Posts
Dara’s Corner-Try “Veracruz-Style Red Snapper”
· Bucket List trip: Australian Wine Country
· Carnival Time begins in Catholic Countries.
· Spirit Hour: Hunter Valley Wine
· 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 Jan 28th
· Ever wondered how to make the most out of a day filled with kazoo tunes, LEGO creations, blueberry pancakes, vacation planning, speaking up, Viking celebrations, CO2 reductions, daisies, data privacy, rattlesnakes, community engagement, ladybug gifts, Geoffroy’s cats, and army pride? Start your morning with a stack of blueberry pancakes while drafting your dream vacation itinerary. Take a moment to appreciate nature with a bouquet of daisies and reflect on ways to reduce your carbon footprint. Engage with your community by attending a local event or volunteering. Embrace your creativity by building something out of LEGO bricks and celebrating the art of data privacy. Speak up about something you’re passionate about, maybe even participating in a kazoo concert or rattlesnake roundup. Honor military service with a moment of remembrance or gratitude. Throughout the day, keep an eye out for ladybugs and Geoffroy’s cats. End your day with a toast to the joy of embracing the weird and wonderful world we live in. Cheers to a day filled with unexpected celebrations!
π Dara’s Corner: Aboard The World
Ordinary Time | January 29 – February 4, 2026
Theme: Descent, Discernment & the Grace of Preparation
Coordinates: At Sea → Albany → Southern Ocean → Approaching Tasmania
π§️ Day 1 — January 29 | At Sea Along the Southern Coast
Title: The Grace of Descent
· Ritual: Pilgrims write one thing they are “descending from” — pride, hurry, fear — and fold it into a small paper boat
· Scripture: Psalm 131:2 — “I have calmed and quieted my soul…”
· Meal: Warm barley soup, seeded bread, chamomile tea
· Reflection: “Descent is not diminishment—it is grounding.”
· Hospitality Arc: Ask someone what they’re stepping down from—and honor their humility
π¬️ Day 2 — January 30 | Approaching Albany
Title: The Southern Wind
· Ritual: Pilgrims stand on deck facing the south wind, naming one truth they can no longer ignore
· Scripture: John 16:13 — “The Spirit of truth will guide you…”
· Meal: Lemon‑pepper fish, roasted vegetables, sparkling water
· Reflection: “Truth arrives like wind—felt before understood.”
· Hospitality Arc: Share with someone a truth that found you before you found it
π Day 3 — January 31 | Docked in Albany
Title: Harbor of Honesty
· Ritual: Pilgrims walk the historic pier, placing a hand on the railing and naming one honest desire for the year
· Scripture: Psalm 51:6 — “You desire truth in the inward being…”
· Meal: Local seafood chowder, crusty bread, crisp white wine
· Reflection: “Honesty is the harbor where discernment begins.”
· Hospitality Arc: Tell someone the honest desire beneath your resolutions
Local Inspiration:
Albany’s rugged coastline, whaling station museum, and windswept headlands — a natural place for truth‑telling.
π«️ Day 4 — February 1 | Southern Ocean Crossing
Title: The Clouded Path
· Ritual: Pilgrims sit in silence for five minutes, naming one place where the path ahead feels unclear
· Scripture: 2 Corinthians 5:7 — “We walk by faith, not by sight.”
· Meal: Ginger‑carrot soup, rice crackers, mint tea
· Reflection: “Uncertainty is not failure—it is invitation.”
· Hospitality Arc: Ask someone where their path feels clouded—and simply witness it
π
Day 5 — February 2 | At Sea Toward Tasmania
Title: The Long Preparation
· Ritual: Pilgrims choose one small discipline to practice for the next seven days—silence, gratitude, early rising
· Scripture: Luke 12:35 — “Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit.”
· Meal: Herb omelet, fresh fruit, hot tea
· Reflection: “Preparation is the quiet work that makes revelation possible.”
· Hospitality Arc: Encourage someone in their chosen discipline—name the goodness you see in their effort
π§️ Day 6 — February 3 | Nearing Tasmania
Title: The Edge of the New
· Ritual: Pilgrims stand at the bow and name one threshold they feel themselves approaching
· Scripture: Isaiah 42:9 — “See, the former things have come to pass…”
· Meal: Roasted chicken, lemon potatoes, rosemary tea
· Reflection: “Thresholds are not crossed—they are entered.”
· Hospitality Arc: Ask someone what threshold they sense—and bless their crossing
π Day 7 — February 4 | Docked in Tasmania (Hobart or Burnie)
Title: The Shore of Discernment
· Ritual: Pilgrims walk the shoreline, picking up one stone that symbolizes what they are carrying into the next season
· Scripture: James 1:5 — “If any of you lacks wisdom, ask God…”
· Meal: Tasmanian salmon, citrus salad, sparkling elderflower
· Reflection: “Discernment is not choosing between good and bad—it is choosing between good and better.”
Novena to the Holy Face-Day 1
Exodus, Chapter
9, Verse 20
Those of Pharaoh’s servants who FEARED
the word of the LORD hurried their servants and their livestock off to shelter.
Even Pharaohs servants
when they heard the word of God took action. Blessed are we that hear the word
of the Lord!
Today we are a
community living in the fulfillment of faith in Christ and He asks us to do
something unthinkable,
“Amen, amen, I say to
you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not
have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal
life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my
blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me
and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the
Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me. This is
the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your ancestors who ate and still
died, whoever eats this bread will live forever.” (John 6:53-58)
Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. (Mt. 4:19)
Aids in Battle[1]The
Power of Christ’s Blood
This Blood, if rightly received,
drives away demons and keeps them far away from us, while it calls to us both
angels and the Lord of angels. For wherever they see the Lord’s Blood, demons flee,
and angels run to gather together. For this Blood, poured forth, washed clean
all the world. . . . Those who share this Blood stand with angels
and archangels and the
heavenly powers above, clothed in Christ’s own kingly robe, and having the
armor of the Spirit. In fact, greater than everything I have yet described is
this: Those who share this Blood are clothed with the King Himself.
ST.
JOHN CHRYSOSTOM
Copilot’s Take
When the Word of God is received with reverence, the soul awakens to its
true condition and moves toward shelter, just as the servants of Pharaoh acted
when they recognized the power of the Lord. In the fullness of time, Christ
deepened this call by offering His own Body and Blood as the decisive remedy
against spiritual death, a gift that not only nourishes but fortifies those who
receive it with faith. The Eucharist becomes the battleground where evil loses
its claim, for the Precious Blood drives away darkness and draws the hosts of
heaven near. To follow Christ, then, is to enter this divine protection, to
stand clothed in His strength, and to participate in His mission of drawing
souls from danger into life.
St. Thomas
Aquinas, Priest and Doctor of the Church[2]
Thomas Aquinas thoughts on Fear
Article 1. Whether
God can be feared? I answer that, Just as hope has two objects, one
of which is the future good
itself, that one expects to obtain, while the other is someone's help, through
whom one expects to obtain what one hopes for, so, too, fear may have two objects, one of which is the very evil which a man shrinks
from, while the other is that from which the evil may come.
Accordingly, in the first way God, Who is goodness itself, cannot be
an object of fear; but He can be an object of fear in the second way, in so far
as there may come to us some evil either from Him or in
relation to Him. From Him there comes the evil of punishment, but
this is evil
not absolutely but relatively, and, absolutely speaking, is a good. Because, since a
thing is said to be good
through being ordered to an end, while evil implies lack of this
order, that which excludes the order to the last end is altogether evil, and such is the evil of fault. On the
other hand the evil
of punishment is indeed an evil,
in so far as it is the privation of some particular good, yet absolutely
speaking, it is a good,
in so far as it is ordained to the last end. In relation to God the evil of fault can come to
us, if we be separated from Him: and in this way God can and ought to be
feared.
Article 2. Whether
fear is fittingly divided into filial, initial, servile and worldly fear? I answer that, We are speaking
of fear now, in so far as it makes us turn, so to speak, to God or away from Him. For,
since the object of fear is an evil, sometimes, on
account of the evils
he fears, man withdraws from God, and this is called human fear; while
sometimes, on account of the evils he fears, he turns to God and adheres to Him.
This latter evil
is twofold, viz. evil
of punishment, and evil
of fault. Accordingly if a man turn to God and adhere to Him,
through fear of punishment, it will be servile fear; but if it be on account of
fear of committing a fault, it will be filial fear, for it becomes a child to
fear offending its father. If, however, it be on account of both, it will be
initial fear, which is between both these fears.
Article 3. Whether
worldly fear is always evil? I answer that, moral acts and habits take their name and
species from their
objects. Now the proper object of the appetite's movement is the
final good:
so that, in consequence, every appetitive movement is
both specified and named from its proper end. For if anyone were to describe covetousness as love of
work because men work on account of covetousness, this
description would be incorrect, since the covetous man seeks work not as end
but as a means: the end that he seeks is wealth, wherefore covetousness is rightly
described as the desire or the love of wealth, and this is evil. Accordingly, worldly
love is, properly speaking; the love whereby a man trusts in the world as his
end, so that worldly love is always evil. Now fear is born of
love, since man
fears the loss of what he
loves, as Augustine
states. Now worldly fear is that which arises from worldly love as from an evil root, for which
reason worldly fear is always evil.
Saint Thomas Aquinas’ thoughts on fear:[3]
1.
Fear is a shrinking back from evil. Hence, we cannot fear God in himself, for
God is infinite goodness. But one is said to fear God in the sense of
fearing the evil of being separated from God by sin, and in the sense of
fearing to incur his punishments for sin.
2.
Fear is called servile fear when it is the dread of punishment alone. It
is called filial fear or chaste
fear when it is primarily the dread of offending God, our loving father.
Between these two types of fear is initial fear, which is properly the
beginning of filial fear, and differs
from it only as imperfect differs from perfect. There is another type of fear
called worldly fear which is the dread of losing temporal things to
which the heart clings as to the ultimate good.
3. Worldly fear is always evil, for it
discounts God and eternity, and dreads only the loss of creatural goods.
4. Servile fear is not good in point of its
servility, but it is good inasmuch as it recognizes and dreads the evil that
attends upon sin. From such a dread a person may readily rise to the higher and
noble type of fear, and through this, to charity and repentance.
5.
However, servile fear is essentially
different from filial fear. Servile fear dreads punishment; filial fear dreads offending God. These
two types of fear differ in their specific objects, and therefore differ
essentially from each other.
6.
Yet servile fear, as we have seen,
has a good aspect, and, in this respect, it comes from the Holy Ghost; but it
is not the gift of the Holy Ghost that we call fear. Hence, servile fear, in so far as it is good,
can remain in the soul which has charity, that is, which is in the state of
sanctifying or habitual grace, and therefore in the friendship and love of God.
7.
Wisdom is knowledge of God together with the will to serve him and possess him.
Now, the beginning of wisdom itself is faith, for by faith we know God and are
directed to him. But the beginning of wisdom, in the sense of what arouses one
and stirs oneto be wise, is fear. This beginning of wisdom is both servile fear and filial fear; such fear puts spurs to a man, so to speak, and makes
him cultivate wisdom. In this sense, "the fear of the Lord is the
beginning of wisdom" (Psalm 110).
8. Initial fear is, as we have said, beginning
fear. Both servile fear and filial fear may be, in some way, the
start of fearing the Lord. Yet initial
fear is closer to filial fear than to
servile fear; indeed, it is, properly
speaking, an imperfect form of filial
fear.
9. Filial or chaste fear of the Lord is one of the seven gifts of the Holy
Ghost. By it we revere God and avoid what separates us from him.
10.
Filial fear increases with charity,
for the more one loves God, the more one fears to offend him. Servile fear loses its servility as
charity increases, and then, as the non servile dread of deserved punishments,
it decreases in the glow of charity. For charity fixes the soul more and more
on God, and thus the thought of self, and even of deserved punishment of
oneself, becomes less and less. Besides, the greater one's charity is, the more
confident is one's soul of escape from punishment. And thus, finally, the only
fear in the charity-filled soul is filial
fear.
11.
Filial fear will exist in a perfected
state in heaven. It cannot be the same as it is during earthly life, for in
heaven all possibility of losing or offending God will be taken away. Servile fear will not exist at all in
heaven.
12.
The first beatitude, "Blessed are the poor inspirit," corresponds to
the gift of fear. For if a man fears God perfectly, as he may do by the gift,
he does not pridefully seek to be rich or honored but is humble and poor
inspirit.Things
to do:[4]
·
Read
G.K. Chesterton's biography, St.
Thomas Aquinas, The Dumb Ox, which is full of Chestertonian profundity
and wit online or purchase it from Amazon.
·
Dive
into the intellectual depth and beauty of St. Thomas' thought in his Summa
Theologiae. Familiarize yourself with his method of inquiry by reading his
section on God's attributes, especially the goodness of God.
Here is a Bibliography in English.
·
Nearly
everyone, especially young people, knows and appreciates the story of St.
Thomas chasing the prostitute from his room with a burning log. (She was sent
by his wealthy family to tempt him away from the religious life.) After he
drove away the temptress, two angels came to him and fastened a mystical
chastity cord around his waist. Buy or fashion your own chastity belt, easy to
make from braided yarn or thin, soft rope. (St. Joseph chastity belts are
available at some Catholic shops.) This would be a beautiful alternative or
addition to the "True Love Waits" chastity pledge and ring. It is a
wonderful low-key symbol for self-conscious teens. It also serves as an
excellent reminder to pray daily for the virtue of chastity.
·
Meditate
upon the profound humility of St. Thomas Aquinas, whose intellectual capacity
far surpasses any since his time. He stopped writing at the end of his life
after having a vision of the glory of God, claiming that 'All that I have
written seems to me like straw compared to what has now been revealed to me.'
How often do we take pride in our own intellectual achievements, fully
crediting them to ourselves?
·
If
you are a student or teacher, or at all concerned about the crisis of Catholic
education, make ample use of the Prayer to St. Thomas Aquinas for Schools and the Prayer to the Angel of Schools.
·
Read
Pope Leo XIII's encyclical, Aeterni Patris, strangely relevant to our time in
its exhortation towards a renewal in philosophical study with a focus on the
Angelic Doctor, Saint Thomas Aquinas.
·
Finally,
read Pope John Paul II's encyclical, Fides et Ratio, especially the section on The
enduring originality of the thought of St. Thomas Aquinas. He expresses a
similar intent to that of Pope Leo XIII's in the following words, "If it
has been necessary from time to time to intervene on this question, to
reiterate the value of the Angelic Doctor's insights and insist on the study of
his thought, this has been because the Magisterium's directives have not always
been followed with the readiness one would wish."
·
From
the Catholic Culture library: Light from Aquinas , The Meaning of Virtue in St. Thomas Aquinas and The Philosophy of Woman of St. Thomas Aquinas. For
many more documents search the library for "Aquinas".
Bible in a
Year Day 210
Fr. Mike
compares the messages of Isaiah and Ezekiel, one coming from a pre-exile time
and the other from a post-exile time. Even though they are coming from two very
different points in salvation history, they both are persistent in speaking the
Word of God, and sharing his consolation with the people of Israel. Today's
readings are Isaiah 41-42, Ezekiel 2-3, and Proverbs 12:1-4.
Daily Devotions
·
Unite
in the work of the Porters of St.
Joseph by joining them in fasting: Today's Fast: The
Sick, afflicted, and infirmed.
·
Offering to
the sacred heart of Jesus
·
Rosary
[1] Thigpen, Paul.
Manual for Spiritual Warfare. TAN Books.
[4]https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2020-01-28
π¬ Strange Marriage (1932)
Pre‑Code Hollywood — drama, crime, and moral ambiguity
⭐ Quick Overview
A young woman marries a wealthy man to escape poverty, only to find herself entangled in blackmail, corruption, and a web of moral compromises. The film leans heavily into Pre‑Code themes:
- transactional marriage
- class desperation
- sexual implication without explicitness
- corruption among the wealthy
- women navigating power structures stacked against them
It’s a compact, moody drama that asks:
What is a marriage worth when survival is on the line?
π Plot Summary
Marian (Evalyn Knapp), a working‑class young woman, is pressured into a marriage of convenience with a wealthy older man, Judge Harlan. The marriage is less about love and more about protection — he offers her stability, she offers him companionship and social polish.
But Marian’s past won’t stay buried.
A criminal figure who once helped her threatens to expose her history unless she cooperates in a blackmail scheme. As the judge becomes entangled in the scandal, Marian must choose between loyalty, self‑preservation, and the possibility of real love with a younger man who sees her for who she is.
The film ends with a surprisingly moral — but not moralistic — resolution, typical of the Pre‑Code era:
sin has consequences, but mercy is possible.
π️ Catholic Moral Reading
1. Marriage as contract vs. covenant
The film exposes the fragility of marriages built on:
- fear
- money
- social pressure
- escape
It invites a reflection on the Catholic understanding of marriage as a sacramental covenant, not a survival strategy.
2. The danger of hidden sin
Marian’s past isn’t evil — it’s desperate — but secrecy becomes the weapon used against her.
A perfect tie‑in to:
- Confession
- The healing power of truth
- The spiritual cost of living in fear
3. Corruption among the powerful
Judge Harlan’s world is polished but morally compromised.
A reminder that sin is not the domain of the poor — it’s often more refined among the wealthy.
4. Mercy as the turning point
The film’s resolution hinges on compassion, not punishment.
A very Pre‑Code but also very Gospel ending.
πΈ Hospitality Pairing
For Strange Marriage, the pairing should reflect:
- class tension
- elegance masking danger
- a woman caught between two worlds
Drink: The “False Security” Highball
A polished drink with a sting underneath.
Ingredients:
- Bourbon
- Ginger ale
- A dash of bitters
- Lemon twist
Symbolism:
- Bourbon = the judge’s wealth and authority
- Ginger ale = Marian’s attempt to “sweeten” her circumstances
- Bitters = the blackmail and moral compromise
- Lemon twist = the sharp turn her life takes
Food Pairing: Poor Man’s Crostini
To mirror Marian’s origins vs. her new life:
- Toasted baguette
- Simple garlic butter
- A thin slice of inexpensive cheese
Elegant on the surface, humble underneath.
