Memorial, St. Bonaventure, Bishop and Doctor of the Church 2020

As we celebrate the Memorial of St. Bonaventure, we hear in our Gospel today (Mt 11:25-27) Jesus praising his Father for obscuring these things (mighty deeds) from those proclaiming to be wise and learned, while revealing them to the childlike.  If it sounds familiar, it should.  We heard this on the Fourteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time, just a few weeks ago

As I read this short Gospel I am drawn back to my adolescence.  In my childhood, I looked up to my parents in awe with all they knew, all they were teaching me, and all they could do.  Then in my late teen years, I thought I knew it all, and wondered how my parents had become so ill informed.  As I have grown older I have come to understand my parents had not changed, rather, I had become blinded by my own arrogance.

Jesus warns us about this arrogance in what is in essence a prayer to our Father.  When we are centered on ourselves, on our own knowledge, when we are looking inward rather than outward to God, we lose sight of the author of all things, including our abilities to learn and do.    Let us then be outward centered, looking toward God in childlike awe at His greatness.  In doing so, let us be open to what God wants to reveal to us as the loving Father he is.