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. "
A wartime espionage romance where loyalty, identity, and desire collide in the shadows of Stockholm.
🎬 Production Snapshot
Studio: London Film Productions Director: Victor Saville Release: 1937 Screenplay: Arthur Wimperis & Lajos Bíró Stars: Vivien Leigh, Conrad Veidt, Anthony Bushell Genre: Spy thriller / romantic espionage drama Notable: A pre‑war film that blends glamour with moral ambiguity. Beneath its polished surface lies a meditation on divided loyalties, hidden identities, and the cost of loving someone whose truth you cannot fully know.
🧭 Story Summary
Set in neutral Stockholm during World War I, the film follows Madeleine Goddard (Vivien Leigh), a fashionable boutique owner who is secretly a French intelligence agent. Her shop becomes a crossroads of coded messages, whispered alliances, and elegant deception.
Enter Baron Karl von Marwitz (Conrad Veidt), a charming German officer with secrets of his own.
Their attraction is immediate — and dangerous.
As their romance deepens, both continue their covert missions:
Madeleine smuggles information through her fashion house
Karl manipulates intelligence networks with quiet precision
Each suspects the other
Each hides behind charm, wit, and half‑truths
The tension builds as their loyalties pull them in opposite directions.
When the truth finally surfaces, love and duty collide.
The ending is bittersweet: two souls drawn together, yet separated by the kingdoms they serve.
🕰 Historical & Cultural Context
Released just two years before WWII, the film reflects Europe’s growing anxiety about espionage, shifting alliances, and the fragility of peace.
Vivien Leigh was on the cusp of international stardom; Conrad Veidt, already a master of morally complex roles, brings gravity and melancholy.
The film’s elegance masks a deeper unease: the sense that truth is always provisional in a world built on coded messages.
Stockholm’s neutrality becomes a metaphor for the human heart caught between competing loyalties.
✝️ Catholic Moral Resonances
The Mask as a Spiritual Condition
Both Madeleine and Karl live behind carefully crafted personas.
Their duplicity is professional — but it becomes personal.
The film becomes a meditation on the spiritual cost of living without transparency.
Love in a Divided Heart
Their romance is real, but their truths are not.
They long for intimacy but cannot offer honesty.
It echoes the Gospel’s warning: “No one can serve two masters.”
The Temptation of Neutrality
Stockholm’s neutrality mirrors the human desire to avoid choosing sides.
But the film insists: Neutrality is itself a choice — and often a costly one.
The Tragic Nobility of Sacrifice
Karl’s final decisions carry the weight of a man who sees clearly and chooses duty over desire.
Madeleine’s sorrow becomes a quiet echo of the soul’s longing for a unity it cannot yet claim.
🍷 Hospitality Pairing
Drink
Black Tea with Lemon
Clean, sharp, elegant — the taste of a room where secrets are spoken softly.
Snack
Dark Chocolate with Sea Salt
Bittersweet, refined, and slightly dangerous — like the romance at the film’s center.
Atmosphere
A single candle, evoking the salons and shadowed corners of wartime Stockholm
Soft classical strings or salon jazz
A sense of poised tension — beauty layered over danger
🪞 Reflection Prompt
Where in your life do you feel the pull of divided loyalties — the desire to be fully known and yet the instinct to hide?
What mask do you wear for the sake of peace, and what would it cost to set it down?
And in this season of discernment, what truth is asking to be spoken so that love can become honest, whole, and free?
🎬 Production Snapshot
Studio: Allied Artists Pictures
Director: Bert I. Gordon
Release: 1960
Screenplay: George Worthing Yates & Bert I. Gordon
Stars: Richard Carlson, Susan Gordon, Lugene Sanders, Juli Reding
Genre: Supernatural thriller / psychological horror / guilt‑haunting morality tale
Notable: A seaside ghost story that plays like a moral parable. Beneath its B‑movie surface lies a sharp meditation on conscience, omission, and the slow corrosion of the soul.
🧭 Story Summary
Jazz pianist Tom Stewart is preparing for marriage on a quiet island. His former lover, Vi Mason, returns and threatens to expose their past. At the lighthouse, she slips and clings to the railing, begging for help.
Tom chooses not to save her.
This silent refusal becomes the film’s hinge.
After Vi’s death, Tom’s life begins to unravel. Her ghost appears in subtle, unnerving ways:
A wristwatch washing ashore
Footprints where no one walks
A disembodied hand stealing the wedding ring
Her voice whispering the truth
Her face appearing in photographs
Her presence disrupting the wedding rehearsal
Tom’s attempts to hide the truth lead him deeper into darkness. A ferryman discovers his secret and tries to blackmail him; Tom kills again. A young girl, Sandy, witnesses his actions, becoming the final threat to his collapsing façade.
At the lighthouse—where the first sin occurred—Tom tries to silence the child. Vi’s ghost intervenes. Tom falls to his death, and the haunting ends only when the truth is restored.
🕰 Historical and Cultural Context
Part of the late‑1950s/early‑1960s wave of supernatural thrillers where ghosts represent conscience rather than monsters.
Director Bert I. Gordon, known for creature features, turns inward toward psychological and moral horror.
The seaside setting reflects postwar anxieties about reputation, hidden sin, and the fragility of public respectability.
The film’s ghost effects, though modest, serve the story’s moral clarity rather than spectacle.
The narrative echoes mid‑century fears of scandal and the cost of maintaining a lie.
✝️ Catholic Moral Resonances
The Sin of Omission as the First Betrayal
Tom’s refusal to save Vi is not an act of violence but an act of withholding—a betrayal born in silence.
It echoes the Catechism’s teaching that sins of omission can be as grave as active wrongdoing.
The Ghost as Conscience Made Visible
Vi’s haunting is not malevolent; it is revelatory.
She is the truth Tom refuses to face—persistent, unyielding, and ultimately merciful.
The Multiplication of Lies
Tom’s descent illustrates how sin darkens the intellect and weakens the will.
One refusal becomes a pattern.
One death becomes two.
The soul collapses under the weight of its evasions.
The Innocent as the Final Test
Sandy, the child who sees clearly, becomes the target of Tom’s desperation.
Evil, when cornered, always turns on innocence.
A Hint of Judas on Tuesday of Holy Week
Tuesday is the day Christ exposes hidden intentions.
It is the day Judas’s interior fracture becomes visible.
Tom’s story mirrors this pattern:
a quiet betrayal, a concealed truth, a conscience that refuses to stay silent.
The haunting becomes a cinematic echo of the Gospel’s warning—
that the heart’s secret choices eventually step into the light.
🍷 Hospitality Pairing
Drink:
Dark Roast Coffee with a Dash of Sea Salt
Bracing, coastal, slightly bitter—like the taste of a conscience awakening.
Snack:
Salted Caramel Popcorn
A nod to the film’s B‑movie roots: simple, nostalgic, perfect for a late‑night thriller.
Atmosphere:
A dim lamp or candle, echoing the lighthouse’s lonely glow
Soft jazz playing quietly, recalling Tom’s profession
A sense of moral tension—truth pressing gently but firmly toward the surface
🪞 Reflection Prompt
Where in your life is there a temptation to “look away” rather than act—and how might God be inviting you to choose courage over concealment?
What truth is quietly knocking, asking to be faced before it grows heavier?
And in this Tuesday of Holy Week, where Judas’s hidden intentions come into the light, what small act of honesty could keep your heart free, clear, and steady?
Director: Michael Anderson Studio: MGM Stars: Anthony Quinn, Laurence Olivier, Oskar Werner, David Janssen, Vittorio De Sica Release Year: 1968 Genre: Political‑spiritual drama Runtime: 162 minutes
Story Summary
A Ukrainian archbishop, Kiril Lakota, is unexpectedly released after twenty years in a Siberian labor camp. Sent to Rome, he is quietly elevated to cardinal and soon finds himself at the center of a global crisis: famine in China, nuclear brinkmanship, and the Church’s own internal fractures. When the pope dies, Lakota is elected to the Chair of Peter — a man formed by suffering, silence, and obedience suddenly placed at the helm of a world on fire. His final act is a gesture of radical charity that shocks the world and redefines papal leadership.
Cast Highlights
Anthony Quinn — Kiril Lakota
A performance of restrained gravitas: a man who has no ambition except obedience, and no power except the authority of suffering.
Oskar Werner — Fr. David Telemond
A Jesuit theologian whose brilliance and torment echo the Church’s own intellectual tensions of the era.
Laurence Olivier — Piotr Ilyich Kamenev
A Soviet premier whose conversations with Lakota form the film’s moral and geopolitical spine.
David Janssen — George Faber
A journalist whose personal unraveling mirrors the world’s instability.
Historical & Cultural Context
Released during the Cold War, Vatican II, and global famine anxieties.
Based on Morris West’s novel, which anticipated a Slavic pope a decade before John Paul II.
The film reflects the Church’s emerging global conscience: the papacy as a moral counterweight to nuclear powers.
Its final act — a pope emptying the Vatican treasury to feed a starving nation — is both prophetic and cinematic.
Catholic Moral & Spiritual Themes
1. The Authority of Suffering
Lakota’s papacy is not built on intellect, charisma, or politics.
It is built on twenty years of unjust imprisonment — a formation deeper than any seminary.
Lesson:
True authority in the Church is cruciform.
Leadership flows from wounds offered, not power seized.
2. Obedience Without Illusion
Lakota never romanticizes the Church or the world.
His obedience is clear‑eyed, forged in hardship, and free of clerical ambition.
Lesson:
Obedience is not naïveté; it is the discipline of trusting God more than one’s own survival instincts.
3. The Papacy as Global Fatherhood
The film portrays the pope not as a monarch but as a father whose responsibility extends to every suffering people.
Lesson:
Spiritual fatherhood demands sacrificial generosity, even when the world calls it impractical.
4. The Church as Bridge‑Builder
Lakota’s conversations with Kamenev show the Church’s unique role:
neither capitalist nor communist, but a moral mediator.
Lesson:
The Church’s diplomacy is not political maneuvering — it is the pursuit of peace rooted in human dignity.
5. The Cost of Intellectual Brilliance
Fr. Telemond’s arc is a meditation on the tension between theological creativity and ecclesial obedience.
Lesson:
Genius without humility becomes fragmentation; humility without courage becomes silence.
The Church needs both — but ordered.
Hospitality Pairing
To match the film’s global, ascetic, and ecclesial tone:
Drink:
Austere Red Table Wine — something simple, unadorned, almost monastic.
A wine that tastes like stone, earth, and discipline.
Atmosphere:
Dim lighting, like a Vatican study at night.
A single candle or lamp.
A wooden table or desk, uncluttered.
Silence before and after the film — a contemplative frame.
Food:
A peasant bread with olive oil and salt.
The kind of meal a man formed in a labor camp would not take for granted.
Closing Reflection
Shoes of the Fisherman is not about papal politics.
It is about the weight of spiritual responsibility in a world that prefers spectacle to sacrifice.
Lakota’s final act — giving away everything — is the film’s thesis:
The Church leads when she bleeds.
She teaches when she empties herself.
She fathers when she feeds the world.
This is a film for anyone discerning leadership, obedience, or the cost of being entrusted with souls.
🎬 Production Snapshot Studio: Gaumont British Director: Alfred Hitchcock Release: 1937 Screenplay: Charles Bennett & Edwin Greenwood, adapted from Josephine Tey’s A Shilling for Candles Stars: Nova Pilbeam, Derrick De Marney, Percy Marmont, George Curzon Genre: British crime thriller / romantic chase / early Hitchcock “wrong man” Notable: One of Hitchcock’s most youthful, brisk, and charming pre‑Hollywood thrillers. Features the famous ballroom crane shot that reveals the killer in a band—an early masterstroke of cinematic suspense.
🧭 Story Summary
A young writer, Robert Tisdall, discovers the body of a famous actress washed ashore. Two witnesses see him running and assume guilt. When the police find that the belt used to strangle her is missing from his raincoat, suspicion hardens into accusation.
Robert escapes custody and crosses paths with Erica Burgoyne, the spirited daughter of the Chief Constable. Initially skeptical, Erica is gradually drawn into his plight. Their journey becomes a chase through rural England—barns, mills, roadside cafés—where innocence must outrun bureaucracy, gossip, and fear.
As they uncover clues, the real murderer emerges: a man hiding in plain sight, performing nightly in a dance‑hall band. Hitchcock’s legendary crane shot descends from the rafters, across the ballroom, and lands on the killer’s twitching eyes—an early example of cinematic revelation through camera movement.
The film ends with truth exposed, innocence vindicated, and a quiet, youthful hope between Erica and Robert—two people who have learned courage by walking through danger together.
🕰 Historical and Cultural Context
Part of Hitchcock’s British “wrong man” cycle, refining themes he would later perfect in The 39 Steps and North by Northwest.
Nova Pilbeam, only 18, was one of Britain’s brightest young stars; Hitchcock had considered her for Rebecca.
The film blends light romance with real suspense, a hallmark of Hitchcock’s early style.
Its technical centerpiece—the ballroom crane shot—was groundbreaking for 1937 and signaled Hitchcock’s growing mastery of visual storytelling.
The story reflects 1930s anxieties about police fallibility, public suspicion, and the fragile line between guilt and innocence.
✝️ Catholic Moral Resonances
The Wrongly Accused as Icon of the Just Man
Robert Tisdall becomes a symbol of the innocent who suffers under misunderstanding and haste. His journey echoes the biblical theme that truth often walks a narrow, vulnerable road.
Erica’s Courage as Moral Awakening
Erica begins as a dutiful daughter of the law but discovers a deeper vocation:
to discern truth not by authority alone, but by compassion, conscience, and personal risk.
The Court of Public Opinion as a False Judge
Gossip, assumption, and fear form a kind of secular “mob judgment.”
Catholic moral tradition warns that rash judgment is a sin against justice and charity.
The Pursuit of Truth as a Shared Pilgrimage
Robert and Erica’s journey becomes a parable of accompaniment:
truth is found not alone, but through loyal companionship, humility, and perseverance.
The Killer’s Eyes as Revelation of the Heart
Hitchcock’s crane shot lands on the murderer’s twitching eyes—an image of interior corruption made visible.
In Catholic thought, sin distorts the gaze long before it stains the hands.
Vindication as a Foretaste of Justice
The film ends not with spectacle but with restoration—an echo of the Christian conviction that truth, though delayed, ultimately prevails.
🍷 Hospitality Pairing
Drink: English Breakfast Tea with a Slice of Lemon
Brisk, clear, and honest—matching the film’s youthful pace and rural English setting.
Snack: Shortbread with a Touch of Sea Salt
Simple, sturdy, and comforting—like Erica’s steadying presence in the story.
Atmosphere:
A single warm lamp, evoking the coziness of an English cottage
Soft instrumental jazz or light strings, nodding to the ballroom finale
A sense of quiet companionship and moral clarity emerging from confusion
🪞 Reflection Prompt
Where in your life do you feel wrongly judged or misunderstood—and how might God be inviting you to walk that path with patience and integrity?
Who is the “Erica” beside you—someone whose loyalty helps you stay steady in the pursuit of truth?
And where might you be called to be her for someone else?
🎬 Production Snapshot
Studio: Columbia Pictures
Director: William Dieterle
Release: 1953
Screenplay: Harry Kleiner (adaptation), based loosely on the New Testament accounts and apocryphal traditions
Stars: Rita Hayworth, Stewart Granger, Charles Laughton, Judith Anderson
Genre: Biblical epic / court intrigue / romantic drama
Notable: Rita Hayworth produced the film through her own Beckworth Corporation, crafting a version of Salome that is not a villain but a woman seeking truth and redemption. The film blends Technicolor spectacle with a surprisingly intimate moral arc.
🧭 Story Summary
Salome, the daughter of Herodias, returns to Galilee after being expelled from Rome for defying Caesar. She enters a palace thick with political tension: Herod is paranoid and superstitious, Herodias is scheming for power, and John the Baptist’s preaching has stirred unrest among the people.
Salome meets Claudius, a Roman commander whose integrity and compassion stand in stark contrast to the decadence of the court. As she witnesses the conflict between Herodias and John the Baptist, she begins to question her mother’s ambitions and her own place in the world.
When Herodias demands John’s execution, Salome becomes a pawn in the struggle. Her famous dance—here portrayed not as seduction but as a desperate attempt to save Claudius and defuse political violence—fails to prevent John’s martyrdom. Confronted with the consequences of her mother’s vengeance, Salome rejects the corruption of the palace and chooses a path of repentance and renewal.
The film closes not with destruction but with a gesture toward redemption: Salome and Claudius walk away from the palace, leaving behind a world built on fear and manipulation.
🕰 Historical and Cultural Context
Released during Hollywood’s golden age of biblical epics, Salome stands apart for its focus on character rather than spectacle.
Rita Hayworth’s involvement as producer allowed her to reshape the legend, softening the femme‑fatale archetype and giving Salome a moral awakening.
Charles Laughton’s Herod is a masterclass in theatrical decadence—equal parts grotesque, insecure, and strangely human.
The film reflects 1950s American fascination with ancient empires as mirrors of modern political anxieties: tyranny, propaganda, and the fragility of conscience.
Its Technicolor palette, lavish sets, and Jean Louis costumes place it firmly in the lineage of The Robe and Samson and Delilah, but with a more intimate emotional core.
✝️ Catholic Moral Resonances
The Corrupt Court as a Mirror of the Fallen World
Herod’s palace is a study in spiritual decay—fear, manipulation, and the worship of power. It echoes the biblical theme that sin is not merely personal but systemic.
The Prophet as the Voice of Truth
John the Baptist stands as the uncompromising conscience of the film. His presence exposes the moral bankruptcy of the court and calls each character to conversion.
Salome’s Dance as Misused Beauty
In Scripture, beauty can reveal God—but it can also be twisted for manipulation. The film reframes the dance as a moment of inner conflict: a woman caught between obedience to her mother and the stirrings of conscience.
Repentance as Liberation
Salome’s arc is not one of seduction but of awakening. She recognizes the cost of her mother’s vengeance and chooses truth over loyalty to corruption.
This echoes the Catholic conviction that repentance is not humiliation but freedom.
Martyrdom as Seed of Renewal
John’s death is not the end but the beginning of transformation. His witness becomes the catalyst for Salome’s conversion and Claudius’s courage.
🍷 Hospitality Pairing
Drink: Pomegranate Wine (or Sparkling Pomegranate)
Rich, ruby‑colored, and rooted in Middle Eastern tradition. Symbolic of both royal courts and the biblical themes of sacrifice and renewal.
Snack: Honey‑Date Cakes with Toasted Almonds
Sweet, ancient, and fitting for a Judean palace. Dates evoke the desert, the prophets, and the tension between worldly luxury and spiritual hunger.
Atmosphere:
Low lamplight or candles to evoke the flickering shadows of Herod’s court
Middle Eastern strings or soft choral tones
A sense of moral tension giving way to clarity and repentance
🪞 Reflection Prompt
Where in your own life do you feel caught between the expectations of others and the quiet voice of conscience?
How might God be inviting you—like Salome—to step out of a corrupted pattern and into a path of truth, courage, and renewal?
“For a child* is born to us, a son is given to us, upon his shoulder dominion rests. They name him Wonder-Counselor, God-Hero Father-Forever, Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:5)
·National Cherry Blossom Festival in D.C.
o The nation’s capital comes abloom every spring with the annual National Cherry Blossom Festival. See the famed cherry blossom trees, lining the Tidal Basin, while strolling by iconic sites like the Jefferson and Martin Luther King memorials.
💎 Serbia vs India River of Memory / Subcontinent of Seeking
Serbia and India sit just beyond the fourth ring of the global middle — nations shaped by ancient civilizations, religious depth, and the long shadow of empire. Serbia is a Balkan crossroads where Orthodoxy, Catholicism, and history intertwine through conflict and resilience. India is a vast, rising subcontinent where Catholicism survives as a small but ancient flame amid a billion‑soul mosaic of faiths. Together they reveal the world where memory and seeking meet.
🇷🇸 Serbia — Proud, Historic, and Spiritually Layered
GDP per capita (PPP): ~$20,000 (2024)
🧮 Why Serbia Sits Just Above This Ring
Post‑Yugoslav transition economy
Strong manufacturing and IT growth
High diaspora remittances
Political balancing between East and West
Tourism tied to monasteries, rivers, and history
✝️ Catholic Landscape
Catholic minority (mostly Croats and Hungarians)
Historic monasteries and pilgrimage sites
Church active in reconciliation and youth outreach
Interfaith coexistence with Orthodox majority
Quiet but steady parish life
⚠️ Challenges
Emigration of young professionals
Political polarization
Rural depopulation
Slow EU integration
🌿 Pilgrimage Cue
Serbia is a river of memory — a land where the Church navigates history’s wounds with patience, fidelity, and the slow work of reconciliation.
🇮🇳 India — Vast, Ancient, and Spiritually Searching
GDP per capita (PPP): ~$9,000 (2024)
🧮 Why India Sits Just Below This Ring
Rapid economic growth but uneven distribution
Massive population diluting per‑capita wealth
Strong tech and service sectors
Rural poverty and urban expansion
Complex federal and religious landscape
✝️ Catholic Landscape
~20 million Catholics — ancient and diverse
St. Thomas Christian heritage in Kerala
Vibrant youth, charismatic, and Marian movements
Church active in education, healthcare, and social justice
Occasional pressure but strong internal vitality
⚠️ Challenges
Inequality and caste dynamics
Religious tensions
Rural poverty
Urban overcrowding
🌿 Pilgrimage Cue
India is a subcontinent of seeking — a Church that lives as leaven in a vast spiritual landscape, witnessing through service, education, and quiet holiness.
🕊️ Editorial Reflection
Serbia and India reveal the world where memory and seeking converge. Serbia carries centuries of conflict, culture, and Christian identity. India holds millennia of spiritual searching, diversity, and quiet Catholic witness.
One remembers. The other quests. Both show that the Church thrives not only in stability or suffering, but in the vast, complex middle where identity is shaped by history and hope.
Rich/Poor Tour — Center Ring Wrap‑Up
Standing at the World’s Hinge
As March closes, we pause at the very center of the world’s economic ladder — the hinge where the global story turns. These past weeks have taken us through the middle ring of the Rich/Poor Tour, where nations are neither wealthy nor destitute, but suspended in the tension between memory and possibility.
This center ring has revealed something essential: the middle of the world is not mediocrity — it is balance. It is where wounds and resilience meet, where ancient faith and modern struggle coexist, where the Church survives not by power but by presence.
Here is the ground we have covered:
Jordan & Sri Lanka — The Exact Middle
Crossroads of Covenant / Island of Resilience Two nations holding steady in the world’s center:
Jordan, a desert of covenant and hospitality
Sri Lanka, an island of wounds and resurrection Together they form the global hinge — the midpoint between wealth and poverty.
Albania & El Salvador — Just Beyond the Center
Mountains of Memory / Valleys of Mercy
Albania rising from enforced atheism
El Salvador carrying the courage of martyrs Both nations show faith fought for, not inherited.
North Macedonia & Morocco — The Crossroads Ring
Crossroads of Identity / Gate of the Maghreb
North Macedonia balancing ancient Christian memory with modern uncertainty
Morocco sheltering a quiet Catholic presence through hospitality and service Here the Church thrives in dialogue, not dominance.
Bosnia & Herzegovina & Vietnam — Wounds and Rising Light
Valley of Wounds / River of Rising Light
Bosnia tending to trauma with Marian tenderness
Vietnam glowing with youthful Catholic energy This ring reveals the world where suffering and hope coexist.
Serbia & India — Memory and Seeking
River of Memory / Subcontinent of Seeking
Serbia navigating history’s fractures
India carrying an ancient Christian flame within a billion‑soul mosaic Here the Church lives through identity, service, and quiet courage.
What the Center Ring Teaches
Across these nations, a pattern emerges:
Faith survives in the middle not through power, but through perseverance.
The Church grows where wounds are tended, not ignored.
Identity is shaped by memory, migration, and mercy.
The middle of the world is where the extremes meet — and where the pilgrimage begins.
This center ring is the spiritual fulcrum of the entire Rich/Poor Tour. From here, the journey will widen — outward toward wealth, outward toward poverty, outward toward the edges where the world’s contrasts sharpen.
But before we move on, we honor this middle ground: the place where the world holds its breath, remembers its wounds, and prepares to rise.
MARCH 27 Friday in
Passion Week
Feast of the Seven Dolor’s of the Blessed Virgin Mary
The
LORD said to Joshua, “Do not FEAR
them, for by this time tomorrow I will present them slain to Israel. You must
hamstring their horses and burn their chariots.”
The
enemy was defeated; why destroy their horses and chariots?
Horses
and chariots were the tanks of that time. God knows the human heart we tend to
trust in our human strength, or our clout, or our wealth, or weapons. God knows
and He wants us to trust in Him not any of these things. Even to this very day
we have not learned this lesson we in America have learned to trust in the
strength of our Army, which is the greatest Army in the world and have
forgotten the true basis of our strength which is printed on our money: In God
We Trust. Many people in high offices like to play the prophet: but “A wise
person is superior to a prophet” (Bava Basra 12a) Think a prophet can see the
future but a wise person can see the present. God asks us to be present to each
other every day. Live in the Present!
Words
of wisdom Saint Teresa of Avila:
“I am
afraid that if we begin to put our trust in human help, some of our Divine help
will fail us.”
“The most
potent and acceptable prayer is the prayer that leaves the best effects. I
don’t mean it must immediately fill the soul with desire . . . The best effects
[are] those that are followed up by actions—–when the soul not only desires the
honor of God, but really strives for it. “
“You pay
God a compliment by asking great things of Him.”[1]
Copilot’s
Take
The
Catechism teaches that humanity lives within a “dramatic struggle between good
and evil” (CCC 409), a battle that runs not only through history but through
every human heart. When the news overwhelms us with corruption, violence, and
political hostility, and when the Church herself bears the wounds of scandal or
division, the temptation is either to rage or to retreat. But the Church
insists that evil is never confronted by matching its fury; it is confronted by
fidelity. Politics can shape laws, but only grace can shape hearts. News can
expose darkness, but only holiness can dispel it. The Christian confronts evil
not by choosing a side in the world’s shouting match, but by choosing the side
of truth, mercy, and conversion. The Catechism calls this the “work of justice
and charity” (CCC 1928–1933): refusing lies, resisting fear, protecting the
vulnerable, and purifying our own hearts before demanding purification from
others. In an age of outrage, the Church’s task is not to mirror the world’s
anger but to reveal a different power—the quiet, courageous light of those who
trust God more than headlines, grace more than politics, and Christ more than
any earthly institution.
(FRIDAY
IN PASSION WEEK.)
Feast of
the Seven Dolor’s of the Blessed Virgin Mary
THE part which the Blessed Virgin took in the sufferings and death
of her beloved Son has induced the Church to give her the glorious title of
Queen of Martyrs. The feast of the Seven Dolors was first instituted by the
Council of Cologne, in the year 1423, in order to make amends for what the
Hussites had done against the veneration of the Blessed Virgin, whom they, like
all heretics, had assailed with many calumnies and insults; in particular,
rejecting the image of the Mother of Dolors with the body of her dead Son
resting upon her lap.
This feast was originally called the feast of the Compassion of
the Blessed Virgin.
At the presentation of Jesus in the temple Simeon had predicted
that the suffering of the Son would be the suffering of the Mother also: Behold
this child is set for the fall and for the resurrection of many in Israel, and
for a sign which shall be contradicted; and thy own soul a sword shall pierce
(Luke ii. 34, 35). The ignominy, insults, and cruelties inflicted on Him were
to be so many swords piercing her heart. Remember, therefore, on this day the
seven dolors which the Blessed Virgin experienced:
1. At the circumcision of her Son.
2. At her flight into Egypt with Him.
3. On losing Him for three days in the temple.
4. At the sight of Him carrying the cross.
5. At His death.
6. When beholding His side pierced with a spear, and His body
taken down from the cross.
7. At His burial. Make an act of contrition for your sins, which
helped so much to cause the sufferings and death of Jesus, and resolve firmly
that you will no more grieve the hearts of Jesus and Mary by sin. Ask her to
assist you at your death by her powerful intercession, that then she may show
herself to you as a mother, and obtain from her beloved Son grace for you.
The Introit of the Mass is as follows: “There stood by the cross
of Jesus His Mother, and His Mother s sister, Mary of Cleophas, and Mary
Magdalen” (John xix.). “Woman, behold thy son,” said Jesus, and to the
disciple: “Behold thy mother.” Glory be to the Father…
Prayer. O Lord, in Whose passion, according to the prophecy of Simeon, a
sword of sorrow pierced the most sweet soul of Mary, mother and virgin, grant,
in Thy mercy, that we may call to mind with veneration her transfixion and
sufferings; and by the glorious merits and prayers of all the saints, who stood
faithfully by the cross, interceding for us, may experience the happy effects
of Thy passion. Amen.
EPISTLE. Judith xiii. 23-25.
The Lord hath blessed thee by His power, because by thee He hath
brought our enemies to naught. And Ozias, the prince of the people of Israel,
said to her, Blessed art thou, O daughter, by the Lord the most high God, above
all women upon the earth. Blessed be the Lord Who made heaven and earth, Who hath
directed thee to the cutting off the head of the prince of our enemies. Because
He hath so magnified thy name this day, that thy praise shall not depart out of
the mouth of men who shall be mindful of the power of the Lord forever, for
that thou hast not spared thy life, by reason of the distress and tribulation
of thy people, but hast prevented our ruin in the presence of our God.
GOSPEL. John xix.
25-27.
At that time: There stood by the cross of Jesus His Mother, and
His Mother s sister, Mary of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalen. When Jesus therefore
had seen His Mother and the disciple standing whom He loved, He saith to His
Mother: Woman, behold thy
son. After that, He saith to the disciple: Behold thy mother. And from that
hour the disciple took her to his own.
A special commemoration, one week
before Good Friday, of Mary's compassion for (literally, "suffering
with") Her innocent son.
The Friday of Sorrows is
a solemn pious remembrance of the sorrowful Blessed Virgin Mary on the Friday
before Palm Sunday held in the fifth week of Lent (formerly called
"Passion Week"). In Divine
Worship: The Missal it is called Saint Mary in Passiontide
and sometimes it is traditionally known as Our Lady in Passiontide.
In certain Catholic
countries, especially in Mexico, Guatemala, Italy, Peru, Brazil, Spain, Malta,Nicaragua and the Philippines, it is seen as the beginning of the Holy Week celebrations and termed as Viernes
de Dolores (Friday of Sorrows). It takes place exactly one week before Good
Friday, and concentrates on the emotional pain that the Passion of Jesus Christ
caused to his mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary, who is venerated under the title
Our
Lady of Sorrows. In
certain Spanish-speaking countries, the day is also referred to as Council
Friday, because of the choice of John
11:47-54 as the
Gospel passage read in the Tridentine Mass on that day (which is now read in
slightly expanded form on Saturday of the fifth week of Lent), which recounts
the conciliar meeting of the Sanhedrin priests to discuss what to do with
Jesus. Like all Fridays in Lent, this Friday is a day of abstinence from meat,
unless the national episcopal conference has indicated alternative forms of
penance. A similar commemoration in sympathy with the Virgin Mary under the
title of Our
Lady of Solitude
is held on Black
Saturday.
Relationships
never end and neither should our prayers for the dead. In addition to PRAYERS,
we should also offer up Masses for them and offer indulgences for their
benefit. The dead cannot pray for themselves but they can pray for us and we in
turn should pray for them.
Modern
man and the media often portray persons that fast as deranged, passé or even
ignorant. However, fasting and bodily discipline are truly the marks of a man
or woman of mature intellect which has mastery over not only the mind but also
the body and spirit. St. Paul put it in stronger terms, “put to death therefore
what is earthly in you (Col. 3:5).” Jesus has also said, “If any man would come
after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” Christ
knew we become attached to created things and to the pleasure they bring us.
St. Augustine said that sin begins as a turning away from God and a turning
toward lesser goods. When we sin, we don’t choose evil. We choose something
less than God and His will. Our bodies want more than they need, so we must
give them less than they want. Our bodies must be subject to our reason—or our
reason will soon be subjected to our bodies. St. Paul went even further. “I
pommel my body and subdue it” (1 Cor. 9:27). Nevertheless, our goal should be
to let our reason/soul cooperate with the Holy Spirit.
Chassidic philosophy[5] demonstrates three ways in which
the body and soul can interact:
ØThe
soul can try and mitigate the urges of the body. Things that look good, taste
good and feel good are stimulating and addictive. Most of us live life with our
body in the driver’s seat. The soul just can’t compete. And so, the soul tries
to negotiate reasonably, and encourages moderation.
ØOr,
the soul can choose to reject the body and abhor anything associated with
materialism. The soul-driven person would then rebel against society’s shallow
and false veneers. Simplicity and ascetism become the ultimate goals of the
soul.
ØThe
third scenario is not a compromise between the first two. It is an entirely new
approach, where the body and soul learn to work together. The soul neither
leans towards the body nor rejects it. It
does not react; it pro-acts. In a proactive position, the soul directs and
channels the body’s inclination in a constructive way. In this last approach,
instead of repressing the body’s needs, the soul views them as an opportunity
to serve God in a whole new way.
ØUsing
the third approach we should fast with a purpose like Moses or Elijah for
example before going into God’s presence or to strengthen us or for the benefit
of others. Jesus fasted not because He needed to, but as a model for us. We
should make self-sacrifices in an effort to make others happy or out of love
for our God to share in his plan of salvation.
Read: “Wherefore, we ask, urgently and prayerfully, that we, as people of God,
make of the entire Lenten Season a period of special penitential observance.
Following the instructions of the Holy See, we declare that the obligation both
too fast and to abstain from meat, an obligation observed under a stricter
formality by our fathers in the faith, still binds on Ash Wednesday and Good
Friday. No Catholic Christian will lightly excuse himself from so hallowed an
obligation on the Wednesday which solemnly opens the Lenten season and, on that
Friday, called ‘Good’ because on that day Christ suffered in the flesh and died for our sins.
. .. Gratefully remembering this, Catholic peoples from time immemorial have
set apart Friday for special penitential observance by which they gladly suffer
with Christ that they may one day be glorified with Him. This is the heart of
the tradition of abstinence from meat on Friday where that tradition has been
observed in the holy Catholic Church.”
(1966 USCCB Pastoral Statement on
Penance and Abstinence, no. 12 and no. 18)
Reflect: "If you have fasted two or three
days, do not think of yourself better than others who do not fast. You fast and
are angry; another eats and wears a smiling face." —St. Jerome, Letters, 22.37
Pray: Pray that abstinence from some of your
favorite things this Lenten season will help bring you closer to God long after
the season is over.
Act: Take note of the meatless meals you have
enjoyed this Lent. Add your favorites to your family’s regular meal rotation once Lent is
over.
Fr.
Mike continues to take us through the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem,
and the importance of moving on from the past to see what God is doing in our
lives right now. He also gives some context on the Samaritans and what was
happening across Jerusalem, post return. Today's readings are Ezra 3-4,
Zechariah 1-3, and Proverbs 20:4-7.
[7]Sheraton, Mimi. 1,000 Foods
To Eat Before You Die: A Food Lover's Life List (p. 892). Workman Publishing
Company. Kindle Edition.
Heidi (1937)
🎬 Production Snapshot
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Director: Allan Dwan
Release: 1937
Screenplay: Walter Ferris (adaptation), based on Johanna Spyri’s 1881 novel
Stars: Shirley Temple, Jean Hersholt, Arthur Treacher, Mary Nash
Genre: Family drama / Alpine fairy‑tale realism
Notable: One of Shirley Temple’s most beloved roles, blending pastoral innocence with melodrama. Though often remembered as a children’s classic, the film carries a surprisingly mature emotional architecture—loss, exile, forgiveness, and the healing power of belonging.
🧭 Story Summary
Heidi, an orphaned Swiss girl, is taken by her stern but tender‑hearted grandfather, Alm‑Oncle (Jean Hersholt), to live in his mountain hut. Their life is simple, joyful, and rooted in the rhythms of nature—goats, meadows, and the quiet restoration of a wounded man learning to love again.
This peace is shattered when Heidi’s aunt sells her into service with a wealthy Frankfurt family. There she becomes companion to Klara, a lonely, wheelchair‑bound girl whose illness is as much emotional as physical. Heidi’s presence—her joy, her honesty, her mountain‑shaped freedom—begins to heal Klara, even as Heidi herself suffers from homesickness so severe it borders on spiritual exile.
A cruel governess (Mary Nash) tries to keep Heidi captive for her own ambitions, but the truth eventually surfaces. Klara’s father intervenes, Klara finds the courage to walk, and Heidi is returned to her grandfather. The film closes with restored relationships, renewed trust, and the sense that grace has flowed through a child’s innocence to heal an entire household.
🕰 Historical and Cultural Context
Released at the height of Shirley Temple’s stardom, the film offered Depression‑era audiences a vision of innocence that felt medicinal.
The Alpine setting—though largely studio‑constructed—tapped into American fascination with European pastoral purity.
The story’s themes of exile, restoration, and the healing of the father‑child bond resonated deeply with families fractured by economic hardship.
Allan Dwan, a veteran of silent cinema, brought a gentle, almost fairy‑tale pacing that softened the harsher edges of Spyri’s novel.
The film helped cement the “child redeemer” archetype in American cinema: the idea that a child’s purity can restore adult hearts.
✝️ Catholic Moral Resonances
The film’s emotional core aligns naturally with Catholic themes of providence, mercy, and the healing power of innocence.
The Child as Icon of Grace
Heidi embodies the Gospel’s teaching that a child’s trust reveals the Kingdom. Her joy is not naïve—it is a spiritual force that softens hardened adults and restores broken relationships.
Providence in Exile
Heidi’s forced removal from the mountain echoes biblical patterns of exile: suffering that becomes the seedbed of grace. Her presence in Frankfurt is not an accident but a mission—Klara’s healing depends on her.
Restoration of the Father
Alm‑Oncle’s transformation from bitterness to tenderness mirrors the Catholic conviction that fatherhood is healed through love freely given, not earned. Heidi becomes the instrument of his conversion.
Mercy Against Manipulation
The governess represents the misuse of authority—control, fear, and ambition. Heidi’s forgiveness and Klara’s eventual courage reveal the triumph of mercy over domination.
Healing as Communion
Klara’s recovery is not merely physical; it is relational. She walks because she is loved, encouraged, and believed in. Catholic anthropology sees healing as communal, not individualistic.
🍷 Hospitality Pairing
Drink: Hot Milk with Honey
Simple, comforting, and childlike—something Heidi herself might have been given after a long day in the mountains. It carries the film’s warmth and innocence.
Snack: Rustic Alpine Bread with Butter and Jam
Unpretentious, pastoral, and rooted in the film’s Swiss setting. It evokes the mountain hut, the goats, and the sense of home restored.
Atmosphere:
Soft lamplight, like a mountain cottage at dusk.
Gentle classical or Swiss folk melodies.
A sense of quiet domestic peace—something being mended, something being welcomed home.
🪞 Reflection Prompt
Where might God be inviting you to recover Heidi’s childlike trust—believing that exile can become mission, that innocence can heal, and that the Father’s house is always open for your return?
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