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. "
Casablanca is a wartime romance that explores sacrifice, moral clarity, and the tension between personal desire and the greater good—offering rich Catholic lessons in love, truth, and redemption.
🕊️ Summary of Casablanca
Set in 1941 Morocco during World War II, Casablanca centers on Rick Blaine, a cynical American who runs a nightclub in the neutral city of Casablanca. His world is upended when Ilsa Lund, a former lover, arrives with her husband Victor Laszlo, a resistance leader fleeing Nazi persecution. Ilsa seeks Rick’s help to secure escape papers for Laszlo.
Rick and Ilsa’s past romance resurfaces, but Ilsa is now committed to Laszlo’s cause.
Rick must choose between rekindling love or aiding Laszlo’s escape.
In a climactic act of sacrifice, Rick lets Ilsa go, helping her and Laszlo flee while he stays behind.
The film ends with Rick and Captain Renault walking off together, hinting at newfound purpose and moral clarity.
✝️ Catholic Lessons and Themes
Casablanca resonates deeply with Catholic moral and spiritual reflection:
1. Sacrificial Love Over Passion
Rick’s decision to let Ilsa go reflects agape—love that seeks the good of the other over self-gratification.
This echoes Christ’s sacrificial love: “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (John 15:13)
2. Moral Clarity in Ambiguity
The film’s setting—neutral Casablanca—is a metaphor for moral limbo.
Rick’s journey from neutrality to decisive action mirrors the Catholic call to reject moral relativism and embrace truth, even when costly.
3. Redemption and Conversion
Rick and Renault both undergo conversion: from cynicism to moral courage.
Their transformation reflects the Catholic belief in metanoia—a turning of the heart toward God and virtue.
4. The Cosmic “Hill of Beans”
Rick’s famous line—“It doesn’t take much to see that the problems of three little people don’t amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world”—underscores the Catholic idea that personal sacrifice can serve a higher, transcendent good.
5. Truth and Integrity
Ilsa’s struggle between love and duty reflects the tension between emotional truth and moral truth.
Catholic teaching affirms that doing right by doing wrong is never justified—a theme the film dramatizes with painful beauty.
§I was born on the 24th I think I will
do it then.
To travel from Sicily to Cyprus on November 25,
2025, the most efficient route is to fly from Catania–Fontanarossa Airport to
Larnaca International Airport. The flight takes approximately 7 hours with one
layover and costs around €89–207 ($94–218 USD).
Here’s
your Week 5 itinerary for Cyprus,
continuing seamlessly from Sicily and formatted with daily dates, vineyard
visits, and symbolic acts:
It is natural to fear something you cannot
control. Christ could not be controlled by the men in charge of the Temple
system; so they feared Him and they feared the crowd that followed Him.
Christ’s message was good news to the crowd who were but pawns in the Jewish
Temple system of wealth and power. We in times of trouble should be like Tobit
and seek to walk all the days of our lives in paths of truth and righteousness.
It was Tobit who defied those in power to do an act of mercy by burying the
dead. While his neighbors mocked him and said to one another: He is still not
afraid! Once before he was hunted down for execution because of this very
thing; yet now that he has scarcely escaped, here he is again burying the
dead!” (Tobit 2:8) Love makes sacrifices. He (Christ) laid down His life for
us. We should also lay down our lives for our brothers. (1 John 3:16)
On the first night out, Tobias
and Raphael/Azariah camped by the Tigris River.
When Tobias went to bathe, a
fish jumped out of the water and tried to swallow his foot. Scholars
see much symbolism in this event. Typically, water represents chaos;
then it’s an attempt to disrupt their trip. “Feet” sometimes has
sexual connotations; then it’s an attack on his manhood.
Azariah told him to grab the
fish.
He hauled it out on the shore,
and Azariah told him to cut out the heart, liver, and gall bladder.
What he couldn’t eat, he salted and took with them. Since he ate it,
it could not have been an unclean fish. (Now, as an angel, Azariah never ate
anything, which he will point out later in the story. Tobias,
however, didn’t catch on to any of this.)
Along the way, the angel told
Tobias what to do with those fish parts.
Most of us by the grace of God are never
confronted with such terrors as Tobit. Yet, we too in our quiet lives can lay
down ourselves in service to our brothers.
John McCain in his book Character is Destiny[2] highlights
the life of John Wooden who in his own quiet way as a Basketball coach made a
huge difference in countless lives of young men growing up teaching them the
power of COOPERATION. Coach Wooden was a modest man who inspired young men
under his tutelage, leading by example; teaching them wisdom and decency to
become both winners and good men.
McCain states Wooden:
He cared about his players and paid strict attention to teaching
them the small and big things that would help them become the best basketball
players they could be, and, most important, the best men they could be. He
would bench a player for using profanity or for criticizing a teammate or for
treating an opponent disrespectfully. He expected his players to dress
appropriately, be courteous to everyone, acknowledge their other teammates when
they scored, and to refrain from showing excessive emotions on the court. He
taught them dignity, based, as dignity is, on self-respect and respect for
others. And he taught them not only the usefulness of teamwork, five men all
playing their assigned roles, but the virtue of cooperation, and the sense of
satisfaction it provided to an individual.
Coach Wooden[3]
taught that success is, “peace of mind
that is the direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best to
become the best that you are capable of becoming.” Coach Wooden developed a
Pyramid of Success which he taught his players which not only helped them win
at the game of basketball but also in the game of life.
St.
Catherine of Alexandria
St. Catherine of Alexandria (November
25th), virgin and martyr. Invoked against diseases of the tongue, protection
against a sudden and unprovided death. Patroness of Christian philosophers, of
maidens, preachers, wheelwrights and mechanics. She is also invoked by
students, orators, and barristers as "the wise counselor."
The account of
her martyrdom is legendary and defies every attempt to cull out the historical
kernel. Old Oriental sources make no mention of her. In the West her cult does
not appear before the eleventh century, when the crusaders made it popular. She
became the patroness of philosophical faculties; she is one of the
"Fourteen Holy Helpers." The breviary offers the following:
Catherine,
virgin of Alexandria, devoted herself to the pursuit of knowledge; at the age
of eighteen, she surpassed all her contemporaries in science. Upon seeing how
the Christians were being tortured, she went before Emperor Maximin (311-313),
upbraided him for his cruelty, and with convincing reasons demonstrated the
need of Christian faith in order to be saved. Astounded by her wisdom, the
Emperor ordered her to be kept confined, and having summoned the most learned
philosophers, promised them magnificent rewards if they could confound the
virgin and turn her from belief in Christ. Far from being successful, a
considerable number of the philosophers were inflamed by the sound reasons and
persuasiveness of Catherine's speech with such a love for Jesus Christ that
they declared themselves willing to offer their lives for the Gospel.
Then the
Emperor attempted to win her by flattery and by promises, but his efforts
proved equally fruitless. He ordered her whipped with rods, scourged with
leaden nodules, and then left to languish eleven days without food in prison.
The Emperor's wife and Porphyrius, general of the army, visited Catherine in
prison; her words brought both to Christ and later they too proved their love
in blood. Catherine's next torture consisted of being placed upon a wheel with
sharp and pointed knives; from her lacerated body prayers ascended to heaven
and the infernal machine fell to pieces. Many who witnessed the miracle
embraced the faith. Finally, on November 25 Christ's servant was beheaded (307
or 312). By the hands of angels her body was carried to Mt. Sinai, where it was
interred in the convent which bears her name.
Excerpted from The Church's Year of Grace, Pius
Parsch.
Patron:
Apologists; craftsmen who work with a wheel (potters; spinners; etc.);
archivists; attorneys; barristers; dying people; educators; girls; jurists;
knife grinders; knife sharpeners; lawyers; librarians; libraries; maidens;
mechanics; millers; nurses; old maids; philosophers; potters; preachers;
scholars; schoolchildren; scribes; secretaries; spinners; spinsters;
stenographers; students; tanners; teachers; theologians; turners; unmarried
girls; wheelwrights.
Things to
Do:
St. Catherine was invoked by young
girls seeking husbands. If you have children, you could use this feast to
discuss the qualities of a good spouse. You could bake St.
Catherine's wigs and have your discussion as part of the fun (a spoon
full of sugar).
St. Catherine's remains are in St. Katherine's Monastery on Mt. Sinai. The Monastery,
a 1,600-year-old fortress at the base of Mt. Sinai, is inhabited by Coptic
monks (not in union with Rome). Inside the chapel is believed to be the
Burning Bush, through which God first appeared to Moses. Read more about
the history of the Church of Alexandria and the Council
of Chalcedon where the Coptic Church broke from the bark of Peter and
pray for the reunion of all Eastern Churches under the Pope.
Upon research I have discovered there is no Octave of
Christ the King of the Universe. However, I propose to make a retreat; an
octave from now through the first Sunday of Advent.
The "eighth day" or octava
dies was associated with the weekly Christian celebration of the resurrection
of Christ every "eighth day", which became a name for Sunday.
As circumcision was performed on the "eighth day" after birth, the
number 8 became associated also with baptism, and baptismal
fonts have from an early date often been octagonal. The practice of
octaves was first introduced under Constantine I,
when the dedication festivities of the basilicas at Jerusalem
and Tyre, Lebanon
were observed for eight days. After these one-off occasions, annual liturgical
feasts began to be dignified with an octave. The first such feasts were Easter,
Pentecost,
and, in the East, Epiphany. This occurred in the fourth century
and served as a period of time for the newly baptized
to take a joyful retreat.
·I plan
to attend Mass daily or via EWTN or the internet
·Mediate
on the virtues of Mary (Humility, Generosity, Chastity, Patience,
Temperance, Understanding/love and Wisdom. One for each day.
Humility is a
skill you need in this life and the next[5]
Humbleness, or humility is perhaps an underrated
virtue. It sounds like a very Biblical trait. Indeed, many of the great
religious leaders have been described (and celebrated) as humble.
However, just because humility is
old-fashioned does not mean that it is no longer important.
This page explains more about the meaning of
humility, and how it is an important part of developing self-esteem,
self-worth, and assertiveness, without aggression or anger.
What is Humility?
·humility,
n. the state or quality of being humble: lowliness of mind: modesty.
·humble,
adj. low: lowly: modest: unpretentious: having a low opinion of oneself.
Chambers English Dictionary,
1988 edition
These definitions make humility sound like a
very negative quality. But humility, as practiced by the great religious
leaders, was not negative. Their opinions of themselves were low only in the
sense that they understood that they were not more important than others. They
also understood that they were not less important than others, either. Jesus,
for example, was not afraid to fight for his right to speak out for others,
especially those who were poor and struggling, and he spoke to those in
authority in exactly the same way as he spoke to everyone else.
In other words, humility is not being a
‘doormat’ and allowing people to walk all over you.
Instead, it is an understanding that every
human is equally valuable: a recognition that you are worth no more or less
than anyone else.
Why does humility matter?
One of the reasons why humility seems
old-fashioned is that we are often made to feel that we need to look out for
ourselves, because nobody else will do so.
“It’s a dog-eat-dog world, you know!”
This point of view suggests that you need to
be aggressive to get what you need in life, which, along with pride, is perhaps
the very opposite of humility.
Our pages on Assertiveness, however, argue
that it is more appropriate to be assertive: to be able to stand up for
yourself and others, putting your point of view calmly.
Assertiveness is very definitely compatible
with humility: it recognizes that everyone has an equal right to be heard and
enables everyone to put their point across. Indeed, it is quite possible to
argue that not only is assertiveness compatible with humility, but humility is
absolutely essential for developing assertiveness.
In other words, without recognition that you
are no more or less important than others, it is impossible to recognize that
everyone has an equal right to be heard or, indeed, to listen to others openly.
What about the fit between humility and
self-esteem?
Self-esteem is how you feel about yourself.
Our definition says that humility is ‘having a low opinion of oneself’, which
is clearly closely linked to self-esteem. Being humble, however, does not mean
having a poor opinion of yourself, but rather accepting yourself and your many
good qualities, as well as your limitations, recognizing that others also have
good qualities and are equally valuable.
Developing
Humility
For many of us, humility is one of the
hardest traits to develop, because it has to start with a recognition that you
are not always right, and that you do not have all the answers.
It also requires acceptance of yourself which
many of us find challenging.
It is relatively easy to be humble when you
are at the bottom of the tree, as it were: new in a job, or very junior. The
more senior you get, however, the more likely you are to have people looking to
you for answers, and the more you find yourself believing that you can help.
If you are not careful, you can reach senior
positions—just the moment at which you most need humility—believing that you
are more or less infallible.
To try to cultivate humility, you may want to
try one or more of these activities:
·Spend
time listening to others.
·A key
quality of humbleness is to value others and enable them to be heard. Spending
time listening to others, and drawing out their feelings and values, enabling
them to express themselves, is a very powerful way to start to understand this.
·It is
important to remember that you are not trying to solve their problems or answer
them: just listen and respond to them as a fellow human.
·There is
more about this in our pages on Listening Skills.
·Practice
mindfulness and focus on the present.
·A key
part of mindfulness is accepting what is, rather than judging and commenting on
it. An important element of humility is accepting yourself with all your
faults, rather than judging yourself for your shortcomings. That doesn’t mean
you should not strive to improve, but positively, rather than berating yourself
for your negative qualities.
·Be
grateful for what you have.
·In other
words, take the time to ‘count your blessings, and be thankful for them. It is
easy to get sucked into a negative spiral of wanting more, whether in yourself,
or externally. Taking time to stop, and remember what you have to be grateful
for, is a good way to cultivate a humble, and positive, frame of mind.
·Ask for
help when you need it.
There is, as many of us will ruefully recognize, a form of pride that
lies in being able to solve our own problems. Humility, therefore, lies in
recognizing when we need help, and being able to ask for it appropriately.
· Seek feedback from others on a regular
basis.
This is, perhaps, particularly important for leaders, but we can all
gain from hearing what others think of us. Take time to ask others to provide
feedback, anonymously if necessary, and make it clear that you welcome their
opinions. Listen to the feedback openly and then be grateful.
· Review your actions against the language of
pride.
Pride and arrogance, which also cover smugness, snobbery, and vanity,
are unpleasant words. It can sometimes be hard to avoid feeling a bit proud of
ourselves, or vain, or even snobbish. It is often quite pleasant to feel like
that, for example, if we have done something good, and everyone is praising us.
However, we tend not to call these feelings by name, because the words
themselves carry negative connotations.
To
cultivate humility, review your feelings against the words: ask yourself ‘was
that snobbish?’, was I being a bit vain then?’, and be honest about the
answers. Recognizing and naming these feelings for what they are is a good step
towards humility.
Looking after your physical and mental health
is important. It is, however, not enough. Maslow’s famous hierarchy of needs
suggests that most of us need more than that. We need to know that we are
living our ‘best life’: that we are doing all we can to lead a ‘good life’ that
we will not regret later.
A final thought
Humility may sound old-fashioned, but that
does not mean that a little humbleness is not as important now as ever.
In an era in which many bemoan the growing
‘selfishness’ and ‘I’ focus of the world, perhaps we should all strive to
develop a humbler approach.
On
this 4th day seek with all your heart to be grateful
for the Faith of the Roman Catholic Church.
Copilot:
Embracing and being grateful for the faith of the Roman
Catholic Church can be a profound and enriching spiritual practice. The Church
offers a deep well of traditions, teachings, and community support that can
help guide and sustain your faith journey. Here are some ways to cultivate
gratitude for this faith:
Reflect on the Sacraments
Eucharist:
Appreciate the profound significance of receiving the Body and Blood of
Christ.
Confession:
Be thankful for the opportunity to seek forgiveness and start anew.
Engage with the Community
Fellowship:
Participate in parish activities and build connections with fellow
believers.
Service:
Volunteer for church ministries and outreach programs, embodying the
spirit of service.
Deepen Your Understanding
Scripture
and Catechism: Regularly read and reflect on the Bible and the Catechism
of the Catholic Church.
Spiritual
Writings: Explore works by saints and theologians for inspiration and
guidance.
Prayer and Meditation
Daily
Prayer: Develop a routine of daily prayer, offering thanks for the
blessings and challenges in your life.
Meditation:
Spend quiet time in meditation, focusing on gratitude and the presence of
God.
Celebrating the Liturgical Seasons
Advent and
Christmas: Reflect on the anticipation and joy of Christ’s birth.
Lent and
Easter: Contemplate the themes of repentance, sacrifice, and resurrection.
Catechism of the Catholic Church
PART TWO: THE CELEBRATION OF THE CHRISTIAN MYSTERY
SECTION
TWO-THE SEVEN SACRAMENTS OF THE CHURCH
Day 166
1210 Christ instituted the sacraments of the new law. There
are seven: Baptism, Confirmation (or Chrismation), the Eucharist, Penance, the
Anointing of the Sick, Holy Orders and Matrimony. the seven sacraments touch
all the stages and all the important moments of Christian life: they give
birth and increase, healing and mission to the Christian's life of faith. There
is thus a certain resemblance between the stages of natural life and the stages
of the spiritual life.
1211 Following this analogy, the first chapter will expound
the three sacraments of Christian initiation; the second, the sacraments of
healing; and the third, the sacraments at the service of communion and the
mission of the faithful. This order, while not the only one possible, does
allow one to see that the sacraments form an organic whole in which each
particular sacrament has its own vital place. In this organic whole, the
Eucharist occupies a unique place as the "Sacrament of sacraments":
"all the other sacraments are ordered to it as to their end."
1212 The sacraments of Christian initiation - Baptism,
Confirmation, and the Eucharist - lay the foundations of every Christian life.
"The sharing in the divine nature given to men through the grace of Christ
bears a certain likeness to the origin, development, and nourishing of natural
life. the faithful are born anew by Baptism, strengthened by the sacrament of
Confirmation, and receive in the Eucharist the food of eternal life. By means
of these sacraments of Christian initiation, they thus receive in increasing
measure the treasures of the divine life and advance toward the perfection of
charity."
1213 Holy Baptism is the basis of the whole Christian life,
the gateway to life in the Spirit (vitae spiritualis ianua), and the door
which gives access to the other sacraments. Through Baptism we are freed from
sin and reborn as sons of God; we become members of Christ, are incorporated
into the Church and made sharers in her mission: "Baptism is the sacrament
of regeneration through water in the word."
1214 This sacrament is called Baptism, after the central
rite by which it is carried out: to baptize (Greek baptizein) means to
"plunge" or "immerse"; the "plunge" into the
water symbolizes the catechumen's burial into Christ's death, from which he
rises up by resurrection with him, as "a new creature."
1215 This sacrament is also called "the washing of
regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit," for it signifies and
actually brings about the birth of water and the Spirit without which no one
"can enter the kingdom of God."
1216 "This bath is called enlightenment, because those
who receive this [catechetical] instruction are enlightened in their
understanding
. . . ." Having received in Baptism the Word, "the true light
that enlightens every man," the person baptized has been
"enlightened," he becomes a "son of light," indeed, he
becomes "light" himself:
Baptism is God's most beautiful
and magnificent gift....We call it gift, grace, anointing, enlightenment,
garment of immortality, bath of rebirth, seal, and most precious gift. It is
called gift because it is conferred on those who bring nothing of their own;
grace since it is given even to the guilty; Baptism because sin is buried in
the water; anointing for it is priestly and royal as are those who are
anointed; enlightenment because it radiates light; clothing since it veils our
shame; bath because it washes; and seal as it is our guard and the sign of
God's Lordship.
II. Baptism in
the Economy of Salvation
Prefiguration’s of Baptism in the Old Covenant
1217 In the liturgy of the Easter Vigil, during the
blessing of the baptismal water, the Church solemnly commemorates the great
events in salvation history that already prefigured the mystery of Baptism:
Father, you give us grace through
sacramental signs which tell us of the wonders of your unseen power.
In Baptism we use your gift of
water, which you have made a rich symbol of the grace you give us in this
sacrament.
1218 Since the beginning of the world, water, so humble and
wonderful a creature, has been the source of life and fruitfulness. Sacred
Scripture sees it as "overshadowed" by the Spirit of God:
At the very dawn of creation
your Spirit breathed on the
waters,
making them the wellspring of all
holiness.
1219 The Church has seen in Noah's ark a prefiguring of
salvation by Baptism, for by it "a few, that is, eight persons, were saved
through water":
The waters of the great flood
you made a sign of the waters of
Baptism,
that make an end of sin and a new
beginning of goodness.
1220 If water springing up from the earth symbolizes life,
the water of the sea is a symbol of death and so can represent the mystery of
the cross. By this symbolism Baptism signifies communion with Christ's death.
1221 But above all, the crossing of the Red Sea, literally
the liberation of Israel from the slavery of Egypt, announces the liberation
wrought by Baptism:
You freed the children of Abraham
from the slavery of Pharaoh,
bringing them dry-shod through
the waters of the Red Sea,
to be an image of the people set
free in Baptism.
1222 Finally, Baptism is prefigured in the crossing of the
Jordan River by which the People of God received the gift of the land promised
to Abraham's descendants, an image of eternal life. The promise of this blessed
inheritance is fulfilled in the New Covenant.
oWake up feeling blasé? It’s time to kickstart
your day with a parfait for breakfast. Create your own unique combo of yogurt,
granola, and fruit.
oNext, spend quality time with your dad – no
excuses. Play catch, watch a game, or simply chat. Show genuine camaraderie and
appreciation.
oIt’s Statehood Day, celebrate the rich heritage
of Bosnia and Herzegovina in your own way.
oFeeling empowered? Support your favorite brands
online or in-store. Grab a coffee and revel in the joy of shopping. Find those
special deals or treat yourself to something small.
oMake a difference. End your day on a flavorful
note. Whip up a cool gazpacho soup – no cooking required. Enjoy the medley of
fresh veggies and herbs in every spoonful. As the day winds down, set a
reminder for important tasks. It’s Shopping
Reminder Day after all. Plan your week, jot down lists, and
stay organized. Cheers to a fulfilling day, however motley it may seem.
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