Thursday, February 12, 2026

Rachel’s Corner Try 28 Seasonal Recipes to Cook in February

· do a personal eucharistic stations of the cross.

Best Place to visit in February-San Diego, California

Sun, sea air, and serious winter relief — San Diego ticked every box. I spent my days walking the beaches, exploring outdoors in mild temps, topping up my Vitamin D, and enjoying a quieter, more local side of the city, plus great hotel deals and February’s highlights like San Diego Museum Month, the Chinese New Year Fair, and Mardi Gras in the Gaslamp Quarter.

I drove two hours down the Pacific Coast Highway from Los Angeles and spent five gorgeous days at the chic Tower 23 Hotel — basking on the sands of La Jolla and Coronado, admiring early cherry blossoms at the Japanese Friendship Garden, and spotting gray whales in their peak migration season.

I can’t get enough of this sunny big city located in the south of California (near the Mexican border)! I’m always charmed by its Mexican and Hispanic influences, the gorgeous beaches and its laid-back vibe.

It has year-round sunshine and a mild climate, so when I want to escape from cold, gloomy weather and get a dose of much vitamin D, I head here! I found it to be much quieter and possess a much more local vibe and with awesome discounts on accommodation too.

While it wasn’t quite warm enough to swim in the ocean comfortably this time of year, I just relaxed on its sandy beaches, explored the green and very family (and dog-friendly!) parks, went shopping in its eclectic neighborhoods and discovered many of the cool restaurants and bars.

I also squeezed in a visit the charming Gaslamp Quarter,

the lively Old Town, the serene Japanese Friendship Garden, and the many art galleries, museums, and beautiful gardens dotted throughout the city.

Visitors’ Center Address: 996 N Harbor Dr, San Diego, CA 92101

Map Location

Average temperature –50 to 65

My highlights…

· Experiencing a breathtaking sunset boat tour with Sail San Diego.

· Relaxing with a zen-like Korean Massage at the Aqua Day Spa.

· Hiking along the trails at Torrey Pines State Park, I loved the incredible panoramic views!

Thursday Feast

Thursday is the day of the week that our Lord gave himself up for consumption. Thursday commemorates the last supper. Some theologians believe after Sunday Thursday is the holiest day of the week. We should then try to make this day special by making a visit to the blessed sacrament chapel, Mass or even stopping by the grave of a loved one. Why not plan to count the blessing of the week and thank our Lord. Plan a special meal. Be at Peace.

Dinner Menu

· Attend a Horse Show

o February 12-22

Visit the annual Arabian Horse Show in Scottsdale,

Arizona to watch over 2,400 horses compete for a chance at winning the coveted gold title. In between the competitions, there are plenty of kids’ activities like an ice cream social, pony painting (ceramic ponies, not real ones), and art contests. And the best part, kids 17 and under are free.

· Wickenburg, Arizona

o 77th Annual Gold Rush Days & Senior Pro Rodeo

§ FEBRUARY 12-15

· Check out Yarnell-St. Joseph of the mountains.

February 12 Thursday

Lincoln-Darwin

Leviticus, Chapter 25, Verse 36

Do not exact interest in advance or accrued interest,but out of FEAR of God let your kindred live with you.

Everyone serves something. Some serve gain, some serve pleasure, some serve others, but the wise person serves the Lord not out of servile fear but Holy fear; that is out of love.

Can we say with Joshua say, “As for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.” (Jos. 24:15) If we serve the Lord our own house should be open to our own kindred.

If everyone did this, would we have any who are homeless?

Search your hearts; do you have kindred who are in need?

Sustain them especially widows and orphans; by the way the divorced are the same as widows and orphans. Real charity is looking after widows and orphans.

Copilot’s Take

Holy fear teaches us to see people not as burdens but as sacred trusts, and that vision exposes the quiet evil of our age: the willingness to let the vulnerable fend for themselves while we protect our comfort. Scripture’s command not to profit from another’s desperation is more than an economic rule—it is a spiritual posture. It means refusing to participate in a culture that treats human need as an inconvenience or an opportunity. Evil today rarely announces itself with violence; it more often appears as indifference, as the shrug that says, “Someone else will take care of them.” But the fear of God awakens us to the truth that every person who crosses our path is placed there by Providence, and our response reveals whom we truly serve.

In biblical language, widows and orphans are those who have lost their natural defenders. In our world, that circle has widened. The single mother juggling survival, the single father carrying the weight of two roles, the divorced spouse navigating life without support, the elderly living alone, the immigrant with no kin, the child of a fractured home—these are the modern equivalents. They are not merely “cases” or “situations”; they are the ones God repeatedly commands His people to protect. When the Church forgets them, it forgets its own identity. When a household opens its door to them, it becomes a fortress of mercy pushing back against the darkness of isolation.

To confront evil today, we do not need grand gestures or public battles. We need households that echo Joshua’s vow: “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Service to the Lord always becomes service to His vulnerable ones. A Christian home becomes a refuge where the overwhelmed find rest, the lonely find company, and the abandoned find dignity. This is not sentimental charity—it is spiritual warfare. It is the quiet, stubborn refusal to let anyone God loves stand alone.

Bible in a Year Day 225 Our Will vs. God's Will

Fr. Mike reviews one of the most powerful verses in Proverbs, dealing with personal discernment and wanting to follow our own will instead of God's. He also goes into a deeper explanation of the prophet, Jeremiah, and how we ourselves can reflect the actions of Israel in the Old Testament. Today's readings are Jeremiah 2, Ezekiel 28, and Proverbs 14:9-12.

Abraham Lincoln[1]

Lincoln's Birthday (1809) celebrates the birthday of Abraham Lincoln, one of the most popular presidents in United States history. It is a state holiday in some states on or around February 12. It's also known as Abraham Lincoln's Birthday, Abraham Lincoln Day or Lincoln Day.

“Character is Destiny” [2]is a book written by John McCain in it he highlights the 16^th President, Abraham Lincoln, of the United States as an example of a man who demonstrates for us the characteristic of RESILIENCE. Resilience is the ability to become strong, healthy, or successful again after something bad happens.

Abraham Lincoln had known loss and grief all his life yet rather that than succumb to defeat; he somehow, always found a way to rise back up. He was inarguably a man of action. Although he was known to have chronic depression he never yielded and, in some way, resurrected from his melancholic states thinking, “To remain as I am is impossible; I must die or be better.” Lincoln rose to the highest office in the land after surviving a hard and poor childhood in the Indiana wilderness, a harsh father, little education, and deep loneliness. He survived the death of his brother, a sister, his mother, his first sweetheart, and his own children and his marriage to Mary Todd was troubled. As president he was considered dismal by most.

How did Lincoln persist?

He willed it. He was neither swift nor brilliant at work, but he was exhaustive; he continued. His resilience sprang from his deep conviction that America was, “the last, best hope of earth.” In the end he paid for his devotion with his life; so that the government of the people, by the people, and for the people shall not perish from the earth.

Darwin Day[3]

Darwin Day commemorates the achievements and the life of the scientist Charles Darwin. Names like Albert Einstein, Isaac Newton, Galileo Galilei, and Charles Darwin are among the most historic names in science. Darwin’s most famous achievement is the development of the Theory of Natural Selection. The celebration occurs every year on Darwin’s birthday, February 12th.

Character is Destiny[4]

John McCain pointed out in his book entitled, “Character is Destiny” that an understanding heart must be generous (Oseola McCarty), forgiving (Nelson Mandela), tolerant (Four Chaplains), full of mercy (Mother Antonia), faithful (Christian Guard at Hua Lo prison) and compassionate (Maximilian Kolbe). John now suggests for us that adding to our understanding heart we must strive to have a creative mind. A creative mind must be built on a thirst or curiosity in the mysteries of creation. John points out as an example of curiosity the renowned Charles Darwin.

McCain says of Darwin:

His curiosity and courage helped him to discover the history of nature and start an argument that has continued for 150 years. A curious thing about the father of the theory of evolution is that he himself was an avowed agnostic, keeping to his scientific methods.

The evolution of all life on earth, including man, was and still is, in some quarters, considered an affront to the belief that the progress of the human race over time bears the unmistakable sign of the divine spark in our nature: but why can we not be content in our faith with the understanding that God’s divine intelligence, which exists beyond time and space, and has left us to choose by the exercise of our free will whether to accept His grace or reject it, could have left nature to work its physical changes upon us?

We have a second nature, a moral nature, that is not determined by ecological change but by the workings of our conscience.

Is not our conscience and its effect upon our will enough confirmation for the believer that God, the Creator, has endowed us with the divine spark of His love to improve, if we so choose, our second nature in service to Him?

It is enough, I believe, for anyone who can see in our struggle to be good a divine purpose, as we may still glimpse in the wonders of nature the divine intelligence that created it and set it all in motion.

To believe and follow God is our choice. Not all will follow. Our principal belief is in our salvation not in this life but the next. Man, and nature, even at their cruelest, cannot deny us that, nor the gloriousness of His creation, a gloriousness that human qualities like curiosity have led us to appreciate with humility and awe. Time and the laws of nature do not expose the absence of God, whose proofs are a matter for the heart to contemplate, a matter of faith.

Evolution and the Catholic Church[5]

Early contributions to biology were made by Catholic scientists such as Jean-Baptiste Lamarck and the Augustinian friar Gregor Mendel. Since the publication of Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species in 1859, the attitude of the Catholic Church on the theory of evolution has slowly been refined.

For nearly a century, the papacy offered no authoritative pronouncement on Darwin's theories. In the 1950 encyclical Humani generis, Pope Pius XII confirmed that there is no intrinsic conflict between Christianity and the theory of evolution, provided that Christians believe that God created all things and that the individual soul is a direct creation by God and not the product of purely material forces.

Today, the Church supports theistic evolution(ism), also known as evolutionary creation, although Catholics are free not to believe in any part of evolutionary theory.

The Catholic Church holds no official position on the theory of creation or evolution, leaving the specifics of either theistic evolution or literal creationism to the individual within certain parameters established by the Church. According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, any believer may accept either literal or special creation within the period of an actual six-day, twenty-four-hour period, or they may accept the belief that the earth evolved over time under the guidance of God. Catholicism holds that God initiated and continued the process of his evolutionary creation and that all humans, whether specially created or evolved, have and have always had specially created souls for each individual.

Catholic schools in the United States and other countries teach evolution as part of their science curriculum. They teach the fact that evolution occurs and the modern evolutionary synthesis, which is the scientific theory that explains how evolution proceeds.

Daily Devotions

· Unite in the work of the Porters of St. Joseph by joining them in fasting: Today's Fast: Holy Priests, Consecrated, & Religious

· National Kraut and Frankfurter Week

· Offering to the sacred heart of Jesus

· Make reparations to the Holy Face

· Drops of Christ’s Blood

· Our Lady of Argenteuil

· Universal Man Plan

· Rosary

[1]https://www.google.com/search?q=lincoln%27s+birthday&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8

[2] McCain, John and Salter, Mark. (2005) Character is destiny. Random House, New York

[3] https://www.wincalendar.com/Darwin-Day

[4] http://www.icemanforchrist.org/p/character-is-destiny.html

[5]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolution_and_the_Catholic_Church

fascinating hybrid: part mystery, part stage‑illusion thriller, part early‑sound-era mood piece. It’s also a terrific Edmund Lowe vehicle, and it gives you that atmospheric, slightly uncanny 1930s energy

**🎭 The Spider (1931) — Mystery / Illusion Thriller**

Starring: Edmund Lowe, Lois Moran, El Brendel
Studio: Fox Film Corporation
Tone: Shadowy, theatrical, psychological, pre‑noir

1. Plot Summary

A famous stage magician known as The Great Chatrand (Edmund Lowe) becomes entangled in a murder mystery when a man is killed during one of his performances. The crime appears to be connected to Chatrand’s past—specifically a buried identity and a long‑standing feud that refuses to stay dead.

As police investigate, Chatrand must navigate:

A mysterious woman (Lois Moran) who may know more than she admits
A rival illusionist with motives of his own
A series of eerie, atmospheric clues tied to hypnotism, memory, and guilt
A creeping sense that the past is staging a comeback on its own terms

The film blends stagecraft and crime, using illusions as metaphors for hidden sin, concealed identity, and the masks people wear.

2. Classic‑Film Devotional Framework

A. Themes of Identity & Confession

Chatrand’s double life echoes the spiritual tension between who we present to the world and who we truly are.
Perfect for reflections on:

Integrity
Repentance
The unveiling of truth

B. Illusion vs. Reality

The film’s stage‑magic setting becomes a parable:
What we hide eventually demands to be revealed.
This aligns beautifully with your Good Friday–to–Divine Mercy arc.

C. The Pursuit of Truth

The detective elements mirror the spiritual detective work you often highlight—seeking clarity, naming sin, and restoring order.

3. Hospitality Pairing

🍷 Drink Pairing: A Deep, Dark Red

A Cabernet Sauvignon or Syrah—something with shadowy depth.
Symbolism:

The hidden layers of the soul
The richness beneath the surface
The unveiling of truth through slow savoring

🍫 Food Pairing: Dark Chocolate with Sea Salt

The bitterness and sweetness mirror the film’s interplay of guilt and revelation.

🕯️ Ritual Cue

Dim the lights.
Let the room feel like a 1930s theater.
A single candle or lamp evokes the spotlight on truth.

4. Moral & Spiritual Resonance

Theme	Film Expression	Devotional Tie‑In
Hidden Sin	Chatrand’s concealed past	Confession, truth-telling
Illusion	Stage magic masking reality	The masks we wear before God
Justice	The investigation	Divine order restored
Identity	Chatrand’s dual nature	Becoming who God calls us to be

This film is practically built for your legacy‑formation lens.

Where to Find True Hope in These Difficult Times

Today is first Wednesday

For a First Wednesday ritual under the patronage of St. Joseph, you want something that feels steady, masculine, protective, and quietly strong — exactly the tone you’ve been cultivating in your February Twilight Companion. St. Joseph doesn’t call for flash; he calls for integrity, craftsmanship, and calm authority.

Below is a pairing that fits that spirit beautifully.

St. Joseph First Wednesday Pairing

Cigar • Bourbon • Virtue • Reflection

Cigar: Natural Wrapper (your preferred “steady” choice)

A natural-wrapped cigar is perfect for St. Joseph:
- Honest, unadorned, dependable
- Medium body, no theatrics
- A profile that rewards patience and attention
Symbolically, it mirrors Joseph’s hidden life — quiet strength, clean lines, nothing artificial.

Bourbon: Redemption High Rye

You’ve already identified this as your “clean, focused” anchor spirit, and it’s ideal for St. Joseph.

High rye = discipline, structure, craftsmanship
Clean finish = purity of intention
Not sweet, not showy — just true.
This bourbon sits in the background like Joseph himself: supportive, steady, and strong.

Virtue of the Night: Obedience of the Just Man**

Not blind obedience — but the obedience of a man who listens, discerns, and acts.
Joseph obeys because he trusts God more than his own fear.

Symbol: The carpenter’s square — straight, true, aligned.

Reflection Prompt

Use this while the cigar warms and the bourbon opens:

“Where is God asking me to act quietly, steadily, without applause — and am I willing to obey in the hidden places?”

A second layer, if you want to go deeper:

“What part of my life needs the carpenter’s square — truing, straightening, or strengthening?”

Ritual Flow

A simple, masculine sequence:

Cut & Light
- As the flame touches the leaf, say:
  “St. Joseph, guardian of the hidden life, steady my hands and my heart.”
First Sip
- Let the rye spice hit the palate.
- Name one place where you need courage to obey.
Middle Third of the Cigar
- Reflect on Joseph’s silence — not passive, but purposeful.
- Ask: “Where should I speak less and build more?”
Final Third
- Offer the day’s labor, frustrations, and hopes.
- Close with:
  “Joseph, just man, make my work clean and my heart true.”

Wednesday, February 11, 2026

Coffee with Christ: A Lenten Companion Is Almost Here

There’s a quiet joy in announcing this:
Coffee with Christ has officially completed production, and the audiobook is now in ACX’s final review. After months of writing, refining, recording, and praying through each page, we’re standing at the threshold. Lent is approaching, and the timing couldn’t be more fitting.

This little book was born from simple mornings—coffee in hand, Scripture open, heart steadying itself before the Lord. No theatrics. No noise. Just presence. Just Christ. Over time, those moments became a rhythm, then a practice, then a companion. Now they’re becoming an audiobook meant to walk with you through the season ahead.

As we wait for ACX to finish their final checks, I want to invite you into the anticipation. Lent is a time for returning, for clearing space, for remembering who we are and whose we are. My hope is that Coffee with Christ becomes a gentle guide for anyone who wants to begin each day with a few minutes of peace, Scripture, and honest conversation with God.

Once the audiobook goes live on Audible, Amazon, and iTunes, I’ll post the links here. Until then, consider this your early invitation to make room for a simple daily ritual this Lent—one cup, one Scripture, one quiet moment with Christ.

More soon. The wait won’t be long.

The Song of Bernadette (1943) is one of those rare films that manages to be both reverent and cinematically powerful — a work of art that treats the life of Saint Bernadette Soubirous with tenderness, realism, and a surprising amount of dramatic tension. Since you’ve been weaving classic films into your devotional and hospitality framework, this one fits beautifully into that tradition.

The Song of Bernadette (1943)

A luminous portrait of humility, suffering, and the mystery of grace

Plot Summary

Set in 1858 in the small French town of Lourdes, the film follows Bernadette Soubirous, a poor, asthmatic miller’s daughter whose life changes when she encounters “a beautiful Lady” in the grotto of Massabielle. What begins as a private vision quickly becomes a public controversy. Bernadette’s simplicity and sincerity collide with the skepticism of civil authorities, the caution of Church leaders, and the fervor of the townspeople.

As the apparitions continue, Bernadette is asked to perform seemingly impossible tasks — to dig in the mud, to drink from a nonexistent spring, to relay messages she barely understands. The miraculous spring emerges, healings begin, and the world descends upon Lourdes. Yet Bernadette herself remains untouched by pride, choosing the hidden life of a nun rather than the fame of a visionary.

The film closes with her final illness, where her long-hidden physical suffering becomes the last offering of her life — a quiet martyrdom of love.

Catholic Themes & Lessons

1. Humility as the Vessel of Grace

Bernadette is not chosen because she is strong, educated, or impressive. She is chosen because she is small.
Her poverty, illness, and lack of status become the very conditions through which God works.

Lesson: God delights in using the overlooked to reveal His glory.

2. Suffering as Participation in Christ

The film does not romanticize Bernadette’s pain. Her asthma, her bone disease, her humiliations — all become a hidden participation in the Cross.
Her final line, “I am happier than you,” is not triumphalism but union.

Lesson: Suffering offered in love becomes redemptive.

3. The Discernment of Apparitions

The Church’s caution is portrayed with nuance.
The priests and bishops are not villains; they are guardians of truth.
Their discernment protects both Bernadette and the faithful.

Lesson: Authentic faith welcomes miracles but tests spirits.

4. The Danger of Spiritual Jealousy

One of the film’s most striking subplots is the nun who resents Bernadette’s visions.
Her envy blinds her to Bernadette’s hidden suffering.

Lesson: Holiness is not measured by gifts but by love.

5. The Marian Way: “Penance, Penance, Penance”

The Lady’s message is simple and severe.
Conversion.
Prayer.
Sacrifice.

Lesson: Lourdes is not primarily about healing — it is about repentance.

Hospitality Pairing (Classic Film + Spiritual Table)

Drink: “The Grotto Spring”

A simple, clear, Marian-inspired cocktail using your bar stock:

Vodka (1.5 oz)
White wine (1 oz, chilled)
Limoncello (0.5 oz)
Shake lightly and serve over crushed ice
Garnish with a thin lemon peel shaped like a small flame — symbol of the Lady’s radiance

The drink is intentionally light, clean, and bright — a contrast to the heavy, smoky cocktails of the 1940s.

Meal Pairing: “Peasant’s Table of Lourdes”

A humble French-country plate:

Rustic bread
Simple cheese (goat or soft cow)
A small bowl of vegetable soup
A handful of grapes (your hospitality signature)

This echoes Bernadette’s poverty and the simplicity of the Soubirous family.

Reflection Prompt for Devotional Use

Where in my life is God asking me to be small, obedient, or hidden — and do I resist because I want to be seen?

What suffering have I been carrying alone that could become an offering if united to Christ?

Dara’s Corner-Try “Codfish Cakes”

· Spirit Hour: Try a wine from St. Bernadette area near Lourdes or a white rose

· Carnival Time begins in Catholic Countries.

· Thomas Edison, born on February 11, 1847

· National Cardiac Rehabilitation Week

· Bucket List trip: Greenland

· American Heart Month

· National Latte Day

· Plan winter fun:

· Soak in hot springs

· Hit the snow slopes

· Ride a snowmobile

· Go for a dog sled ride

· Ride a hot air balloon

· How to celebrate Feb 11th

· Rise and shine, time to kickstart your day in style! Begin by honing your inner rockstar for National Get Out Your Guitar Day. Strum a tune or two, maybe even pen your own song – the world is your stage!

· In between jam sessions, channel your inner inventor for National Inventors’ Day. Get crafty with household items, maybe whip up a DIY gadget. Embrace your innovation!

· Take a break from your inventions to celebrate Satisfied Staying Single Day. Treat yourself to a luxurious spa day, binge-watch your favorite show guilt-free, revel in the freedom of solo living.

· Feeling social? It’s National Make a Friend Day – reach out to that neighbor you’ve been meaning to chat with, or catch up with an old pal over a latte for National Latte Day.

Expand your social circle and nurture those connections.

· As the day winds down, don your best white shirt in honor of National White Shirt Day. Class and sophistication never go out of style.

· Before you cozy up for the night, reflect on the achievements of grandmothers worldwide for Grandmother Achievement Day. Whip up a batch of peppermint patties or share a heartwarming story – celebrate the incredible women who paved the way.

· So, seize the day, embrace the weird and wonderful mishmash of holidays, and make it a day to remember!

🌍 Dara’s Corner: Aboard The World
Ordinary Time | February 12 – February 18, 2026
Theme: Courage, Clarity & the Quiet Strength of Commitment
Coordinates: South Australia Coast → Adelaide → Spencer Gulf → At Sea

🌤️ Day 1 — February 12 | Approaching South Australia
Title: The Courage to Continue
• Ritual: Pilgrims place a hand over their heart and name one commitment they refuse to abandon
• Scripture: Joshua 1:9 — “Be strong and courageous… for the Lord your God is with you.”
• Meal: Greek yogurt with berries, toasted almonds, black tea
• Reflection: “Courage is not loud—it is steady.”
• Hospitality Arc: Ask someone what they’re committed to—and honor their perseverance

🌬️ Day 2 — February 13 | Entering Gulf Waters
Title: The Gulf of Clarity
• Ritual: Pilgrims write one question they need clarity on and hold it to the light
• Scripture: Proverbs 20:5 — “The purposes of a person’s heart are deep waters…”
• Meal: Vegetable couscous, lemon broth, mint tea
• Reflection: “Clarity often rises slowly, like tide.”
• Hospitality Arc: Share with someone a question you’re living with—not a question you’re solving

🌆 Day 3 — February 14 | Docked in Adelaide (Valentine’s Day)

Title: The Heart That Discerns
• Ritual: Pilgrims walk a short garden path or shoreline, naming one relationship that needs gentleness
• Scripture: Colossians 3:14 — “Above all, clothe yourselves with love…”
• Meal: Grilled lamb, roasted vegetables, local Shiraz
• Reflection: “Love is discernment practiced with tenderness.”
• Hospitality Arc: Offer someone a word of kindness they didn’t expect
Local Inspiration:
Adelaide’s gardens, wine country, and coastal calm invite a spirituality of gentleness and relational renewal.

🌧️ Day 4 — February 15 | Spencer Gulf
Title: The Softening Rain
• Ritual: Pilgrims sit for two minutes naming one place in their life that needs softening
• Scripture: Ezekiel 36:26 — “I will remove your heart of stone…”
• Meal: Pumpkin soup, seeded crackers, warm ginger water
• Reflection: “Softening is not weakness—it is readiness.”
• Hospitality Arc: Ask someone where they feel themselves softening—and bless it

🌅 Day 5 — February 16 | At Sea Toward the Bight
Title: The Long Look
• Ritual: Pilgrims gaze at the horizon for one full minute, naming one long-term hope
• Scripture: Hebrews 10:23 — “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope…”
• Meal: Spinach omelet, citrus slices, herbal tea
• Reflection: “Hope stretches the soul toward its future.”
• Hospitality Arc: Invite someone to speak their long-term hope aloud

🌊 Day 6 — February 17 | Southern Ocean Swell
Title: The Deep Resolve
• Ritual: Pilgrims place both hands on the ship’s railing, grounding themselves in one resolve for the year
• Scripture: Psalm 57:7 — “My heart is steadfast, O God…”
• Meal: Baked cod, quinoa, cucumber salad, sparkling water
• Reflection: “Resolve is the quiet spine of the soul.”
• Hospitality Arc: Affirm someone’s resolve—name the strength you see in it

🌄 Day 7 — February 18 | At Sea, Turning Eastward
Title: The Turning Point
• Ritual: Pilgrims turn their bodies slowly from west to east, naming one direction they feel called to shift
• Scripture: Isaiah 30:15 — “In returning and rest you shall be saved…”

• Meal: Roasted chicken, sweet potatoes, chamomile tea
• Reflection: “Turning is not reversal—it is alignment.”
• Hospitality Arc: Ask someone what direction they feel drawn toward—and bless their turning

February 11 Wednesday

Feast Of Our Lady of Lourdes

Leviticus, Chapter 25, Verse 17

Do not deal unfairly with one another, then; but stand in FEAR of your God.

I, the LORD, am your God.

Fairness is a word that means physical beauty. In a sense God is asking us to not do those things that mar the physical beauty of another. This means is essence that we need to nourish each other and to give to share with other the gifts we receive from God. This means to respect each person as a person, physically, mentally, and emotionally; to provide for their welfare. One of the greatest ways we can honor our creator is in how we deal fairly with our spouses.

Of course — here is the full piece you and I crafted earlier on the Church’s obedience to Christ mirroring a wife’s obedience to her husband. I’m presenting it cleanly, without additions, exactly as the standalone reflection you intended.

The Church’s Obedience to Christ and the Icon of Marriage

(For February 11 — Our Lady of Lourdes)

The modern world recoils at the word obedience, especially when applied to marriage. Yet Scripture does not blush. St. Paul speaks plainly: “Wives, be subject to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the Church.” This is not humiliation, nor domination, nor erasure of dignity. It is an icon — a living sacrament — of something far greater.

The Church herself is the Bride. She receives everything from Christ: her life, her mission, her holiness, her very identity. She does not invent truth; she receives it. She does not negotiate the Gospel; she proclaims it. She does not direct Christ; she follows Him. Her obedience is not servile but radiant — the obedience of love, the obedience of one who trusts the Bridegroom who has already died for her.

In this light, the wife’s obedience is not a concession to patriarchy but a participation in the mystery of the Church. It is the posture of the heart that says: I trust you to lead us toward God. And the husband’s headship is not tyranny but cruciform responsibility: Love your wives as Christ loved the Church and gave Himself up for her. The husband leads by dying first. He commands nothing he has not already bled for.

When this order is lived rightly, it becomes luminous. The world sees in the home what it cannot see in the streets: a living parable of Christ and His Bride. The husband’s strength becomes a shelter, not a weapon. The wife’s trust becomes a crown, not a chain. Together they reveal the Gospel in a language older than words.

The rebellion of our age is not against men but against Christ. The world rejects the wife’s obedience because it rejects the Church’s obedience. It rejects the husband’s headship because it rejects Christ’s headship. But the divine order remains, unthreatened and unashamed.

To restore marriage, we must restore the Church’s posture before her Lord. To heal the home, we must heal the Bride. And to understand obedience, we must look not to politics or power struggles but to the Cross — where the Bridegroom gives everything, and the Bride receives everything.

This is the obedience that saves the world.

Together For Marriage[1]

Marriage works. It makes people happier, live longer, and build more economic security. Children with married parents perform better in school. Click here for new research on "Why Marriage Matters: Thirty Conclusions from Social Science." Deep down, everyone wishes they could have a rewarding lifelong commitment with their spouse. But in the midst of challenges, we forget how marriage can benefit our personal lives. We are losing our determination and the skills to keep marriages healthy and strong. Marriage breakdown is costly to our kids and to society at large. Divorce and unwed childbearing cost the U.S. taxpayers a whopping $112 billion annually. In these economic challenging times, building stronger marriages helps build a stronger nation.

Copilot’s Take

The dynamics surrounding the shutdown reveal a familiar pattern of modern evil: the slow normalization of unfairness, the manipulation of public fear, and the erosion of trust between people who should be bound by shared responsibility. Leviticus’ command not to deal unfairly becomes a mirror for this moment, exposing how political actors can treat citizens as leverage rather than as persons with dignity, livelihoods, and families. The Church’s witness—especially under the mantle of Our Lady of Lourdes—reminds the world that evil often hides in indifference, in the willingness to let others suffer for strategic gain, and in the refusal to honor the beauty of the human person. In contrast, covenantal fidelity, whether in marriage or civic life, becomes a quiet but powerful resistance to such manipulation, modeling the justice and reverence that public life so often lacks.

Our Lady of Lourdes[2]

Today marks the first apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary in 1858 to fourteen-year-old Marie Bernade (St. Bernadette) Soubirous. Between February 11 and July 16, 1858, the Blessed Virgin appeared eighteen times and showed herself to St. Bernadette in the hollow of the rock at Lourdes. On March 25 she said to the little shepherdess who was only fourteen years of age: "I am the Immaculate Conception." Since then, Lourdes has become a place of pilgrimage, and many cures and conversions have taken place. The message of Lourdes is a call to personal conversion, prayer, and charity.

The Message of the Virgin of Lourdes[3]

One of the better-known apparitions of Our Lady took place in Lourdes, France in 1858. This shrine continues today to be one of the most popular Marian shrines in the world. Thousands of people visit this shrine every year, a special place of devotion to Our Lady, where many miracles have occurred.

Beginning with her first apparition of February 11, 1858, Mary appeared eighteen times to Bernadette Soubirous, a girl of only fourteen years of age. When Bernadette asked the Lady who She was, she received the reply, "I am the Immaculate Conception." Less than four years before, on December 8, 1854, Pius IX had raised the teaching about the Immaculate Conception of Our Lady to be dogma of faith with these words:

By the authority of Our Lord Jesus Christ, of the blessed apostles Peter and Paul, and our own authority, we declare, pronounce, and define: the doctrine which hold that the Most Blessed Virgin Mary was from the first moment of her conception, by the singular, grace and privilege of almighty God, and in view of the merits of Christ Jesus the Savior of the human race, preserved immune from all stain of original sin, is revealed by God and therefore, firmly and constantly to be believed by all the faithful. (The Christian Faith #709).

It is under the title of the Immaculate Conception that Our Lady is especially honored in our own country.

This message can be summed up in the following four points:

1. It is a heavenly confirmation of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception that had just been defined by the Church a few years before.

2. It is an exaltation of the virtues of Christian poverty and humility that are perceived in Bernadette.

3. The spiritual message is that of personal conversion. Our Lady tells Bernadette that the important thing is to be happy in the next life. To attain this, we must accept the cross in this life.

4. Mary stresses the importance of prayer, especially the rosary. Our Lady appeared with a rosary hanging from Her right arm. Penance and humility are also part of the message, as well as a message of mercy for sinners and compassion for the sick.

Things to Do

· Watch “The Song of Bernadette”, a masterpiece filmed in 1943.

· Bring flowers (roses would be appropriate) to your statue of Our Lady at your home altar, especially if you have a statue of Our Lady of Lourdes.

· Obtain some Lourdes holy water and give the parental blessing to your children.

· Give extra care to the sick in your community — cook dinner for a sick mother's family, bring your children to the local nursing home (the elderly love to see children), send flowers to a member of your parish community who is ill.

· Today’s recipes:

o Cassoulet

o French Style Shepherd's Pie

o Initial Cookies

o Minced Chicken (or Turkey) a la King

o Soupe Basque

National Marriage Week-Marriage Retreat[4]

Here is a virtual Marriage Retreat. Join us by taking a few moments each day, together with your spouse, to reflect and pray. This retreat will help you further reflect on what makes marriage unique as established by God, between a man and woman, as the basis for family and society. For more instruction or inspiration, visit foryourmarriage.org or marriageuniqueforareason.org.

· Plan to do the retreats weekly; perhaps on the day of the week you were married.

· Enjoy a good home cooked meal together after your retreat; use a recipe for the saint of the day. Available at Catholicculture.org. Say Grace together and ask to the saint of the day’s intervention.

Bible in a Year Day 224 The Weeping Prophet

Fr. Mike introduces us to the prophet Jeremiah, who is also known as the Prophet of Doom and the Weeping Prophet. He explains what makes Jeremiah different than the other prophets, and encourages us to cling closely to him as we hear about his difficult call. Today's readings are Jeremiah 1, Ezekiel 27, and Proverbs 14:5-8.

Daily Devotions

· Unite in the work of the Porters of St. Joseph by joining them in fasting: Today's Fast: End Sex Trafficking, Slavery

· Offering to the sacred heart of Jesus

· Drops of Christ’s Blood

· Universal Man Plan

· Rosary

[1]http://www.nationalmarriageweekusa.org/home

[2]http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2017-02-11

[3]https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?id=5289

[4]http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?id=3001