Domus Daily
Wednesday, July 15, 2026 | Memorial of Saint Bonaventure, Bishop and Doctor of the Church
Daily reflections for the whole household. Find your path at wearedomus.com/start.

Dear Catholic Parents,

Isaiah asks a question that has never stopped being uncomfortable: "Will the axe boast against him who hews with it?" Assyria was a rod in God's hand and never knew it - convinced instead that its own power and shrewdness had moved the nations. Then Jesus thanks his Father for hiding these things from the wise and the learned and revealing them to the childlike (Matthew 11:25). Today's news is full of people convinced they are the hand. The household that knows it is a tool in a larger hand is the household that can be trusted with one.

📰 Quick Hits

1. The Iran War Enters Its Fifth Month - Strikes Resume, Naval Blockade Reimposed, Senate Stalls

The White House formally notified Congress Monday that it had resumed bombing strikes against Iran, effectively undoing the fragile ceasefire agreed last month. CENTCOM conducted its fourth consecutive day of strikes on Tuesday, targeting Iranian missile and drone sites, naval capabilities, and coastal defense systems. The naval blockade of Iranian ports was reimposed at 4 PM ET Tuesday. Iran struck Kuwaiti naval vessels and infrastructure. Three members of an Iranian park ranger's family were killed in a US strike near Bandar Abbas. Trump warned Iran that bridges and power plants could be struck "next week" unless Tehran returns to talks. On Tuesday, Senate Democrats blocked the $1.15 trillion annual defense authorization bill 50-46, with Sen. Tammy Duckworth - an Iraq combat veteran - saying: "Simply throwing more money at an out-of-control military operation is not strategy. It's a recipe for a forever war."

Faith Lens for the Home: The war is now in its fifth month with no visible endgame. The Church has said from the beginning that just war requires last resort, proportionality, and protection of civilians. Three park rangers' family members died near Bandar Abbas this week. Ask your family: "What does 'protecting civilians' mean in a conflict where the targets keep getting closer to populated areas? What is the Church asking us to pray for right now - and what does that prayer actually change?" Then pray tonight for the sailors and airmen who are somebody's children.

2. Two Men Are Dead. ICE Pauses Most Vehicle Stops.

In the span of six days, two men were fatally shot by ICE agents during vehicle stops - neither of whom was the target of the operation. Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, 52, a Mexican national and father of three, was driving to work in Houston on July 7 when federal agents pursuing a different person stopped and killed him. Johan Sebastián Guerrero, 26, a Colombian national authorized to work in the US, was shot in Biddeford, Maine on Monday - not the person named in the warrant. Neither agent wore a body camera. ICE issued a nationwide pause on most vehicle stops Tuesday. DHS Secretary Mullin said it is a "short pause" for additional training. Both bipartisan Maine senators called for independent investigation.

Faith Lens for the Home: No camera was recording in either place. Something was. The Psalm today is almost too exact: "Widow and stranger they slay, the fatherless they murder. And they say, 'The LORD sees not'... Shall he who shaped the ear not hear? or he who formed the eye not see?" (Psalm 94:6-9). Pray tonight for two dead men by name - Lorenzo Salgado Araujo and Johan Sebastián Guerrero - and for their families. Pray for the agents who fired and now live with it. Pray for investigators who need to see clearly. Then ask at dinner: "Do you behave differently when you think nobody is watching?"

3. Study: Many IVF Patients Were Never Evaluated for Treatable Causes of Infertility First

A new analysis of roughly five million insurance claims found that many patients who began IVF had not been documented as having received testing or treatment for potentially correctable causes of infertility beforehand. The authors noted that standard evaluation and restorative approaches were frequently skipped in favor of proceeding directly to assisted reproduction. CatholicVote's Tom McClusky observed: "I always love it when science catches up to Catholic teaching."

Faith Lens for the Home: Blessed are you, Father, for you have revealed these things to the childlike. The most advanced intervention available was reached for before anyone asked the simplest question: what is actually wrong, and can it be fixed? Restorative reproductive medicine - including NaProTechnology - has been asking that question for decades. If you know a couple carrying the grief of infertility, this is not a talking point to hand them. It is a reason to be gentle, to stay close, and to know that alternatives exist if they ever ask.

⛪ Family Saint Spotlight

St. Bonaventure - July 15

One of the great minds of the thirteenth century - a Franciscan who taught at Paris alongside Thomas Aquinas, led his entire order, and wrote theology with such burning precision that the Church named him the Seraphic Doctor. When a visitor once asked where he had gotten his wisdom, he pointed to a crucifix. He is exactly the man today's Gospel describes: wise and learned, and still childlike enough to be told the secret.

Ask at dinner: "Do you have to be smart to be close to God? Why do you think Jesus thanked his Father for showing things to little children instead of to experts?"

✋ One Simple Action

Before bed tonight, name one thing you did today that you cannot take credit for - and thank God for being the hand that held the tool. Then pray by name for Lorenzo Salgado Araujo and Johan Sebastián Guerrero, and for the families in Iran who are paying for decisions made above them.

📚 Read More

Bonaventure pointed to the crucifix and called it his library. The axe does not boast against the one who hews with it. Will the eye God formed not see what happened in Maine and Iran this week? Name it, pray it, trust the hand that holds you. Then go find the childlike thing you were hiding behind the learning.

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In Christ,
Deacon Michael Halbrook
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