This blog is based on references in the Bible to fear. God wills that we “BE NOT AFRAID”. Vincit qui se vincit" is a Latin phrase meaning "He conquers who conquers himself." Many theologians state that the eighth deadly sin is fear. It is fear and its natural animal reaction to fight or flight that is the root cause of our failings to create a Kingdom of God on earth. This blog is dedicated to Mary the Mother of God. "
Fr. Donald Calloway argues that the modern obsession with aliens, UAPs, and UFOs is becoming a major spiritual distraction and even a deception in the battle for souls. He warns that the cultural excitement around extraterrestrial phenomena is pulling people away from the Gospel, the sacraments, and especially the messages of the Blessed Mother. youtu.be
Key Points from the Video
The alien/UFO craze is an “unholy distraction.”
It diverts attention from the real spiritual battle and from the messages Heaven has already given through Marian apparitions. youtu.be
Confusion and division are growing.
The topic is becoming a wedge among believers, creating fascination, fear, and speculative thinking instead of prayer and discernment. youtu.be
The Blessed Mother has already warned us.
Fr. Calloway stresses that Our Lady’s messages—Fatima, Lourdes, Guadalupe, Akita—contain everything we need to navigate these times. The danger is forgetting them while chasing sensational phenomena. youtu.be
The real battle is spiritual, not extraterrestrial.
The enemy uses distraction, confusion, and false wonders to pull souls away from Christ. Marian apparitions, by contrast, always call to repentance, prayer, and fidelity. youtu.be
Survival in these times requires spiritual discipline.
Fr. Calloway emphasizes prayer (especially the Rosary), sacramental life, and staying anchored in the Church’s teaching. youtu.be
1. Evil works through deception and false signs
The CCC teaches that evil often manifests as confusion, false wonders, and counterfeit spiritual experiences (CCC 2115–2117).
Seeking secret knowledge
Consulting hidden powers
Chasing sensational phenomena
These open the door to spiritual danger.
This aligns with the video’s warning that the alien/UFO obsession is becoming a false locus of meaning.
2. Evil darkens the conscience
CCC 1790–1794 teaches that conscience can be blinded by:
Ignorance
Sin
Bad example
Cultural pressure
Disordered curiosity
The UFO phenomenon, as described in the video, is exactly this kind of cultural pressure that clouds judgment and distracts from truth.
3. Evil is confronted by truth, not spectacle
The CCC insists that Christians confront evil by:
Clinging to revealed truth (CCC 142–150)
Rejecting superstition and occult curiosity (CCC 2110–2117)
Remaining faithful to prayer and sacrament (CCC 2558–2565)
This mirrors Fr. Calloway’s insistence that Marian apparitions call us back to repentance, prayer, and fidelity, not spectacle.
4. Marian apparitions are heaven’s antidote to deception
Authentic apparitions always:
Lead to Christ
Call for conversion
Strengthen faith
Warn against sin
Promote prayer and sacramental life
The CCC affirms that private revelation (like Marian apparitions) helps the faithful live the Gospel more fully (CCC 67).
Thus, Marian messages are not distractions—they are weapons against deception.
5. The Christian confronts evil by staying awake
The CCC repeatedly warns that the faithful must remain vigilant, discerning spirits, and resisting the enemy’s attempts to confuse or divide (CCC 2846–2849).
The video’s message is essentially this:
Stay awake. Do not be seduced by the noise of the age. Listen to the Mother who leads you to her Son.
1. What the Video Contains (Genre‑Accurate Summary)
Interpretive summary based on the known format of Eckhardt’s long-form deliverance compilations.
The video is a 2 hour+ continuous prayer session structured as a sequence of:
Declarations of faith in Christ’s authority
Renunciations of sin, curses, and demonic influence
Petitions for protection, deliverance, healing, and spiritual strength
Spiritual warfare language (“break,” “bind,” “cast out,” “overthrow”)
Invocations of God’s fire, power, and kingdom rule
Intercession for families, communities, and nations
There is no doctrinal teaching—it is a charismatic Protestant deliverance litany, meant to be prayed aloud, not studied.
2. CCC‑Anchored Interpretation
Here is how a Catholic reads and “translates” this kind of content.
A. The Reality of Evil
The CCC affirms:
Satan and demons are real, personal beings (CCC 391–395)
They are creatures, not rivals to God (CCC 395)
Christ has already definitively conquered them (CCC 2853)
This aligns with the video’s insistence that evil is active and must be resisted.
B. The Christian’s Authority
Eckhardt emphasizes “authority in Christ.”
Catholic teaching clarifies:
Baptism gives a share in Christ’s victory (CCC 1265–1270)
The faithful may renounce Satan and resist temptation (CCC 1237, 2846–2849)
Imperative commands to demons (“I bind you…”) are reserved to authorized exorcists (CCC 1673)
The laity may pray deprecatory prayers (“Lord, drive this away”), not imperative ones
So the Catholic reads the video’s language through the lens of supplication, not personal command.
C. Prayer as Spiritual Warfare
The video’s themes map cleanly onto Catholic categories:
Protection prayers → CCC 2157, 2097
Renunciation of sin → CCC 1427–1433
Intercession for others → CCC 2634–2636
Scripture as weapon → Eph 6:10–18; CCC 131–133
Deliverance → CCC 1673, 2850–2854
Where the video uses dramatic language, the Church uses ordered, sacramental realism.
3. How a Catholic Confronts Evil (Synthesis)
1. Name evil without dramatizing it
Evil is confronted through truth, confession, and repentance, not theatrics (CCC 1427–1433).
2. Stand under Christ’s authority, not your own
Christ’s victory is the ground of all spiritual warfare (CCC 2853).
The believer participates through obedience, not self-assertion.
3. Use the Church’s weapons
Confession (primary weapon against evil)
Eucharist (union with Christ’s victory)
Sacramentals (holy water, blessings, crucifix)
Scripture (especially the Gospels and Ephesians 6)
Fasting and almsgiving (CCC 1434–1438)
4. Avoid the errors of sensationalism
The Church warns against:
Over-focusing on demons
Treating deliverance as technique
Commanding demons without authority
Seeking emotional intensity instead of sacramental strength
5. Confront evil morally, not just spiritually
Evil is defeated by:
Truth-telling
Forgiveness
Justice
Courage
Protection of the vulnerable (CCC 1928–1948)
This is where Catholic spiritual warfare becomes practical, disciplined, and masculine.
4. A Masculine, Disciplined Take (Your Editorial Tone)
Evil is not defeated by volume but by virtue.
A Catholic man confronts evil by:
Keeping a clean conscience
Living in a state of grace
Refusing to cooperate with lies
Practicing daily repentance
Guarding his household
Submitting his strength to Christ’s kingship
The Church’s method is quiet, ordered, and lethal to darkness.
Romans 14:12 “Each of us will give an account of himself to God.”
What truth about my life would I finally have to admit if I stood before God tonight?
That’s it.
No committee.
No excuses.
No comparisons.
Just you — and the truth of your life.
And that’s why the smoke matters now.
Because in the next life, there’s no more choosing, no more changing, no more offering.
Only accounting.
So tonight — cheap stick, cheap pour, cheap grace —
burn off what needs burning,
own what needs owning,
and start the account you’ll one day have to give.
Smoke in this life, not the next.
Absolutely, Richard. Here is The Bigamist (1953) in the exact Proud Rebel format you requested — masculine, disciplined, morally serious, and tuned to your devotional‑cinematic cadence.
THE BIGAMIST (1953)
Edmond O’Brien • Joan Fontaine • Ida Lupino
Directed by Ida Lupino
A noir without shadows and a melodrama without hysteria, The Bigamist is a quiet tragedy of human frailty. Ida Lupino directs with a tenderness that refuses to condemn and refuses to excuse. Edmond O’Brien plays a man divided not by lust but by loneliness. Joan Fontaine gives the first wife a dignity that aches. Lupino herself embodies the second wife with a wounded independence that feels painfully real.
This is not a scandal picture.
It is a study in the slow erosion of conscience.
It is a noir about isolation, longing, and the moral cost of trying to be two men at once.
1. Production & Historical Setting
Post‑War Dislocation and Domestic Noir
Released in 1953, the film belongs to the era when noir moved from alleys and nightclubs into kitchens, offices, and adoption agencies.
The darkness is no longer visual — it is psychological.
America is prosperous, but its men are restless.
The war is over, but the emotional fallout lingers in marriages stretched thin by ambition, distance, and unspoken wounds.
Ida Lupino’s Humanist Direction
Lupino was the only woman directing studio‑level dramas in the 1950s.
Her style is:
restrained
compassionate
morally unflinching
She refuses caricature.
She refuses villains.
She insists on the dignity of the wounded.
Edmond O’Brien’s Divided Man
As Harry Graham, O’Brien plays a man who is not predatory but exhausted — a man who drifts into sin not through desire but through emotional starvation.
His performance is the film’s moral tension:
a good man doing a terrible thing, slowly, almost helplessly.
Fontaine and Lupino: Two Poles of Womanhood
Joan Fontaine plays Eve with poise, intelligence, and a quiet ache — a woman who loves her husband but cannot see his loneliness. Ida Lupino plays Phyllis with a working‑class realism — guarded, tender, and resigned to disappointment.
The tragedy is that both women are worthy of love.
The sin is that Harry tries to love them both.
2. Story Summary
Harry and Eve Graham
A successful San Francisco couple unable to have children.
Eve is industrious, focused, and emotionally distant without meaning to be.
Harry feels unnecessary in his own home.
The Los Angeles Detour
On a business trip, Harry meets Phyllis — a waitress with a dry wit and a wounded past.
Their connection is not lust but recognition:
two lonely people who stop pretending they aren’t lonely.
A friendship becomes a romance.
A romance becomes a pregnancy.
A pregnancy becomes a second marriage.
The Investigation
When Harry and Eve apply to adopt, the agency’s investigator uncovers the double life.
The film becomes a confession — not to the law, but to the truth Harry has avoided.
The Courtroom
There is no dramatic outburst.
No villain.
No absolution.
Just a man standing between two women he loves, knowing he has broken both.
The Ending
The judge’s sentence is less severe than the moral reality:
Harry must face the consequences of trying to be two husbands, two fathers, two selves.
The film ends not with punishment, but with sorrow — the sorrow of a man who finally sees himself clearly.
3. Spiritual & Moral Resonances
A. Sin as Drift, Not Decision
Harry does not leap into adultery.
He slides into it — slowly, quietly, through neglect, loneliness, and unguarded affection.
The film becomes a meditation on how sin often begins:
not with rebellion, but with weariness.
B. The Wound of Emotional Neglect
Eve’s ambition is not sinful, but it blinds her to her husband’s hunger for connection.
The film warns that marriages die not from hatred but from silence.
C. Compassion Without Excuse
Lupino refuses to demonize Harry.
But she also refuses to justify him.
This is Christian realism:
seeing the sinner clearly without denying the sin.
D. The Double Life as Spiritual Disintegration
Harry’s two marriages symbolize a deeper fracture:
a man who has lost integrity — the unity of self.
Noir becomes moral theology:
duplicity destroys the soul long before the law intervenes.
E. Mercy and Consequence
The film ends with neither condemnation nor absolution.
It ends with truth — and the possibility of repentance.
4. Hospitality Pairing — The Divided Heart Spread
Maduro cigar — earthy, conflicted, carrying the weight of unspoken burdens
A rye with a sharp edge — something like Rittenhouse or Old Overholt, mirroring the film’s moral bite
Simple diner fare — a plate of roast chicken or meatloaf, echoing Phyllis’s working‑class world
A dim lamp and a quiet room — the atmosphere of confession, not spectacle
5. Reflection Prompts
Where am I drifting toward compromise rather than choosing it outright.
What loneliness in my life is becoming spiritually dangerous.
Who in my world needs presence more than provision.
Where is my integrity divided — and what would wholeness require.
What truth am I avoiding because it will wound someone I love.
Tue, May 19 – Tuesday Reflection Virtue: Calling & Belonging Cigar: Corojo — balanced, chosen Bourbon: Woodinville — rich, steady Line:“Where am I placed in grace?”
Purgatory is fire, not metaphor.
Some of the people we love are there now — burning, longing, unable to pray for themselves.
They wait on us.
And this is where the Our Father cuts straight through a man’s excuses:
“Thy will be done.”
Not someday.
Not after death.
Now.
If God’s will is purification, then the wise man begins it here.
If God’s will is mercy for the dead, then the faithful man intercedes now.
If God’s will is belonging, then a man stands where grace has placed him and acts.
Hallowtide reminds us:
remember your dead,
pray for their release,
ask God to finish in them what they can no longer ask for.
Many
moons ago, in a time of great darkness, Madonna said that she was "a material girl in a
material world"… And, many moons before that, King
David was a Deuteronomistic guy in a Deutoronomistic world. That might sound
kind of complicated—but it
just means that the same editors involved in putting together the Book of
Deuteronomy also put together the group of books that includes 2 Samuel, running from the book of
Judges to 2 Kings. For the story of 2 Samuel is part of what we commonly call
the "Deuteronomistic History" and David is just one teeny part of it.
But here's the thing. When we say "history," we're using that term
pretty loosely. It's hard to tell what extent 2 Samuel (and 1 Samuel, since
they were originally one work) is hard history or legend or the exaggeration of
real events or a crazy mixture of all these. For many true believers,
naturally, it's going to be history all the way. Yet it's easy to interpret the
Biblical writers' account of David's life as being perhaps a bit whitewashed.
See, for the most part, in their eyes, David can do no wrong. But yet certain
unsavory facts about his life are too big for the authors to omit: particularly
David seducing the wife (Bathsheba) of one of his generals, and then having
that general murdered.
The
authors don't attempt to justify this at all—it's way bad—and
it might make the reader see a more complicated picture of David in other
situations, like when the writers keep insisting he had nothing to do with the death of
another general, Abner.
So, if you wanted to, you could easily see the whole book as an example of
pro-David propaganda, trying to justify his legacy as God's one beloved king.
But that wouldn't really do justice to the book as a whole. It gives a pretty
thorough picture of Israelite kingship as an institution—how it works, how kings maintain
power. It's a fascinating glimpse into the way people in the ancient Near East
viewed at least some of their kings: as people both divinely guided and humanly
flawed.
In
the period of time depicted in the book, the Israelites were wrestling with the
transition from being ruled by Judges like Samuel—with God as the only true king and creator of laws—to being ruled by a human king (who
was still considered to be divinely guided).
This
was sort of like having a Supreme Court but no President (except for God). And
yeah, this could get kind of confusing and messy… But to be fair, so could being ruled by a king, as
evidenced by the reign of Saul in 1 Samuel. What 2 Samuel does, then, is to
tell the story of a king who managed to pull himself together and rule in the
right way.
Why
Should I Care?
How
do you manage to seduce one of your general's wives, orchestrate that same
general's death in battle, refuse to punish your first-born son for committing
a heinous crime against his own sister—and
still wind up with a reputation for being the greatest of all Israelite kings,
and God's prize favorite?
The
book of 2 Samuel may or may not answer that question for you—but it'll help you take a good,
hard look at the life of the character who did all of the above: King David. Of
course, David did a lot besides those rather dubious and devious actions.
There's heroism, tragedy, plain bad luck, and moments of sublime goodness in
his story, as well. Also, he's a smooth operator. Even when he's doing
something wrong or questionable, David remains totally human—flawed, but recognizably one of us.
In a way, the dark patches in David's life are what help make him one of the
very most intriguing and compelling people in the Bible as a whole. After God
and Moses, David is arguably the most important character in the Hebrew Bible
(most people would probably agree that he's the third-most-central figure.)
Even though the book has a huge and interesting supporting cast, the Second
Book of Samuel really is all about David, the heart of the
story. What King Arthur is to Great Britain, and Caesar Augustus is
to Ancient Rome,
and Luke Skywalker is to Tatooine, King David is to Israel. He's the
model hero, the best example of how to do it right (despite the serious things
he does wrong).
"We
Can Be Heroes" (to Quote David Bowie)
That's
fine, and David might be an interesting guy—but what does the book have to do with life today?
Well, since people throughout the world have been reading the Bible for a
while, it's shaped the kind of hero’s people look for and write about. Heroes
from other books and other cultures demonstrate heroism in different ways—like Odysseus in the Odyssey,
they might be crafty warriors trying to outwit the gods and make it home. Or,
like King Rama from Hindu myth, they might be gods themselves, fighting for
truth and righteousness against demonic powers. But the important thing to
remember is that David is a human—a
human who is trying to live according to a higher law, and serve his God's
purposes, sure—but a
human, nonetheless. True, Odysseus is a human, too, but his goals are also all
typically human, related to getting back to his kingdom, seeing his wife and
son, and regaining power. David's concerned with his personal power, too, but
he has to balance that with what he believes God wants. His goals are both
human and divine.
This
ends up being a pretty tricky tight rope to walk, and watching David walk it,
wavering between his own selfish ambitions and this higher cause, is part of
the value and fun of 2 Samuel. Life
actually imitates art pretty often. People mimic the heroes they see on TV or
in the movies or read about in Newsweek
or wherever (there's recently been an increase in people who are imitating
superheroes by wearing underwear over leotards and trying to hit criminals with
nun-chucks). Since David is one of the most widely read characters in the
history of the world, the story of his reign (which begins when 2 Samuel
starts) can help give us a better idea of what we actually think about heroes
and leaders—what we
expect from them, what qualities they have.
That's
not just important for understanding the heroes we see depicted around us
everyday—it's also a useful way to
understand ourselves, to see how we measure up, and to define our own ideas of
true heroism.
As 2 Samuel begins, Saul and Jonathan have just died
fighting the Philistines—David almost fought for the Philistines, but
ended up getting excused at the last second, and headed off to fight the
Amalekites.
Saul had committed suicide after seeing his defeat was
inevitable (with, as it turns out, a little help), and Jonathan was killed in
the battle.
A survivor from Saul's army finds David and tells him the
news. It turns out the survivor was an Amalekite who (at Saul's request) helped
Saul finish dying, giving him a fatal sword thrust, before bringing Saul's
crown and armlet to David.
However, David is offended that this guy had the guts to
help kill the Lord's anointed, so he has one of his own men kill the Amalekite.
Singing the Blues
Then, David sings the blues. In a song, he laments the
deaths of Saul and Jonathan, singing, "How the mighty have fallen!"
He hails them both, paying tribute to their strength and
good qualities, and telling the rest of Israel to weep for them in mourning.
He also says that Jonathan's love for him was
"wonderful, passing the love of a woman," before repeating again,
"How the mighty have fallen."
It
appears that the Amalekite was trying to get a reward for killing the enemy of
David (Saul). Everyone in the nation knew that Saul and David were at odds and
that Saul was trying to kill David. When he stumbled onto the body of Saul, he
thought that he had hit the jackpot. Instead of telling the truth about what he
found he lied to David with the hope of getting gain. David was faultless in
killing him because the man told David that he had killed the Lords anointed.
In David’s eye that was a serious crime and the man brought it on himself.
Notice and verse 14 of second Samuel he says "How wast thou not afraid to
stretch forth thine hand to destroy the Lords anointed?" and in verse 16,
"And David said unto him, thy blood be on thy upon thy head; for thy mouth
hath testified against thee, saying I have slain the Lords anointed." Even
though he did not kill Saul he lied in hopes of being rewarded and he was, just
not in the way he thought though. The wages of sin is death.
Copilot’s Take
David’s response to the Amalekite is one of the
clearest biblical portraits of a man who refuses to let evil shape his destiny.
The Amalekite arrives expecting reward, assuming David will celebrate the fall
of his enemy. Instead, David recoils in horror. He sees not opportunity but
sacrilege. The man has boasted of striking the Lord’s anointed, and David will
not allow his kingdom to be built on treachery, lies, or the exploitation of
another’s ruin. This is the first lesson: the righteous do not profit from
misfortune, and they do not advance by stepping on the fallen.
The Catechism echoes this moral architecture.
Authority, even when flawed, participates in God’s order, and the heart must be
guarded from hatred, vengeance, and deceit. The Amalekite violated all of
these. He lied to gain advantage. He manipulated tragedy for personal benefit.
He assumed that David—like so many leaders—would reward cunning over character.
But David’s judgment is swift because the man’s sin is not merely political; it
is spiritual. He has touched what God consecrated, and he has done so with a
heart bent toward self‑gain.
David’s restraint is not weakness but obedience. He
refuses to seize what God has not yet given. He refuses to let ambition
override reverence. He refuses to let someone else’s sin become the foundation
of his blessing. In a world that rewards opportunism, David stands as a rebuke
to every shortcut, every compromise, every temptation to “win” by unrighteous
means. He shows that doing the will of God often means refusing the easy path,
even when that path seems to lead directly to the throne.
Then comes the lament. David grieves Saul—the man
who hunted him. He grieves Jonathan—the man who loved him. He grieves Israel’s
loss—even though it clears his path to kingship. This is the heart of a man
after God’s own heart: able to honor the fallen, able to mourn an enemy, able
to see the image of God even in those who opposed him. His cry, “How the mighty
have fallen,” is not political theater. It is the sound of a soul that refuses
to let conflict erase compassion.
The non‑obvious insight is this: the Amalekite’s
fatal mistake was not killing Saul; it was assuming David was like Saul. Evil
always misreads the righteous. It cannot imagine a man who fears God more than
opportunity. It cannot imagine a leader who refuses to profit from another’s
fall. It cannot imagine a heart that values holiness over advantage. David’s
greatness is not military—it is moral. He confronts evil not by mirroring it
but by rejecting its logic entirely.
To confront evil and do the will of God today is to
follow this same pattern: purity of motive, fidelity to God’s timing, and
integrity in judgment. It is to refuse shortcuts, refuse deceit, refuse the
temptation to gain by another’s misfortune. It is to honor what God has
anointed, even when that anointed vessel is flawed. And it is to let
righteousness, not ambition, determine the path forward.
St. Dunstan-Do you
have a lucky horseshoe
Dunstan (909 – 19 May 988)
was an abbot of Glastonbury Abbey, a bishop of Worcester, a bishop of London,
and an archbishop of Canterbury, later canonized as a saint. His work restored
monastic life in England and reformed the English Church. His 11th-century
biographer, Osbern, himself an artist and scribe, states that Dunstan was
skilled in “making a picture and forming letters,” as were other clergy of his
age who reached senior rank.
Dunstan served as an
important minister of state to several English kings. He was the most popular
saint in England for nearly two centuries, having gained fame for the many
stories of his greatness, not least among which were those concerning his famed
cunning in defeating the Devil.
Dunstan playing his harp as
the devil visits
English literature contains
many references to him, for example in A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens,
and in this folk rhyme:
St Dunstan, as the story goes,
Once pull’d the devil by the nose
With red-hot tongs, which made him roar,
That he was heard three miles or more.
Another story relates how
Dunstan nailed a horseshoe to the Devil’s hoof when he was asked to re-shoe the
Devil’s horse. This caused the Devil great pain, and Dunstan only agreed to
remove the shoe and release the Devil after he promised never to enter a place
where a horseshoe is over the door. This is claimed as the origin of the lucky
horseshoe.
Pentecost NovenaDay Five: Tuesday, 7th Week of
Easter
Light
immortal! Light Divine! Visit Thou these hearts of Thine, And our inmost being
fill!
The Gift of Knowledge
The
gift of Knowledge enables the soul to evaluate created things at their true
worth--in their relation to God. Knowledge unmasks the pretense of creatures,
reveals their emptiness, and points out their only true purpose as instruments
in the service of God. It shows us the loving care of God even in adversity,
and directs us to glorify Him in every circumstance of life. Guided by its
light, we put first things first, and prize the friendship of God beyond all
else. 'Knowledge is a fountain of life to him that possesseth it.'
Prayer
Come,
O Blessed Spirit of Knowledge, and grant that I may perceive the will of the
Father; show me the nothingness of earthly things, that I may realize their
vanity and use them only for Thy glory and my own salvation, looking ever
beyond them to Thee, and Thy eternal rewards. Amen.
Our Father and Hail Mary once Glory be to the Father SEVEN TIMES
ACT OF CONSECRATION TO THE HOLY SPIRIT On my knees 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 of 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.
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,
Part I
II.
The Mass as the eternal memorial of Christ’s Sacrifice on the Cross
19.
In the Bible and the Church liturgy, when the Sacrifice of the Mass is called a
‘memorial,’ it means much more than remembering the sacrifice of Jesus on
Calvary. It means that whenever the Mass is celebrated, the sacrifice of Jesus
on Calvary that happened in the past is really made present to us at Mass, here
and now. This is only possible because being the eternal High Priest who has
conquered death, His self-offering on the Cross is an everlasting act of love.
The Letter to the Hebrews points clearly to the eternal nature of Christ’s
sacrifice: “Because He remains forever, [He] has a priesthood that does not
pass away… He is always able to save those who approach God through Him, since
He lives forever to make intercession for them” (Heb 7:24-25).
20.Therefore, in every Mass, Jesus is not being offered again; rather, we –
the Mystical Body of Christ – are taken up into the one sacrifice at Calvary by
means of the Priesthood of Christ. The sacrifice of Jesus on Calvary is
perpetuated and made present to us in such a way that we can participate in it,
linking our imperfect and sinful lives to the perfect and pure sacrifice of God
and receiving all the divine benefits that flow from His eternal sacrifice. Our
Lord made this possible for us at the Last Supper by instituting the Sacrament
of the Eucharist. He uses this Sacrament to make His self-offering at Calvary
present to all believers in every place and in every time. Ever since that holy
night, throughout the centuries, whenever and wherever the Mass is celebrated,
the eternal sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the Cross is really made present.
21.
If we were at Calvary, what would stand out to us? We would see Jesus’ gasping
for breath. His gaze would seem to alternate down and up, first towards us with
mercy and longing and second upwards in surrender to His Father. Would we
simply say “thank you” or would we be compelled to make a response of
compassion? When we attend Mass, do we seek to join Jesus in His total
surrender to the Father’s will? Do we bring our imperfections, our toil and
sin, and lay them before Jesus to be consumed by His Death? We either say with
Jesus, “Into Your hands, Father, I commend my spirit, too!” or we choose to
remain enslaved to our sin. To be continued…
Bible
in a year Day 318 The
Narrow Gate, Lost Sheep, and Prodigal Son
Fr. Mike confronts the hard truth Jesus preaches in today's readings: Many
people will ultimately choose hell over heaven. While this can be deeply
distressing, Fr. Mike reminds us to focus on Jesus's directive to each one of
us: "[You] Strive to enter through the narrow gate." In the second
part of today's commentary, Fr. Mike reflects on two of Jesus' most well-known
parables: the parable of the Lost Sheep and the parable of the Prodigal Son.
Today's readings are Luke 13-16 and Proverbs 26:10-12.
May 19 — Litany of Trust
“From the lie that I must
seize what You have not given, deliver me, Jesus.”
David’s grief over Saul and Jonathan is more than the sorrow of a
warrior; it is the sorrow of a man who refuses to let sin become the foundation
of his future. He will not profit from another’s downfall. He will not reward
deceit. He will not take the throne by stepping over a corpse. The Amalekite
assumed David’s heart was shaped by ambition. Instead, David’s heart was shaped
by reverence. And so he asks the question every righteous man must ask: How
were you not afraid? The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and
the absence of that fear is the beginning of ruin.
In my own life, Lord, I confess how often I am tempted to take advantage
of circumstances that seem to favor me. I see someone stumble, and a small
voice whispers that their misfortune might open a door for me. I see a weakness
in another, and pride suggests I could use it to advance myself. But this is
not Your way. You do not build Your kingdom on manipulation, deceit, or
opportunism. You build it on truth, humility, and obedience. Deliver me from
the lie that gain obtained through another’s loss is gain at all.
Jesus, teach me the holy restraint of David. Teach me to wait for what
You give, not grasp for what You have not offered. Teach me to honor the people
You place in authority—even when they are flawed, even when they wound me, even
when their time is ending. Teach me to mourn the fallen, not exploit them.
Teach me to see every person, even those who oppose me, as bearing Your image
and deserving of dignity.
From the fear that obedience will cost me too much, deliver me, Jesus.
From the lie that righteousness is weakness, deliver me, Jesus.
From the temptation to profit from another’s downfall, deliver me, Jesus.
From the belief that Your timing is too slow, deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire to build my life on shortcuts, deliver me, Jesus.
Jesus, I trust that You will give me what is mine in Your time.
Jesus, I trust that no blessing gained through sin is a blessing at all.
Jesus, I trust that honoring Your order protects my soul.
Jesus, I trust that integrity is the only path that leads to peace.
Jesus, I trust that You will make me a man who fears You more than opportunity.
[5] Schultz, Patricia. 1,000 Places to See Before You
Die: A Traveler's Life List Workman Publishing Company. Kindle Edition.
THE PROUD REBEL (1958)
Alan Ladd • Olivia de Havilland • Dean Jagger
Directed by George Seaton
A frontier drama carved from restraint and quiet suffering, The Proud Rebel trades gunfights for moral endurance. Alan Ladd gives one of his most interior performances — a father carrying wounds he never names. Olivia de Havilland anchors the film with a steadiness that feels like grace under pressure. And Dean Jagger supplies the menace of a man who mistakes power for righteousness.
This is not a swaggering Western.
It is a pilgrimage of loyalty, sacrifice, and the long road of love between a father and his son.
It is a Western about belonging, and the cost of earning it.
1. Production & Historical Setting
Post‑Civil War Western Humanism
Released in 1958, the film belongs to the late‑’50s shift toward character‑driven Westerns.
The frontier is not mythic here — it is wounded, rebuilding, and suspicious of outsiders.
The war is over, but its scars remain.
The West becomes a place where men try to rebuild what violence took from them.
The Domestic Western
This is a Western of:
farms instead of saloons
barns instead of canyons
a kitchen table instead of a gunfight
The drama is intimate.
The stakes are emotional.
The violence, when it comes, is the last resort of a man who has run out of options.
Alan Ladd’s Quiet Gravitas
As John Chandler, Ladd plays a father whose entire life has narrowed to one mission: heal his son.
He is a man of few words, carrying grief like a second skin.
His restraint is the film’s moral center.
Olivia de Havilland’s Grounded Strength
Linnett Moore is not a romantic accessory.
She is the film’s conscience — steady, practical, and unafraid to challenge a man’s pride.
Her presence gives the story its moral horizon.
Dean Jagger’s Burley Patriarch
Jagger plays a man who believes force is justice.
He is not evil — he is hardened, territorial, and convinced he is right.
He becomes the test of whether John will choose violence or sacrifice.
2. Story Summary
John Chandler (Alan Ladd)
A former Confederate soldier traveling the frontier with his mute son, David.
The boy’s silence is the wound the father cannot heal.
Linnett Moore (Olivia de Havilland)
A widowed farmwoman struggling to keep her land.
She offers shelter reluctantly — then compassion deliberately.
The Conflict
A dispute with the Burley family escalates into a legal and moral battle.
John is forced to choose between:
defending his son with violence
or protecting him through humility and sacrifice
The Father’s Burden
John’s love for David is absolute.
His willingness to suffer for his son becomes the film’s emotional spine.
The Turning Point
When John is imprisoned, Linnett steps forward — not as a savior, but as someone who has chosen to belong to this wounded pair.
The Resolution
The boy’s voice returns not through force, but through love.
The film ends not with triumph, but with a family formed through suffering, loyalty, and grace.
3. Spiritual & Moral Resonances
A. Love as Long Obedience
John’s journey is not heroic in the Hollywood sense.
It is heroic in the Christian sense:
love that suffers, endures, and refuses to abandon.
B. Belonging as Gift, Not Possession
Linnett’s farm becomes a sanctuary — not because she owns it,
but because she opens it.
Belonging is not claimed; it is offered.
C. The Father’s Wound and the Son’s Silence
David’s muteness is a symbol of trauma.
John’s gentleness is the antidote.
The film becomes a meditation on how love heals what violence breaks.
D. Violence as Last Resort
The film insists that true strength is restraint.
John fights only when he must — and even then, he pays the cost.
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