One Minute Reflection – 20 July – “The Month of the Most Precious Blood” – St Jerome Emiliani (1486–1537) Confessor – Isaias 58:7-11, Matthew 19:13-21 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/
“Suffer the little children and forbid them not to come to Me, for the Kingdom of Heaven is for such. ” – Matthew 19:14
REFLECTION – “What a great and wonderful gift God has given us, my brethren! On this, the day of Easter, day of Salvation, the Lord rises again and gives resurrection to the world. … We are His Body (1 Cor 12:27) … and His Members rise with Him; He makes us rise from death to life. In Hebrew the word “passover” means a passing over … and what a passing! From sin to righteousness, from vice to virtue, from age to infancy. Yesterday, sins’ decay set us on a decline but Christ’s Resurrection gives us rebirth in newborn innocence!
Christian simplicity makes childhood its own. Children are without rancour, ignorant of deceit, not daring to strike. So, this child whom the Christian has become, does not fall into a rage if someone insults him, does not resist, if something is taken from him, does not return blows, if someone strikes him. Our Lord even demands us to pray for our enemies, give up our tunic and cloak to anyone who would steal it, turn the other cheek to those who would slap it (Mt 5:39). The childhood of Christ surpasses human childhood. …
To the Apostles, who were already mature, adult men, the Lord said: “Unless you turn and become like little children, you will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven” (Mt 18:3). He returns them to the origin of their lives, encourages them to rediscover their childhood, so that these men, whose vigour is declining, may be born again to innocence of heart.” – St Maximus of Turin (Died c420) Bishop, Father of the Church (Homily 58 for Easter).
PRAYER – O God, the Father of mercies, by the merits and intercession of St Jerome, whom Thou willed to be the helper and father of orphans, grant that we may faithfully guard the spirit of adoption which makes us Thy sons both in name and reality.Through Jesus Christ, Thy Son our Lord, Who lives and reigns with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen (Collect).
AnaStpaul 