Overview of July[1]
The month of July is
dedicated to The Precious Blood of Jesus. The entire month falls within the
liturgical season of Ordinary
Time, which is
represented by the liturgical color green. This symbol of hope is the color of
the sprouting seed and arouses in the faithful the hope of reaping the eternal
harvest of heaven, especially the hope of a glorious resurrection. It is used
in the offices and Masses of Ordinary Time.
July is usually hot and a time for relaxing. It is also the time when
crops planted in the Spring are maturing and growing. Just as the crops are
dependent upon summer rains not only to grow but to survive so our spiritual
development is dependent upon our frequenting the sacraments and receiving the
Blood of Christ.
The main feasts of this month are St. Junipero Serra (July 1)
(statue was a BLM execution victim), St. Thomas the Apostle (July
3), St. Maria Goretti, (July 6), St. Augustine Zhao Rong (July
9), St. Benedict (July 11), St. Henry (July 13), Bl. Kateri
Tekakwitha (USA - July 14), St. Bonaventure (July 15), Our Lady
of Mt. Carmel (July 16), St. Camillus (July 18), St. Apollinaris
(July 20), St. Lawrence of Brindisi (July 21), St. Mary Magdalene
(July 22), St. Bridget (July 23), St. Sharbel (July 24), St.
James (July 25), St. Peter Chrysologus (July 30), St. Ignatius of Loyola
(July 31).
The feasts of St. Anthony Mary and St. Elizabeth of Portugal
(July 5) and Sts. Joachim and Anne (July 26) are superseded by the
Sunday liturgy.
The Blood that coursed through the veins of Christ was
a part of that Sacred Humanity made possible by the maternity of Mary, whose
parents, St. Joachim and St. Anne are honored this month. (July 26). Our Lord's
blood poured out on the Cross purchased our salvation, washed clean the robes
of the martyrs, and gave birth to the Church as it flowed from his wounded
side. The Precious Blood of Christ — now pulsing through his Mystical Body —
continues its salvific work, preserving and purifying, repairing and providing
nourishment for regeneration and renewal of its members.
July’s longer and warmer days also provide us with the
opportunity for renewal, both interior and exterior. Schedules relax and
pressures ease, inviting travel. But whether we travel or not, like the
missionary, St. Junipero Serra (July 1), we preach to others — by our conduct,
our speech, even the clothes we wear. May we be modest in everything we do,
imitating St. Maria Goretti, the young martyr for purity (July 6), and
“preaching” Christ to everyone we meet.
The summer Readings of Ordinary Time remind us that
our earthly pilgrimage is also a journey, a great adventure towards union with
Christ, the Beginning and the End of our journey. Each Sunday with its Easter
renewal becomes a mile marker along the way, linking where we have been with
where we are going. May the Precious Blood of Jesus sustain us as we journey to
our true home, with Mary and the angels as our companions on the way.
July Travel
Coronanites[2]
·
Macy's
4th of July Fireworks
Pop! Boom! Bang! July
spells independence, with glorious fireworks nationwide. Celebrate Independence
Day with a visit to the annual Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks display over the
Hudson River. And if N.Y.C.’s not on your itinerary, check out more of America’s best fireworks displays — in St. Louis, Addison, Texas and
Chicago’s Navy Pier.
·
Outlaw
Run (Branson, Missouri)[3]
Ready for a 68-mph adrenaline rush? Kick off July on
the only wooden coaster to twist upside down with a record-breaking three
versions — and a stomach-in-your-mouth 81-degree drop. Take advantage of Outlaw
Run’s extended hours this month at Silver Dollar City. Can’t make it to Branson this July? Check out our complete
guide to US amusement parks.
·
Tour
de France[4]
Celebrate France’s biggest sporting event this month —
the Tour de France. The official kick-off takes place
on the island of Corsica then crosses onto France’s mainland. Cruise the French
countryside as you follow the grand event. Or if you can’t make it abroad, head
to one of America’s top bicycling cities.
·
Hemingway
Days Festival (Key West, Florida)[5]
Can’t make it to Pamplona
this month? Head to Key West instead! Hemingway Days Festival honors the late author, who lived
and worked on the southern coast of the island. The annual event includes its
own "Running of the Bulls" — this one with Ernest Hemingway
lookalikes pushing fake bulls on Key West’s famed Duval Street.
·
California
Wine Festival (Santa Barbara, California)[6]
Head to one of the biggest
wine festivals under the sun! Celebrate wine harvest season this July with a
visit to California wine country. Held this year in Santa Barbara, the annual California Wine Festival showcases vintage wines, along
with gourmet appetizers including artisan breads and cheeses. Cheers!
·
Alaska
Cruise Season[7]
Escape the heat, and take
in awe-inspiring glacial views, with a cruise to Alaska.
Cruise ships dock alongside towns from Seward, along Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula,
to Ketchikan, in the Alexander Archipelago. Cruise ships also dock near Katmai
National Park, where July is prime time to see bears gulp up Atlantic salmon on
their run. And if cruise prices prove too high in July, fret not: Alaska’s
prime cruise season stretches through September.
·
Taste
of Chicago (Grant Park)[8]
This July don’t miss the
world’s largest food festival — yes, the largest! Held annually in mid-July, Taste of Chicago draws dozens of food vendors and
participating restaurants to Chi-Town’s Grant Park. The annual event attracts
upwards of 3 million people each year — and with foodie indulgences like the
famous deep-dish pizza, we know why! This is food to die for!
·
National
Ice Cream Month
This July we all scream
for ice cream. Celebrate National Ice Cream Month — designated a national
holiday by President Ronald Reagan in 1984 — with a trip to America’s coolest ice cream shops. And why not head to the
granddaddy of them all — Bassett’s Ice Cream in Philadelphia — the oldest ice
cream company in the U.S., founded in 1861!
·
Calgary
Stampede
Our "Neighbor to the
North" marks its birthday this month. Get in on the festivities during the
Calgary Stampede! This 10-day event is Canada’s largest annual rodeo,
and one of its largest festivals to boot. Billed as the "Greatest Outdoor
Show on Earth," the rodeo draws more than 1 million visitors each year.
·
Gettysburg’s 155th
Anniversary
Retrace one of America’s
biggest moments. This July the Battle of Gettysburg marks its 155th anniversary. Tour Gettysburg and its historic town, and take in
battle reenactments of events that culminated in more than 51,000 casualties and
the setting for President Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address.
Introduction to the
book of Zephaniah
Zephaniah’s prophecy
of judgment on Judah and Jerusalem emphasizes, perhaps more than any other
prophecy, the devastation and death that divine judgment will bring. Described
as the day of the Lord, the Day of Judgment is pictured as a time of darkness,
of anguish and distress, of destruction and plunder of cities, and of
threat to all life, human and animal alike. The major sins motivating this
judgment, in Zephaniah’s view, are Judah’s worship of other deities and its
unjust and abusive leadership.[9]
JULY 1 Wednesday
FEAST OF THE PRECIOUS BLOOD-JUNIPERO SERRA
Zephaniah, Chapter 3,
verse 7
I said, “Surely now
you will FEAR me, you will accept correction; They cannot fail to see
all I have brought upon them.” Yet the more eagerly they have done all their
corrupt deeds.
2. Explore the opportunities in front
of you. Our
intuition comes most alive when we size up the options near us.
3. Discern root causes for the issues
you face. Work to
get past superficial answers and solve root issues.
4. Analyze past successes. Study your victories and see if
you find a pattern that reveals how you won them.
5. Listen to your gut. Effective leaders lead from their
soul. Both your heart and your head have answers.
Feast of the Precious Blood[11]
July
first is the Feast of the Precious Blood. This is a feast that does not exist
in the new Roman Calendar of Pope Paul VI. It is still, however, in the
traditional Roman calendar of the 1962 usage. Both halves of the year, in January
and July, begin with the commemoration of the Precious Blood of Jesus. January
1 is the feast of the Circumcision, when the Precious Blood of Jesus was first
shed. July 1 is the commemoration of the Most Precious Blood of Jesus as it is
preserved in all Catholic churches at the hour of Mass. The Precious Blood of
Jesus was given to Him to divinize by Mary, the Mother of God. Between Jesus
and Mary there was a perpetual interflow of blood for nine months when He was a
Child in her womb. Anyone can see how divinized Mary became by this interchange
of blood for nearly a year. Everyone who wishes to become a son of God the
Father, as he becomes by Sanctifying Grace, must also become a child of Mary
the Virgin, by receiving in his mouth the Blessed Eucharist which is the Body,
Blood, Soul and Divinity of Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. All the saints
of the Old Testament, when their bodies rise from the grave on the Last Day,
will receive the Precious Blood of Jesus. Our Lord said of the chalice which
contained His Precious Blood at the Last Supper, “I will not drink of this
fruit of the vine, until that day when I shall drink it with you new in the
Kingdom of My Father.” The Kingdom of God the Father, whose sons we divinely by
adoption, is also the Queendom of Mary the Virgin, whose children we must incarnately
become in order to enjoy the happiness of Heaven forever.
California might not have any Confederate statues, but we do have plenty of monuments to Junipero Serra, widely known as the "father" of the California Missions. The story of the mass destruction of the Native population in California is less prevalent in the history books. The statue was torn down with a rope around the neck, its head splashed with blood-red paint. As the statue lay on the ground, Native children used it as a bench. Activists tore down a Serra statue in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park last week, as well as a statue of Francis Scott Key, author of the American anthem, "The Star Spangled Banner," who was a known slave owner. Serra was a Spanish priest, who came to what was then Alta California (part of Mexico), to spread Catholicism to the indigenous population. (Here in L.A. that was mostly people from the Tongva tribe. And by "spread" Catholicism, we mean force it upon them. Serra eventually spearheaded 21 missions on the coast, from San Diego to San Francisco. The missionaries were responsible for the ultimate destruction of Tongva culture. Tongva people who joined the missions in California essentially became slaves, forced to do manual labor. They suffered from disease, many of the women were raped, and thousands died or were killed. Those who resisted and remained in the countryside often starved, as their hunting grounds were turned into farms by the colonizers. This according to BLM (communist organization) supporters.
The Italian culture has
always had a close association with St. Joseph perhaps you could make
Wednesdays centered around Jesus’s Papa. Plan an Italian dinner of pizza or
spaghetti after attending Mass as most parishes have a Wednesday evening Mass.
You could even do carry out to help restaurants. If you are adventurous you
could do the Universal Man Plan: St. Joseph style. Make the evening a family
night perhaps it could be a game night. Whatever you do make the day special.
·
Do
Day 7 of Total Consecration to St. Joseph.
·
Do
the St. Joseph Universal Man Plan.
Daily
Devotions
·
Offering to
the sacred heart of Jesus
·
Rosary
[1]https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/overviews/months/07.cfm
[5]https://www.historichideaways.com/events/key-west-hemingway-days-2020
[6]https://www.californiawinefestival.com/santa-barbara
[7]https://www.cntraveler.com/story/is-alaskas-summer-cruise-season-still-happening?verso=true
[8]https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/depts/dca/supp_info/taste_of_chicago.html
[10] John Maxwell, The Maxwell Leadership
Bible.
[12]https://laist.com/2020/06/20/native_angelenos_tore_down_a_statue_of_junipero_serra_in_solidarity_with_black_lives_matter.php
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