Smoke in This Life — Saturday After the Ascension (May 16)

Virtue: Gratitude & Constancy
Cigar: Maduro with a steady, earthy burn
Bourbon: A grounded rye—firm, honest, unpretentious
Reflection: “Whom do I thank by how I live?”

After such an explanation, incredulity was impossible. Hugette, at once astounded and grateful, received with joy the services rendered during the fourteen days designated. She alone could see and hear the deceased, who came at certain hours and then disappeared. As soon as her strength permitted, she devoutly made the pilgrimages which were asked of her.

This is the quiet day in the story—the day when the miraculous has already been revealed, the terms are clear, and the work begins. No more astonishment, no more testing of spirits, no more debate. Just fidelity. Just gratitude expressed through action.

Hugette’s gratitude is not sentimental. It is not a warm feeling. It is a task. A pilgrimage. A debt of love paid in footsteps. She does not merely thank her aunt; she walks her thanks.

And this is the lesson for the Saturday after the Ascension:
Christ has ascended. The angels have spoken. The mission is clear. Now comes the quiet fidelity of the in‑between days—the days when nothing dramatic happens, but everything depends on whether we keep walking.

Gratitude is proven by constancy.
Constancy is proven by obedience.
Obedience is proven by action.

Today’s smoke is not triumphant. It is steady. Earthy. A Maduro that holds its line without theatrics. The rye is the same—honest, grounded, without ornament. Together they form the posture of the day: I will do what has been asked of me, and I will do it with gratitude.

Meditation:
Where in my life has God already spoken clearly—
and I am now simply called to walk the path with quiet fidelity?

Prayer:
Lord, give me Hugette’s gratitude,
not the kind that speaks,
but the kind that walks.
Teach me to thank You with my feet.

SUDDEN FEAR (1952)

Joan Crawford • Jack Palance • Gloria Grahame
Directed by David Miller

A marital thriller filmed like a nocturnal confession, Sudden Fear turns the San Francisco elite world of writers, actors, and socialites into a stage where trust becomes a weapon. Joan Crawford gives one of her most controlled and devastating performances—not as a fallen woman, but as a woman who discovers that the man she loves is rehearsing her murder. Jack Palance is all sharp angles and predatory charm, while Gloria Grahame slithers through the film like a living temptation.

This is not a simple noir.
It is a spiritual study of betrayal, illusion, and the terrifying clarity that comes when a woman finally sees the truth.

1. Production & Historical Setting

Released in 1952 by RKO, Sudden Fear stands at the intersection of:

Postwar American Glamour and Anxiety

The film’s world is elegant—mansions, theater circles, tailored suits—but beneath the polish lies insecurity, ambition, and the fear of becoming obsolete. Crawford’s Myra Hudson embodies the successful woman who still longs to be loved.

The Rise of Psychological Noir

This is noir without alleys or gangsters.
The shadows are interior:
jealousy, deception, the quiet dread of sleeping beside someone who wants you gone.

Joan Crawford’s Reinvention

After Mildred Pierce, Crawford mastered the role of the self‑made woman whose strength becomes her vulnerability. Here she is a playwright—wealthy, respected, but emotionally exposed.

Jack Palance’s Breakthrough as the New Male Threat

Palance’s Lester Blaine is not a brute.
He is articulate, handsome in a severe way, and capable of tenderness—until the mask slips.
His Oscar nomination signaled a new kind of screen villain:
the intimate predator.

Gloria Grahame and the Noir Femme Fatale

Grahame’s Irene Neves is not merely “the other woman.”
She is the embodiment of opportunism—sexual, financial, and emotional.
She doesn’t seduce Lester; she activates him.

San Francisco as a Psychological Labyrinth

Fog, hills, staircases, streetcars—
the city becomes a maze where Myra must outthink the people plotting her death.

The world is small:
a mansion, a rehearsal room, a dictation machine, a bedroom where a woman listens to her own death sentence.

But the moral terrain is vast—
trust, betrayal, fear, self‑possession, and the moment when innocence becomes strategy.

2. Story Summary

Myra Hudson (Joan Crawford)

A successful playwright.
A woman who has everything—except a man who loves her for herself.

She meets Lester Blaine (Jack Palance), an actor she once rejected professionally.
He charms her.
He marries her.
He moves into her world.

At first, it feels like salvation.
Then Myra discovers the truth.

The Dictation Machine Revelation

In one of noir’s greatest sequences, Myra accidentally records Lester and Irene plotting her murder.
She listens.
She freezes.
She understands.

The man she adores is rehearsing her death like a scene in a play.

The Transformation

Myra does not collapse.
She becomes strategic.
Silent.
Observant.

She plans her escape.
She imagines killing them first.
She rehearses her own counter‑plot.

But fear and conscience war within her.

The Final Night

A chase through San Francisco—
fog, headlights, footsteps, panic.

Lester and Irene destroy each other through suspicion and rage.
Myra survives not by violence, but by endurance.

The film ends with her trembling, exhausted, alive—
a woman who has seen the truth and walked through it.

3. Spiritual & Moral Resonances

A. The Terror of False Intimacy
The greatest danger is not the stranger in the alley.
It is the person who shares your bed.
The film exposes the spiritual horror of misplaced trust.
B. The Awakening of Discernment
Myra’s salvation begins when she stops romanticizing Lester and starts seeing him.
Clarity is painful, but it is holy.
C. The Strength of the Interior Life
Myra’s battle is not physical.
It is psychological and spiritual—
the fight to remain sane, moral, and alive while surrounded by deceit.
D. Evil as Collaboration
Lester is weak.
Irene is manipulative.
Together they become lethal.
The film shows how sin multiplies when two wounded souls feed each other’s worst impulses.
E. The Triumph of Endurance Over Violence
Myra does not kill.
She survives.
The film insists that sometimes victory is simply refusing to become what threatens you.

4. Hospitality Pairing — The Nocturnal Vigil Spread

A dark‑wrapped Maduro cigar — dense, shadowed, slow‑burning, like Myra’s rising dread.
A pour of rye whiskey — sharp, angular, echoing Palance’s presence.
Black coffee and almond cookies — the taste of late‑night clarity, when illusions fall away.
A leather notebook — a place to confront the truths you’ve avoided.

A setting for nights when you want to reflect on trust, betrayal, and the courage of seeing clearly.

5. Reflection Prompts

Where have I trusted someone’s charm more than their character.
What truths have I overheard—directly or indirectly—that changed how I see someone.
When have I survived not by fighting, but by enduring.
What illusions about love or loyalty need to be stripped away.
Where do I need the courage to see what is actually happening, not what I wish were true.

Friday, May 15, 2026

Smoke in This Life and Not the Next

Fri, May 15 – Friday After the Ascension

Virtue: Perseverance & Purified Identity
Cigar: Aged Maduro — dark, steady, disciplined
Bourbon: Old Forester 1920 — deep, honest, uncompromising
Reflection: “Who am I becoming under God’s fire?”

The Devotion

The day after the Ascension is the day after glory.
Christ has risen, mission has descended,
and now the world looks exactly the same—
except the disciple is not.

Heaven has moved.
Therefore man must move.

And into this sober, post‑glory clarity
steps the second revelation of Leonarde Collin.

Hugette, astonished, feared deception.
She sought her confessor, Father Antony Roland,
who told her to test the spirit with the exorcisms of the Church.

The young woman did not tremble.

“They have no power but against the demons and the damned;
none whatever against predestined souls,
who are in the grace of God as I am.”

This is the first truth of Purgatory:
the souls suffering there are not half‑saved.
They are the elect, sealed, confirmed,
already belonging entirely to God.

Their suffering is not uncertainty.
It is purification.

Hugette pressed further:
“How can you be my Aunt Leonarde?
She was old, irritable, worn.
You are young, patient, gentle.”

The answer cut through the air like a blade:

“My real body is in the tomb…
this one is formed from the air.
Seventeen years of terrible suffering
have taught me patience and meekness.
In Purgatory we are confirmed in grace
and therefore exempt from all vice.”

This is the second truth of Purgatory:
the fire does not merely punish vice—
it burns it out.
It does not merely correct temperament—
it recreates it.
It does not merely refine behavior—
it restores identity.

The Ascension lifts man upward.
Purgatory strips away everything that cannot rise.

Today asks:

What in me still clings to the earth?
What habits, tempers, and excuses
would seventeen years of divine fire burn away?
What would I look like
if God finished what He has already begun?

The day after the Ascension is the day of honesty.
Christ has risen.
Now the disciple must rise.

The Purgatory Line

A soul once said:

“I entered Purgatory with the same face I wore on earth—
the face shaped by my habits,
my temper,
my refusals of grace.”

Not malice.
Not scandal.
Not hatred.

Resistance.
The stubborn refusal to let God make a saint
out of the man He created.

Leonarde’s seventeen years
were the long correction
of every place she resisted grace
while she lived.

Purgatory is the furnace
where God finishes the work
we would not let Him complete in life.

The Cigar & Bourbon

Aged Maduro — dark, steady, disciplined.
A wrapper that has endured time,
a leaf that has learned patience,
a smoke that teaches the soul to stay in the fire
until the fire has done its work.

Old Forester 1920 — deep, honest, uncompromising.
A bourbon that refuses pretense,
that carries weight without apology,
that tastes like truth spoken plainly.

Together they form a discipline of identity—
the willingness to be remade,
to let God burn away the man you were
so He can reveal the man you are.

The Question for the Night Smoke

“Who am I becoming under God’s fire?”

Not:
“What must I suffer?”
but
“What will remain of me
when everything false has been burned away?”

Let the smoke rise slowly,
like the soul learning to ascend—
purified, patient,
finally recognizable to Heaven.

MAY 15 Friday of the Sixth Week of Easter

Pentecost Novena-ST. ISIDORE the farmer

Acts, Chapter 18, verse 9-10

One night in a vision the Lord said to Paul, “Do not be AFRAID. Go on speaking, and do not be silent, for I am with you. No one will attack and harm you, for I have many people in this city.”

When we remain silent in the presence of evil, out of fear, this is wrong. Our Lord suffers with every injustice. We must speak out against evil our Lord tells us, “Go on speaking, and do not be silent, for I am with you.”

One such evil is the murder of the unborn. The good news is we can do something.

"Silence in the face of evil is itself evil.

God will not hold us guiltless.

Not to speak is to speak.

Not to act is to act" ~

Deitrich Bonhoeffer.

The Virtue of Intolerance[1]

Intolerance has a bad reputation. And with good reason too. Still, I’m not so sure it should be thrown out with the bathwater quite yet. As a matter of fact, I’m actually an advocate of having a good healthy dose of it.

Surprised?

Keep reading. I think you’ll agree.

You see, the problem with intolerance is not so much the intolerance per se as much as what our intolerance is directed at. It’s the object of intolerance that makes it a moral issue. Change the object and the morality of your intolerance changes too. There are certainly things in life we should tolerate like human differences, the incessant questions from children, clumsy attempts by good-meaning people to offer help, bad fashion and the like. But there are times when intolerance is an outright virtue. Read on to see what I mean …

10 Things Worthy of Our Intolerance

1. Be Intolerant of Naysayers

Pursuing our dreams and reaching our goals are hard enough on their own. Trying to swim upstream as others throw rocks at us makes it unnecessarily harder. So be wary of sharing your goals with those who habitually doubt and criticize and put down. Wet blankets are wet blankets no matter what the relationship. Choose who you confide in wisely. Those who tolerate pessimism (from themselves or others) are those who volunteer to climb the mountain of life with one arm tied behind their back and one leg cut off. Still, don’t confuse pessimism with wisdom or prudence. Optimism is not intellectual laziness. Positive thinking does not grant absolution from responsibility or honest self-evaluation of your assets, abilities and commitment. It doesn’t excuse you from the hard work of preparation. Optimists still buy life insurance. But where pessimism itself is creating deep caverns of difficulty between you and your dreams, a quiet and respectful yet sturdy and firm intolerance may be the most appropriate response.

2. Be Intolerant of Hate

Don’t tolerate racist jokes and comments. Don’t accept hateful barbs thrown at you or others. Never look the other way or excuse the bully regardless of the bully’s background. To do otherwise is to enable and empower the hate, to turn your back on the bullied, give tacit approval to the intolerable behavior and abandon its object to a miserable fate. Don’t tolerate your own hate either. Hatred is a cancer that must be removed before it metastasizes into the bone marrow of your soul. But be careful not to accuse every disagreement as being motivated by hate. Be tolerant of opposing ideas even if intolerant of the hate that may motivate some who articulate them.

3. Be Intolerant of Dishonesty

Don’t accept lies. Period. Don’t tell them. Don’t accept them. Live your life in such a way as to not feel the need to hide behind them. Don’t allow others (or yourself) the opportunity to nestle into their own cowardice. That is, after all, what lying is. It’s an attempt to get around the consequences of our decisions. Or perhaps it’s a way to avoid the overreaction of someone close or who has authority over us. Even so, have the courage to let the person overreacting choose how to deal with an honest life, not a pretended one. Then have the courage to accept their response.

4. Be Intolerant of Hypocrisy

Do you expect from others what you don’t expect from yourself? Do you impose a set of rules on others you won’t accept as an imposition on you?

That’s what hypocrisy is, you know. Hypocrisy is the act of living a lie, pretending to be something you’re not or requiring others to live by a set of rules you reject for yourself. If you tolerate hypocrisy from others, stop it! Demand an equal playing field. Anything less is a form of servitude. Refuse to be a slave to someone else’s unwillingness to treat you like an equal. But remember that hypocrisy is not the same as inconsistency or human frailty. We are all inconsistent at living up to all we value. Otherwise, we would be perfect – or would have no ideals, standards or values we would have to bother trying to live up to. So be decidedly tolerant of people inconsistently trying to live up to their values and intolerant of those who would hide behind their values or impose them on others while ducking the imposition themselves.

5. Be Intolerant of Excuses

Excuses are messy things. They squirm and whine and reshape themselves like playdough pushed into cracks and crevasses. They defuse and deny, weaken and stifle greatness. Stay away from the numbing poison of excuses. Providing reasons is not the same as giving excuses, though. Reasons give an accounting, while excuses justify. Reasons accept responsibility, while excuses seek to pin fault on someone else’s lapel. Reasons explain, while excuses try to divert attention and hide motive. So never give in to the self-defeating urge to give excuses for balls dropped and wrong turns made. And while you’re at it, don’t accept them from others either. Hold yourself and others accountable for the decisions you and they make. Be compassionate, forgiving and patient as we all learn to accept responsibility for our choices, but intolerant of the excuses we may try to irresponsibly hide behind in the meantime.

6. Be Intolerant of Gossip

If you are not intolerant of gossip you will become a steppingstone for it to spread its social damage. Gossip not shared but tolerated is fueled. Refuse to tolerate it. Stop it dead in its tracks. Ask for evidence. Make those dishing it out explain themselves. Suggest going to the person being gossiped about for their side as a concerned friend or neighbor or associate. Be the person responsible for killing the words that whisper and sneak behind backs and cowardly hide behind anonymity. Gossip is a form of cowardice. Cowardice dies in the light. Shine the light.

7. Be Intolerant of Timewasters

The respect you have for yourself and others can be seen in the way you treat your time and theirs. Don’t get me wrong, socializing and recreation are not wastes of time. They are essential to renew and befriend and experience many of life’s little joys. But to spend hours on end in no particular endeavor, as a pattern of repeated behavior, stealing the moments otherwise available for more meaningful activities is to fundamentally misunderstand what life was meant to be … and, most tragically, what you could have become and accomplished had time been used more wisely.

8. Be Intolerant of Ingratitude

Ingratitude is a particularly ugly form of selfishness. It’s taking others’ kindness for granted, indifferent to their thoughtfulness.

Ingratitude is intolerable because it fails to recognize the humanity of the person who has done something kind. Even Jesus asked the 10th leper where the other nine were he had healed when the 10th was the only one to thank him. Help people grow by gently and lovingly and compassionately reminding them to express gratitude more freely. You will be helping them lay a foundation for greater and deeper and more consistent levels of happiness. Still, the most effective way to encourage gratitude in others is to be grateful yourself. Lead by example, not in spite of it.

9. Be Intolerant of Self-condemnation

The words we use when we talk to ourselves or about ourselves matter tremendously. They matter because our words tend to gel into belief. And belief sets the parameter for action. We will never do what we are sure can never be done. So our self-talk, the tone and words and meaning we use in our internal dialogue, shapes us, affecting (sometimes infecting) our attitudes and reactions to life. When we criticize and condemn, we start to believe we’re less, unworthy, inevitable screw-ups and good for very little. Don’t tolerate it. Correct it. Argue against it. Push the little whiny weasel into the corner and out the backdoor … then lock it! And never allow the weasel back in. Tolerate mistakes and human imperfection. Don’t tolerate the self-abusive contempt we sometimes internalize when we inevitably stumble.

10. Be Intolerant of Fear

Fear of bee stings is a good thing if you’re deathly allergic and standing at the edge of a field of flowers swarming with the little buggers as a friend (or enemy?) waves you out into the field. But it’s not a good thing if it keeps you from ever going outside. Context and degree are important factors to consider when evaluating the psychological health of your fear. But here are a few basic questions that should help:

• Is your fear limiting your ability to live life to its fullest?
• Is it tearing you apart from the inside?
• Is it harming relationships, self-esteem, self-respect, work performance or otherwise getting in the way?
• Is it chronic and debilitating?
• Does it control you?
• Is it overwhelming?

If your answer is yes to any of those questions, you are tolerating a response to a perceived threat that may not be as threatening as you think it is. If you can, confront it. If you can’t, get help from someone who can walk you through it or around it or away from it. Remember, fear is only a perceived obstacle to the path you want to travel. It does not control you. It’s nothing more than a feeling, an emotional response to a perceived outcome. Change the perception and the fear starts to dissipate.

Copilot’s Take

The Catechism consistently teaches that confronting evil is not optional but integral to Christian discipleship. It begins with the virtue of fortitude, which “ensures firmness in difficulties and constancy in the pursuit of the good” (CCC 1808). Fortitude is not merely endurance; it is the courage to speak and act when silence would be easier but morally disastrous.

The Church also warns against cooperation in evil, noting that believers become complicit not only by direct participation but also by “failing to hinder” evil when they are able (CCC 1868). This aligns precisely with the Scriptural command given to Paul: silence in the presence of wrongdoing is itself a form of consent.

Truthfulness is another pillar. Christians are obligated to “profess the truth without compromise” (CCC 2471). This duty extends beyond personal honesty to the public defense of the vulnerable, the innocent, and the oppressed. The Catechism is explicit that human life must be protected from the moment of conception (CCC 2270–2275), making the defense of the unborn not a political stance but a moral imperative.

The Church also identifies the subtle evils that erode communities from within. Gossip violates justice and charity (CCC 2477). Hypocrisy and dishonesty distort the integrity of the human person (CCC 2468). Ingratitude fails to acknowledge God’s gifts (CCC 2097). These are not minor faults but spiritual infections that require firm resistance.

Fear, too, must be confronted. The Catechism teaches that hope and fortitude strengthen the believer against fear’s paralyzing effects (CCC 1818, 1808). Fear becomes spiritually dangerous when it prevents the pursuit of the good or silences the witness of truth. The Christian is called to trust in God’s presence, just as Paul was assured in Corinth.

Taken together, the Catechism presents a coherent vision: Christians must resist evil in themselves, in society, and in the structures that normalize sin. This resistance is not rooted in anger but in charity — a charity that “rejoices in the truth” and refuses to make peace with falsehood (CCC 1829). In this way, the believer becomes a living witness to Christ in a world that desperately needs clarity, courage, and holiness.

Pentecost Novena[2]

The Pentecost Novena is the first of all novenas, nine days of prayer. After Jesus' Ascension into heaven, He commanded His disciples to come together in the upper room to devote themselves to constant prayer (Acts 1:14). They prayed for nine days before receiving the Holy Spirit on Pentecost.

On May 4, 1897, Pope Leo XIII proclaimed: "We decree and command that throughout the whole Catholic Church, this year and in every subsequent year, a novena shall take place before Whit-Sunday (Pentecost), in all parish churches." It has been reported that Pope Leo XIII was inspired to mandate the Pentecost novena because of a letter from a housewife in Italy. Pope John Paul II has reiterated Pope Leo XIII's command for a worldwide Pentecost novena, although the novena can be prayed at any time — not only before Pentecost.

Try to go to Mass daily throughout the novena. Go to Confession during the novena. Make visits to church to adore the eucharistic Jesus throughout the novena. The Church has not written any official prayers for the novena. The following prayers are suggested.

FIRST DAY (Friday after Ascension)

Holy Spirit! Lord of Light! From Your clear celestial height, Your pure beaming radiance give!

Special Intention

“Johanninise the souls of our priests and bishops. Please, Lord, grant a Priestly Pentecost.”

The Holy Spirit

Only one thing is important — eternal salvation. Only one thing, therefore, is to be feared–sin? Sin is the result of ignorance, weakness, and indifference The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Light, of Strength, and of Love. With His sevenfold gifts He enlightens the mind, strengthens the will, and inflames the heart with love of God. To ensure our salvation we ought to invoke the Divine Spirit daily, for “The Spirit helpeth our infirmity. We know not what we should pray for as we ought. But the Spirit Himself asketh for us.”

Prayer

Almighty and eternal God, Who hast vouchsafed to regenerate us by water and the Holy Spirit, and hast given us forgiveness all sins, vouchsafe to send forth from heaven upon us your sevenfold Spirit, the Spirit of Wisdom and Understanding, the Spirit of Counsel and fortitude, the Spirit of Knowledge and Piety, and fill us with the Spirit of Holy Fear. Amen.

Our Father and Hail Mary ONCE. Glory be to the Father SEVEN TIMES.

ACT OF CONSECRATION TO THE HOLY SPIRIT

On my knees I before the great multitude of heavenly witnesses I offer myself, soul and body to You, Eternal Spirit of God. I adore the brightness of Your purity, the unerring keenness of Your justice, and the might of Your love. You are the Strength and Light of my soul. In You I live and move and am. I desire never to grieve You by unfaithfulness to grace and I pray with all my heart to be kept from the smallest sin against You. Mercifully guard my every thought and grant that I may always watch for Your light, and listen to Your voice, and follow Your gracious inspirations. I cling to You and give myself to You and ask You, by Your compassion to watch over me in my weakness. Holding the pierced Feet of Jesus and looking at His Five Wounds and trusting in His Precious Blood and adoring His opened Side and stricken Heart, I implore You, Adorable Spirit, Helper of my infirmity, to keep me in Your grace that I may never sin against You. Give me grace O Holy Spirit, Spirit of the Father and the Son to say to You always and everywhere, “Speak Lord for Your servant heareth.” Amen.

PRAYER FOR THE SEVEN GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

O Lord Jesus Christ Who, before ascending into heaven did promise to send the Holy Spirit to finish Your work in the souls of Your Apostles and Disciples, deign to grant the same Holy Spirit to me that He may perfect in my soul, the work of Your grace and Your love. Grant me the Spirit of Wisdom that I may despise the perishable things of this world and aspire only after the things that are eternal, the Spirit of Understanding to enlighten my mind with the light of Your divine truth, the Spirit on Counsel that I may ever choose the surest way of pleasing God and gaining heaven, the Spirit of Fortitude that I may bear my cross with You and that I may overcome with courage all the obstacles that oppose my salvation, the Spirit of Knowledge that I may know God and know myself and grow perfect in the science of the Saints, the Spirit of Piety that I may find the service of God sweet and amiable, and the Spirit of Fear that I may be filled with a loving reverence towards God and may dread in any way to displease Him. Mark me, dear Lord with the sign of Your true disciples, and animate me in all things with Your Spirit. Amen.

St. Isidore[3]

When he was barely old enough to wield a hoe, Isidore entered the service of John de Vergas, a wealthy landowner from Madrid, and worked faithfully on his estate outside the city for the rest of his life. He married a young woman as simple and upright as himself who also became a saint-Maria de la Cabeza. They had one son, who died as a child. Isidore had deep religious instincts. He rose early in the morning to go to church and spent many a holiday devoutly visiting the churches of Madrid and surrounding areas. All day long, as he walked behind the plow, he communed with God. His devotion, one might say, became a problem, for his fellow workers sometimes complained that he often showed up late because of lingering in church too long. He was known for his love of the poor, and there are accounts of Isidore's supplying them miraculously with food. He had a great concern for the proper treatment of animals.

He died May 15, 1130, and was declared a saint in 1622 with Ignatius of Loyola, Francis Xavier, Teresa of Avila and Philip Neri. Together, the group is known in Spain as "the five saints."

Things to Do:

· Learn more about St. Isidore the farmer.

· Establishing or replenishing a Mary garden would be an appropriate way to celebrate the combination of the feast of St. Isidore and the month of May, dedicated to Mary.

· There is also a lovely book on Mary gardens printed by St. Anthony Messenger Press called Mary's Flowers: Gardens, Legends and Meditations by Vincenzina Krymow.

Apostolic Exhortation[4]

Veneremur Cernui – Down in Adoration Falling

of The Most Reverend Thomas J. Olmsted, Bishop of Phoenix,
to Priests, Deacons, Religious and the Lay Faithful of the Diocese of Phoenix on the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist

My beloved Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

7. Like the People of Israel, we too are heading into difficult waters. Today we find ourselves in a crisis; many anxieties, uncertainties and doubts assail us from every side. As I said in my pastoral letter “O Sacred Feast,” the Church at large is experiencing a grave crisis of faith in the Eucharist. This crisis has inflicted additional significant implications for authentic Christian discipleship; namely, abysmal Mass attendance, declining vocations to marriage, priesthood, and religious life, waning Catholic influence in society. As a nation we are experiencing a torrent of assaults upon the truth. The Gospel message has been watered down or replaced with ambiguous worldly values. Many Christians have abandoned Christ and His Gospel and turned to a secular culture for meaning that it cannot provide and to satiate a hunger that it can never satisfy.

8. In such troubled waters, our greatest anchor in these storms is Christ Himself, found in the Holy Eucharist. Though the instruction of Joshua was intended for the People of Israel facing formidable enemies as they crossed into the Promised Land, his words remain crucial for us: “Follow the Ark of the Lord, for we have never been this way before”.

9. As God’s People today, we are also on a journey to a promised inheritance, a journey also filled with dangers, challenges, and suffering. We do not have a column of cloud by day nor a pillar of fire by night reminding us of God’s presence ever guiding and protecting us as He did for the People of Israel. We do not have the Ark of the Covenant in our midst. Instead, we have not something but Someone much greater! Someone greater than the Ark who goes before us and is always with us. We have Jesus Christ truly present in the Eucharist to guide, comfort, and strengthen us. In times like these, echoing the instruction of Joshua, we must fix our gaze on the Lord and draw near to Him more than ever in the Eucharist. The more the Lord in the Eucharist is our central focus, the more surely, He will bring us through these dark and turbulent waters. On this day when we commemorate the Institution of the Eucharist, I as your shepherd implore each of you to seek out Jesus in the Eucharist to be strengthened and renewed in your faith.

“Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day; for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink.”

To be continued…

Bible in a year Day 314 My Beloved Son

Fr. Mike elaborates on the significance of the Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River. He points out that the location of the Jordan River is particularly noteworthy because it's the same river that Joshua crossed over to lead the Israelites into the Promised Land, signifying that Jesus will bring about a new exodus. Additionally, it's the lowest spot on the planet, symbolizing Jesus' humility. Finally, Fr. Mike emphasizes that when we are baptized, we are adopted as beloved sons and daughters of God because what belongs to Jesus by his nature is given to us by God’s grace. Today we read Luke 3-5 and Proverbs 25:27-28.

Fitness Friday[5]

APFT Aquatic Exercises

Source: Department of the Army Field Manual, FM 21-20 Physical Fitness Training

Side Leg-Raises. Stand in chest to shoulder-deep water with either side of the body at arm’s length to the wall of the pool, and grasp the edge with the nearest hand. Raise the outside leg sideward and upward from the hip. Next, pull the leg down to the starting position. Repeat these actions. Then, turn the other side of the body to the wall, and perform the exercise with the other leg. DURATION: 30 seconds (15 seconds per leg).

Leg-Over. Stand in chest-to shoulder-deep water, back facing the wall of the pool. Reach backward with the arms extended, and grasp the pool’s edge. Next, raise one leg in front of the body away from the wall, and move it sideward toward the other leg as far as it can go. Then, return the leg to the front-extended position, and lower it to the starting position. Repeat these actions with the other leg, and continue to alternate legs. DURATION: 30 seconds ( 15 seconds per leg).

Rear Leg Lift. Stand in chest-to shoulder-deep water with hands on the pool’s edge, chest to the wall. Raise one leg back and up from the hip, extend it, and point the foot. Then, pull the leg back to the starting position. Alternate these actions back and forth with each leg. DURATION: 20 seconds (10 seconds each leg).

Alternate Toe Touch. Stand in waist-deep water. Raise the left leg as in kicking while touching the elevated toe with the right hand. At the same time, rotate the head toward the left shoulder, and push the left arm backward through the water. Alternate these actions back and forth with each leg and opposite hand. DURATION 2 minutes.

Side Straddle Hop. Stand in waist deep water with hands on hips and feet together. Jump sideward and land with feet about two feet apart. Then, return to the starting position, and repeat the jumping action. DURATION 2 minutes.

Stride Hop. Stand in waist-deep water with hands on hips and feet together. Jump, moving the left leg forward and right leg backward. Then, jump again moving the right leg forward and left leg backward. Repeat these actions. DURATION 2 minutes.

The Bounce. Stand in waist-deep water with hands on hips and feet together. Jump high with feet together. Upon landing, use a bouncing motion, and repeat the action. DURATION: 1 minute.

Rise on Toes. Stand in chest-to shoulder-deep water with arms at sides and feet together. Rise up using the toes. Then, lower the body to the starting position. Repeat the action. DURATION: 1 minute.

Side Bender. Stand in waist-deep water with the left arm at the side and the right arm extended straight overhead. Stretch slowly, bending to the left. Recover to the starting position, and repeat the action. Next, reverse to the right arm at the side and the left arm extended straight overhead. Repeat the stretching action to the right side. DURATION: 1 minute.

Walking Crawl. Walk in waist- to chest-deep water. Simulate the overhand crawl stroke by reaching out with the left hand cupped and pressing the water downward to the thigh. Repeat the action with the right hand. Alternate left and right arm action. DURATION: 2 minutes.

Bouncing. Stand in chest-deep water, arms at sides. Bounce on the left foot while pushing down vigorously with both hands. Repeat the action with the right foot. Alternate bouncing on the left and right foot. DURATION: 2 minutes.

Bounding in Place with Alternate Arm Stretch, Forward. Bound in place in waist-deep water using high knee action. Stretch the right arm far forward when the left knee is high and the left arm is stretched backward. When the position of the arm is reversed, simulate the action of the crawl stroke by pulling down and through the water with the hand. DURATION 1 minute.

Poolside Knees Up, Supine. Stand in chest-to shoulder-deep water, back against the wall of the pool. Extend the arms backward, and grasp the pool’s edge. With feet together, extend the legs in front of the torso, and assume a supine position. Then with the legs together, raise the knees to the chin. Return to the starting position, and repeat the action. DURATION: 2 minutes (maximum effort).

Twisting Legs, Supine. Stand in chest-to shoulder-deep water, back against the wall of the pool. Extend the arms backward, and grasp the pool’s edge. With feet together, extend the legs in front of the torso, and assume a supine position. Then, twist the legs slowly to the left, return to the starting position, and twist the legs slowly to the right. Repeat this twisting action. DURATION: 1 minute (2 sets, 30 seconds each).

Scissor Kick. Float in chest- to shoulder- deep water on either side of the body with the top arm extended, hand holding the pool’s edge. Brace the bottom hand against the pool’s wall with feet below the water’s surface. Next, assume a crouching position by bringing the heels toward the hips by bending the knees. Then, straighten and spread the legs with the top leg extending backward. When the legs are extended and spread, squeeze themback together (scissoring). Pull with the top hand, and push with the bottom hand. The propulsive force of the kick will tend to cause the body to rise to the water’s surface. DURATION 1 minute (2 sets, 30 seconds each, maximum effort).

Push Away. Stand in chest-to shoulder-deep water facing the pool’s wall and at arm’s length from it. Grasp the pool’s edge, and bend the arms so that the body is leaning toward the wall of the pool. Vigorously push the chest back from the wall by straightening the arms. Then, with equal vigor, pull the upper body back to the wall. Repeat these actions. DURATION: 2 minutes (maximum effort).

Gutter Push-Ups. Stand in chest to shoulder- deep water facing the pool’s wall. Place the hands on the edge or gutter of the pool. Then, raise the body up and out of the water while extending the arms. repeat this action. DURATION: 2 minutes (4 sets, 30 seconds each with 5-second rests between sets).

Front Flutter Kick. Stand in chest to shoulder-deep water facing the pool’s wall. Grasp the pool’s edge or gutter and assume a prone position with legs extended just below the water’s surface. Then, kick flutter style, toes pointed, ankles flexible, knee joint loose but straight. The Iegs should simulate a whip’s action. DURATION 1 minute (2 sets, 30 seconds each).

Running. Move in a running gait in chest-to shoulder-deep water with arms and hands under the water’s surface. This activity can be stationary, or the exerciser may run from poolside to poolside. Runners must concentrate on high knee action and good arm movement. DURATION 10 to 20

The Engine. Stand in chest-to shoulder-deep water, arms straight and in front of the body and parallel to the water with the palms facing downward. While walking forward, raise the left knee to the left elbow, then return to the starting position. Continuing to walk forward, touch the right knee to the right elbow, and return to the starting position. Be sure to keep the arms parallel to the water throughout the exercise. DURATION 1 to 2 minutes (2 sets).

Armed Forces Day Build Up

US Space Force[1]

The U.S. Space Force (USSF) is a new branch of the Armed Forces. It was established on December 20, 2019 with enactment of the Fiscal Year 2020 National Defense Authorization Act and will be stood-up over the next 18 months. The USSF was established within the Department of the Air Force, meaning the Secretary of the Air Force has overall responsibility for the USSF, under the guidance and direction of the Secretary of Defense. Additionally, a four-star general known as the Chief of Space Operations (CSO) serves as the senior military member of the USSF. The CSO is a full member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Mission

The USSF is a military service that organizes, trains, and equips space forces in order to protect U.S. and allied interests in space and to provide space capabilities to the joint force. USSF responsibilities include developing military space professionals, acquiring military space systems, maturing the military doctrine for space power, and organizing space forces to present to our Combatant Commands.

Space Capabilities

The new, independent U.S. Space Force will maintain and enhance the competitive edge in space while adapting to new strategic challenges. Spacelift operations at the East and West Coast launch bases provide services, facilities and range safety control for the conduct of NASA and commercial space launches. Through the command and control of all defense satellites, satellite operators provide force-multiplying effects – continuous global coverage, low vulnerability and autonomous operations. Satellites provide essential in-theater secure communications, weather and navigational data for ground, air and fleet operations and threat warning. Ground-based and space-based systems monitor ballistic missile launches around the world to guard against a surprise missile attack on North America. A global network of space surveillance sensors provides vital information on the location of satellites and space debris for the nation and the world. Maintaining space superiority is an emerging capability required to protect U.S. space assets from hostile attacks.

[1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Coast_Guard

Around the Corner

· Catholic Activity: Religion in the Home for Preschool: May

· Iceman’s 40 devotion

· Get an indulgence

· Operation Purity

Spring Arizona Restaurant Week

Friday through Sunday

The 2025 Spring Arizona Restaurant Week (ARW), which offers the culinary community endless opportunities to dine on a deal, kicked off Friday, May 16 and runs through Sunday, May 25. The ARW menus are a departure from the restaurants’ regular menus, allowing diners to get a new taste of even their favorite restaurants’ culinary breadth — at a fraction of typical costs.

Daily Devotions

· Unite in the work of the Porters of St. Joseph by joining them in fasting: The Families of St. Joseph Porters

· Litany of the Most Precious Blood of Jesus

· Offering to the sacred heart of Jesus

· Make reparations to the Holy Face

· Drops of Christ’s Blood

· Universal Man Plan

· Rosary

[1]http://meanttobehappy.com/the-virtue-of-intolerance-10-things-you-should-never-tolerate/

[2]https://www.presentationministries.com/series/publications/publication-pentnovena-247748#:~:text=The%20Pentecost%20Novena%20is%20the%20first%20of%20all,days%20before%20receiving%20the%20Holy%20Spirit%20on%20Pentecost.

[3]https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2019-05-15

[4]https://dphx.org/veneremur-cernui/

[5]http://www.armyreal.com/apft/item/5310

BIGGER THAN LIFE (1956)

James Mason • Barbara Rush • Walter Matthau
Directed by Nicholas Ray

A domestic tragedy filmed like a psychological horror story, Bigger Than Life turns a middle‑class American home into a pressure cooker where pride, illness, and masculine delusion collide. James Mason gives one of the most frightening performances of the 1950s—not as a monster, but as a father who believes he has become a prophet. Barbara Rush anchors the film with quiet, exhausted strength, while Walter Matthau plays the lone friend who sees the danger no one else will name.

This is not a medical drama.
It is a spiritual autopsy of American masculinity under pressure.

1. Production & Historical Setting

Released in 1956 by 20th Century‑Fox, Bigger Than Life stands at the crossroads of:

Post‑war suburban anxiety

The new American dream—house, job, family—looks stable on the outside, but beneath it lies exhaustion, debt, and the pressure to appear successful at all costs.

The rise of medical modernity

Cortisone was hailed as a miracle drug.
Ray’s film exposes the darker truth:
a culture that believes science can fix the soul.

Nicholas Ray’s obsession with fractured families

Like Rebel Without a Cause, this film dissects the American home as a battleground of pride, fear, and unspoken wounds.

James Mason’s self‑produced indictment of middle‑class pride

Mason didn’t just star—he produced the film.
He wanted to expose the rot beneath the respectable surface.

The 1950s cult of the “perfect father”

The film tears down the myth of the infallible patriarch and shows how fragile that ideal truly is.

The world is small:
a school, a kitchen, a church, a doctor’s office, a living room where the wallpaper becomes a prison.

But the moral terrain is vast—
pride, delusion, fear, authority, and the terrifying ease with which a man can mistake his own voice for the voice of God.

The cultural backdrop:

The pressure on men to be providers, leaders, and moral anchors
The shame of weakness in a decade obsessed with strength
The belief that illness is a private failure
The worship of scientific progress
The fragility of suburban respectability

The film’s power lies in its contrasts:
Mason’s volcanic mania, Rush’s quiet endurance, Matthau’s steady decency, and a home that becomes a psychological furnace.

2. Story Summary

Ed Avery (James Mason)

A respected schoolteacher.
A loving father.
A man quietly drowning in financial strain and chronic pain.

When he collapses, doctors diagnose a rare inflammatory disease and prescribe cortisone, a new “miracle” drug.

At first, it works.
Ed feels reborn—energetic, confident, powerful.

Then the dosage increases.
And something inside him breaks.

The Transformation

Ed becomes grandiose.
Authoritarian.
Ruthlessly honest.
He begins to see himself as a visionary—
a man chosen to correct the moral failings of his family and society.

His wife, Lou (Barbara Rush), watches in terror as the man she loves becomes a tyrant.

His son becomes the target of his “corrections.”
His friend, Wally (Walter Matthau), tries to intervene.

Ed’s delusion peaks in a chilling scene:
he believes God has commanded him to sacrifice his son,
echoing Abraham and Isaac.

Only Lou’s desperate intervention stops him.

Ed is hospitalized.
The cortisone is withdrawn.
He returns to himself—broken, ashamed, and uncertain of the future.

The family gathers around him.
The film ends not with triumph, but with a fragile, trembling hope.

3. Spiritual & Moral Resonances

A. The Idolatry of Pride
Ed’s downfall begins long before cortisone.
The drug merely amplifies what was already there:
the belief that a man must be strong, infallible, and in control.
B. The Fragility of Masculine Identity
Ed’s terror of weakness becomes the seed of his madness.
The film exposes how men can destroy themselves trying to appear “bigger than life.”
C. The Family as the First Battleground
Ed’s mania expresses itself most violently toward those he loves.
The home becomes the stage where pride wages war against tenderness.
D. Science Without Wisdom
The film is not anti‑medicine.
It is anti‑hubris.
Cortisone becomes a symbol of the belief that human problems can be solved without humility.
E. The Need for Mercy
Ed’s recovery is not victory.
It is surrender.
The film insists that healing begins when pride breaks.

4. Hospitality Pairing — The Suburban Furnace Spread

A pour of Elijah Craig Small Batch — warm, complex, with a burn that mirrors Ed’s rising mania.
A Connecticut‑shade cigar — pale wrapper, deceptive gentleness, a smoke that slowly tightens like the film’s tension.
Salted butter cookies — the taste of 1950s domesticity, sweet on the surface, brittle underneath.
A leather‑bound notebook — a place to confront the pressures you hide from others.

A setting for nights when you want to reflect on pride, pressure, and the thin line between strength and delusion.