts,
but “the infants”, his disciples, who have been graced with understanding the
secrets of the Kingdom. They are infants not only in their lack of
learning and sophistication, but also in their openness to hear and learn, a
virtue lacking in those who regarded themselves as intellectuals.
This was in fact a reflection on the actual development of
the early Church. It was a grassroots movement which spread most among
the lower levels of society and among slaves. It would not be until later
that Christianity spread to the higher echelons and would become the faith also
of the ruling elite and the intellectual classes. As Jesus says today:
…yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.
In growing and spreading in this way, Christianity showed,
first, that it was really the work of God. It worked against powerful
forces which tried very hard to obliterate it, but in the end the power of
truth and love were too strong for even the strongest opponents.
Second, it revealed the truly catholic nature of the
Christian faith. It was never an exclusive domain of either the political
or educated elite. It has appealed, and continues to appeal, to people at
every level of society from intellectual giants like Augustine, Thomas Aquinas
and John Henry Newman to the totally illiterate. Both can sit side by
side and together hear the gospel and celebrate the Eucharist.
Finally, Jesus suggests that knowing him and, through him,
knowing the Father, is a gift that he gives. We can all, of course, open
ourselves to that gift. Why some of us do and others do not is something
we cannot understand in this life. It is a gift which is offered, never
imposed, and again no one can know who are those who have been offered it and
turned it down.
Let us today thank God that we have been among those who
have listened and accepted and been graced. But we know we have a lot more
listening and accepting yet to do. Jesus stands at our door and knocks
today and every single day. It is my decision to what extent I open that
door and let him come in.
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Wednesday, July 15,
2026
Ordinary Time
Opening Prayer
God our Father, your light of truth guides us to the way of
Christ.
May all who follow him reject what is contrary to the gospel.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives
and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Gospel Reading - Matthew 11: 25-27
At that time Jesus exclaimed, 'I bless
you, Father, Lord of heaven and of earth, for hiding these things from the
learned and the clever and revealing them to little children. Yes, Father, for
that is what it pleased you to do.
Everything has been entrusted to me by my Father; and no one
knows the Son except the Father, just as no one knows the Father except the Son
and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
Reflection
•
Context. The liturgical passage of Mt 11: 25-27
represents a turning point in the Gospel of Matthew: Jesus is asked the first
questions regarding the coming of the Kingdom of Heaven. The first one to ask
the first questions on the identity of Jesus is John the Baptist, who through
his disciples asks him a concrete question: “Are you the one who is to come, or
are we to expect someone else?” (11: 3). Instead, the Pharisees, together with
the Scribes, address words of reproach and judgment to Jesus: “Look, your
disciples are doing something that is forbidden on the Sabbath” (12: 2). Up
until now in chapter 1 to 10, the coming of the Kingdom of Heaven in the person
of Jesus did not seem to find any obstacles, but beginning with chapter 11, we
find some concrete difficulties. Or rather many begin to take a stand before
Jesus: sometimes he is “the object of scandal,” of fall (11: 6); “this
generation,” in the sense of this human descent, does not have an attitude of
acceptance regarding the Kingdom that is to arrive; the cities along the lake
are not converted (11: 20); concerning the behavior of Jesus a true and proper
controversy springs up (chapter 12), and thus they begin to think how to lead
him to death (12: 14). This is the climate of mistrust and of protest in which
Matthew inserts this passage.
•
Now the moment has arrived in which to question
oneself about the activity of Jesus: how to interpret the “works of Christ”
(11: 2, 19)? How can these thaumaturgic actions be explained (11: 20, 21, 23)?
Such questions concern the crucial question of Messiah ship of Jesus, and judge
not only “this generation” but also the cities around the lake which have not
converted as the Kingdom of Heaven gets closer in the person of Jesus.
•
To become small. The most efficacious itinerary
to carry out this conversion is to become “small.” Jesus communicates this
strategy of “smallness” in a prayer of thanksgiving (11: 27) which has a
wonderful parallel in the witness rendered to the Father on the occasion of the
Baptism (11: 27). Experts love to call this prayer a “hymn of rejoicing,
exultation.” The rhythm of the prayer of Jesus begins with a confession: “I
praise you,” “I confess to you.” Such expressions of introduction render Jesus’
words quite solemn. The prayer of praise that Jesus says presents the
characteristics of an answer addressed to the reader. Jesus addresses himself
to the God with the expression “Lord, of Heaven and earth,” that is, to God as
Creator and guardian of the world. In Judaism, instead, it was the custom to
address God with the invocation “Lord of the world”, but did not add the term
“Father,” a distinctive characteristic of the prayer of Jesus. The reason for
the praise and the disclosing of God: because you have hidden..., revealed. The
hiding referred to the “wise and intelligent” concerns the Scribes and the
Pharisees completely closed up and hostile to the coming of the Kingdom (3: 7
ff; 7: 29; 9: 3, 11, 34). The revelation to the little ones, the Greek term
says “infants”, those who cannot speak as yet. Thus, Jesus indicates the
privileged audience of the proclamation of the Kingdom of Heaven as those who
are not experts of the Law, and are not instructed.
•
Which are “these things” that are hidden or
revealed? The content of this revelation or hiding is Jesus, the Son of God,
the one who reveals the Father. It is evident for the reader that the
revelation of God is linked indissolubly to the person of Jesus, to his Word,
to his Messianic actions. He is the one who allows the revelation of God and
not the Law or the premonitory events of the end of time.
•
The revelation of God from the Father to the
Son. In the last part of the discourse Jesus makes a presentation of self as
the one to whom every thing has been communicated by the Father. In the context
of the coming of the Kingdom, Jesus has the role and the mission to reveal the
Heavenly Father in everything. In such a task and role, he receives the
totality of power, of knowledge and of the authority to judge. In order to
confirm this role which is so committed, Jesus appeals to the witness of the
Father, the only one who possesses a real knowledge of Jesus: “Nobody knows the
Son but the Father,” and vice-versa “and nobody knows the Father but the Son.”
The witness of the Father is irreplaceable so that the unique dignity of Jesus
as Son may be understood by his disciples. Besides, the unicity or uniqueness
of Jesus is affirmed in the revelation of the Father; the Gospel of John had
already affirmed this: “No one has ever seen God; it is the only Son, who is
close to the Father’s heart who has made him known” (1: 18). To summarize, the
Evangelist makes his readers understand that the revelation of the Father takes
place through the Son. Even more: the Son reveals the Father to whom he wants.
Personal Questions
•
In your prayer do you feel the need to express
all your gratitude to the Father for the gifts that he has given you in life?
Does it happen to you to confess publicly, to exult in the Lord because of the
wonderful works that he accomplishes in the world; in the Church, and in your
life?
•
In your search for God do you rely on your
wisdom and intelligence, or do you allow yourself to be guided by the wisdom of
God? How attentive are you to your relationship with Jesus? Do you listen to
his word? Do you assume his sentiments in order to discover his physiognomy of
Son of the Heavenly Father?
Concluding Prayer
My lips shall proclaim your saving justice, your saving power
all day long.
God, you have taught me from boyhood, and I am still
proclaiming your marvels. (Ps 71: 15, 17)
Saint
Bonaventure, Bishop and Doctor
Bonaventure, the son of a medical doctor, was born in 1221 at
Bagnoreggio, near Orvieto. He became a Franciscan in 1243. His intellectual
gifts were soon recognized and he was sent to Paris to study under Alexander of
Hales. In 1248, he received his licence to teach, and in 1253 he became Master
of the Franciscan School at Paris.
As a theologian he is regarded as being more in the line of
St Augustine in contrast to his more Aristotelian contemporary, the Dominican
Thomas Aquinas. He emphasised a more ‘feeling’ approach than a purely rational
one in speaking of divine mysteries. His main theological teaching is contained
in his commentary on the Sententiae of Peter the Lombard. One
point on which he differed with Aquinas was his assertion that the creation of
the world in time could be shown by human reason. He also wrote important
treatises on mystical theology. His Itinerarium mentis ad Deum (The
Journey of the Mind to God) became an enduring classic.
In 1257, at the early age of 36, he was elected
Minister-General of the Franciscan Order. He has been called, with some
justification, its second founder. The Franciscans were coming under criticism
at the time as a result of a huge increase in numbers and poor organisation
(sadly attributed to Francis of Assisi), with the resulting divisions into
factions, each one claiming to be faithful to the Founder.
While strongly defending the ideals of Francis, Bonaventure
insisted, against Francis, on the need for study, on having libraries and
proper buildings. He approved of the Friars studying and teaching in
universities. He saw the Franciscan role as complementing the work of the
diocesan clergy through preaching and spiritual direction. The clergy of the
day were often poorly educated and lacking in spirituality.
Within the Franciscans he urged a middle way. He opposed the
so-called ‘Spirituals’ who promoted material poverty above all as being the
true teaching of Francis. At the same time, his own ideals of a simple life of
frugal poverty, hard work and detachment from the rich, as well as from riches,
were a reality in his own life. He wrote a Life of Francis, which was approved
by the Chapter of 1266 as the only officially authorised
version.
As Minister-General he visited Italy, France, Germany, and
England. In 1265, he was nominated Archbishop of York by Pope Clement IV, but
declined the honour. However, in 1273, he was made Cardinal-Bishop of Albano by
Pope Gregory X, with a command not to refuse. When the papal messengers called
on him, he was washing dishes in the Mugello friary (near Florence) and asked
them to wait until he had finished.
He played a prominent role in the Council of Lyons which was
called to bring about a reunion with the Eastern churches; Thomas Aquinas died
on his way to the same council. A temporary reunion of the churches was
achieved, and Bonaventure preached at the Mass of reconciliation. However, he
did not live to see Constantinople repudiate the reunion.
He died on 15 July, 1274, at the age of fifty-two. His
achievements in theology and administration should not allow one to forget
dominant traits noted by his contemporaries: a gentle courtesy, compassion, and
accessibility. Bonaventure was canonised by Pope Sixtus IV in 1482 and declared
a Doctor of the Church in 1588. He is often called the Seraphic Doctor.
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