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Sunday matinee-from Catholic Movies
Claire’s Corner
· Today in honor of the Holy Trinity do the Divine Office giving your day to God. To honor God REST: no shopping after 6 pm Saturday till Monday. Don’t forget the internet.
· Spirit Hour: Hillary Clinton or a Filthy Bitch Cocktail
· Foodie: National Chicken Fried Steak Day
· How to celebrate Oct 26th
o take the time to recognize and appreciate the deployed military personnel on National Day of the Deployed. Write thank you notes or donate to organizations supporting troops overseas. This small gesture can make a big impact.
o As night falls, embrace your wild side and howl at the moon for Howl At The Moon Day. Find a quiet spot outdoors, let loose, and join in the primal act of howling at the moon.
· Bucket List Trip: Around the World “Perfect Weather”
7-day Napa Stay & Reflection Itinerary, anchored at the charming and affordable El Bonita Motel in St. Helena (~$125/night). Each day blends vineyard beauty, Eucharistic rhythm, and civic hospitality
🍇 Napa Stay & Reflection Itinerary
October 27–November 2 • Vineyard Thresholds, Eucharistic Table
Lodging: El Bonita Motel – St. Helena
Day 1: Arrival & Threshold Blessing (Oct 27)
- Afternoon: Gentle walk through a nearby vineyard or along the Napa River Trail
- Symbolic act: Pause at the vine’s edge and offer a prayer of arrival
- Evening Meal: Farmstead at Long Meadow Ranch – celebrate native herbs, olive oil, and autumn harvest
Day 2: Eucharistic Anchoring & Civic Memory (Oct 28)
- Morning Mass: St. Joan of Arc Catholic Parish – Yountville
- Midday Visit: Veterans Memorial Park – Napa
- Symbolic act: Write a prayer for peace and place it near a memorial stone or flag
- Evening Reflection: Journal on sacrifice, sanctuary, and civic hospitality
Day 3: Marian Listening & Artistic Reverence (Oct 29)
- Church Visit: Our Lady of Perpetual Help – Calistoga
- Art Exploration: di Rosa Center for Contemporary Art
- Symbolic act: Light a candle and sketch a Marian symbol or vineyard motif
- Evening Performance: Lincoln Theater – Napa Valley Performing Arts Center
Day 4: Vineyard Pilgrimage & Creation Prayer (Oct 30)
- Walk: Napa Valley Vine Trail
- Midday Pause: Near Oak Knoll for a Psalm 104 reflection
- Symbolic act: Collect a grape leaf or stone as a token of clarity
- Evening Meal: Goose & Gander – roasted root vegetables, local wine, lemon thyme
Day 5: Cultural Listening & Civic Hospitality (Oct 31)
- Morning Market: Oxbow Public Market – engage with local growers and artisans
- Midday Museum: Napa Valley Museum – Yountville
- Symbolic act: Write a blessing and leave it in a community garden or vineyard chapel
- Evening Gathering: Attend a civic talk, harvest celebration, or All Saints Vigil
Day 6: Eucharistic Table & Vineyard Echo (Nov 1 – All Saints Day)
- Day Trip: Visit a vineyard in Carneros or Howell Mountain
- Symbolic act: Pour a small libation and bless the vines in honor of the saints
- Evening Meal: Shared supper with bread, wine, and autumn fruit—sacramental and communal
Day 7: Benediction & Sending Forth (Nov 2 – All Souls Day)
- Final Walk: Bothe-Napa Valley State Park or Silverado Trail
- Midday Reflection: Write a closing prayer of sending
- Benediction:
“May this valley remember my reverence. May my steps echo peace and harvest.”
Here’s your Napa Pilgrimage Meal Guide with each course clearly labeled according to traditional 7-course structure, adapted to reflect your spiritual and symbolic themes. This version is clean, blog-ready, and aligned with your itinerary.
Napa Pilgrimage Meal Guide
Theme: Vineyard Thresholds & Eucharistic Table
Dates: October 27–November 2
Course 1 – Appetizer (October 27: Arrival & Blessing)
Roasted Autumn Vegetable Bruschetta
Native herbs, olive oil, and harvest textures
Recipe
Symbolism: A prayer at the vine’s edge, welcoming the journey
Reflection: Pause and offer a prayer of arrival
Course 2 – Soup (October 28: Anchoring & Memory)
Golden Cauliflower Soup with Thyme & Lemon
Gentle, radiant, and contemplative
Recipe
Symbolism: Eucharistic anchoring and civic remembrance
Reflection: Write a prayer for peace and place it near a memorial stone
Course 3 – Salad (October 29: Listening & Reverence)
Grape & Walnut Salad with Goat Cheese
Vineyard echo and Marian clarity
Recipe
Symbolism: Earth’s bounty and sacred listening
Reflection: Light a candle and sketch a Marian symbol
Course 4 – Light Entrée (October 30: Creation Prayer)
Farro Salad with Roasted Squash & Pomegranate
Hearty, peaceful, and rooted
Recipe
Symbolism: Psalm 104 clarity and vineyard pilgrimage
Reflection: Collect a grape leaf or stone as a token of clarity
Course 5 – Main Entrée (October 31: Cultural Hospitality)
Stuffed Delicata Squash with Wild Rice & Cranberries
Seasonal, communal, and locally inspired
Recipe
Symbolism: Civic hospitality and harvest celebration
Reflection: Leave a blessing in a community garden or vineyard chapel
Course 6 – Cheese/Fruit Course (November 1: All Saints Day)
Pear & Honey Galette with Rosemary Crust
Sacramental, autumnal, and saintly
Recipe
Symbolism: Bread, fruit, and Eucharistic sweetness
Reflection: Pour a symbolic libation and bless the vines
Course 7 – Dessert (November 2: All Souls Day)
Pumpkin-Date Energy Bites with Toasted Coconut
Nourishing, portable, and joyful
Recipe
Symbolism: Benediction, memory, and harvest echo
Reflection: Write a closing prayer of sending
🌊 Leafing the World Behind: Day 27
Witness: St. Bernadette Soubirous
Theme: Gratitude in Simplicity and Suffering
Virtue: Gratitude
Virtue Connection: Grace in the Unadorned
Symbolic Act: Thank God for something that hurts. Write it down. Let your gratitude be gentle, not forced.
Location: A spring, a sickbed, a quiet vineyard row—any place where suffering becomes sanctuary.
🕊️ Introduction: On Gratitude
Gratitude is not denial—it is devotion.
It is not pretending—it is perceiving.
To leaf the world behind is to thank God not only for beauty, but for burden.
To see grace in the unadorned, and holiness in the hidden.
Today, we do not escape—we embrace.
Gratitude, in this rhythm, is not optimism—it is Eucharist.
It is the courage to say: “Even this, Lord. Even this.”
🌺 Witness of the Day: St. Bernadette Soubirous
Bernadette was a poor, sickly girl in Lourdes, France.
She saw the Virgin Mary in a grotto—simple, silent, radiant.
She was mocked, doubted, and dismissed.
She suffered from chronic illness and died young.
Yet she said:
“I was chosen because I was the weakest.”
She never sought fame. She sought faith.
She carried suffering with serenity, and simplicity with strength.
Bernadette reminds us:
Gratitude is not reserved for the healed—it belongs to the hurting.
It is not a luxury—it is a liturgy.
It is not a feeling—it is a flame.
🛡️ Virtue Connection: Grace in the Unadorned
When it does not erase pain—but elevates it.
When it does not demand answers—but dwells in mystery.
Bernadette did not ask for comfort.
She asked for communion.
She reminds us:
Gratitude without suffering becomes sentiment.
But gratitude with suffering becomes sanctity.
🕯️ Symbolic Act: Thank God for the Ache
Name one sorrow, one struggle, one wound.
Thank God for it.
Not because it is good—but because He is.
As you write, say:
“Lord, let my gratitude be gentle.
Let my gentleness be grace.
Let my grace be communion.”
If no sorrow comes, pray for those who suffer silently.
Let your prayer be a spring.
🔥 Reflection Prompt
What pain still feels unredeemed?
Can you name one person whose gratitude in suffering changed your life?
Write, walk, or pray with these questions.
Let St. Bernadette remind you:
Gratitude is not weakness—it is witness.
It is the strength to thank, the grace to endure, the love to dwell in simplicity.
OCTOBER
26 Twentieth (20) Sunday after Pentecost
National Pumpkin Day
Romans, Chapter 16, Verse 19-20
For while
your obedience is known to all, so that I rejoice over you, I want you to be
wise as to what is good, and simple as to what is evil; then
the God of PEACE will quickly crush Satan under your feet. The grace
of our Lord Jesus be with you.
Not fear but revere! This is Holy fear which acknowledges, He that
is, and that we exist in and through Him by the saving grace of Christ and the
action of the Holy Spirit. The opposite of revere is to despise. There are many
in our country and world who despise the Lord. How did this come about?
According to the US Army Leadership manual[1]
followers tend to ask two questions:
1) Is the leader powerful?
2) Does he care about me?
To get to Holy fear we must know that God has
power (thus acting accordingly by following his commandments) and know that He
cares about us. To not do this we will fear, tolerate or despise our Lord but
if we acknowledge His power and His love, we will have reverence and according
to the second part of this verse, “Glory will dwell in our land.”
When
we know that in truth that God does care about us and that He has real power
over us we trust and respect Him and are at peace!
|
|
Does He care about
me? |
||
|
Does He have power? |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
|
Trusted and
Respected |
Feared |
||
|
No |
Tolerated |
Despised |
|
Copilot’s Take:
On October 26, the
Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost and National Pumpkin Day converge in a
symbolic invitation to reverent clarity. Romans 16:19–20 reminds us that
obedience, when rooted in wisdom and simplicity, becomes a communal witness
that ushers in peace and crushes evil—not through force, but through fidelity.
In a world tempted to fear, tolerate, or despise the divine, we are called to
revere: to acknowledge both God's power and His care. This holy fear is not
terror but trust, not dread but devotion. Just as a carved pumpkin is hollowed,
lit, and displayed, so too are we invited to be vessels of light—emptied of
pride, shaped by grace, and illuminated by the Spirit. On this day, let
reverence be our offering, peace our fruit, and obedience our quiet triumph.
ON KEEPING THE LORD'S DAY HOLY[2]
CHAPTER I
DIES DOMINI
The Celebration of
the Creator's Work
"In the beginning, God
created the heavens and the earth" (Gn 1:1)
9. The poetic style of the Genesis
story conveys well the awe which people feel before the immensity of creation
and the resulting sense of adoration of the One who brought all things into
being from nothing. It is a story of intense religious significance, a hymn to
the Creator of the universe, pointing to him as the only Lord in the face of
recurring temptations to divinize the world itself. At the same time, it is a
hymn to the goodness of creation, all fashioned by the mighty and merciful hand
of God.
"God saw that it was
good" (Gn 1:10,12, etc.). Punctuating the story as it does, this
refrain sheds a positive light upon every element of the universe and
reveals the secret for a proper understanding of it and for its eventual
regeneration: the world is good insofar as it remains tied to its origin and,
after being disfigured by sin, it is again made good when, with the help of
grace, it returns to the One who made it. It is clear that this process
directly concerns not inanimate objects and animals but human beings, who have
been endowed with the incomparable gift and risk of freedom. Immediately after
the creation stories, the Bible highlights the dramatic contrast between the
grandeur of man, created in the image and likeness of God, and the fall of man,
which unleashes on the world the darkness of sin and death (cf. Gn 3).
Twentieth (20) Sunday after Pentecost[3]
The final manifestation of Christ...the Church focuses on making
our hearts ready through faith as we "redeem the times".
THE Introit of the Mass is a
humble prayer by which we confess that we are punished for our disobedience.
“All that Thou hast done to us, O Lord, Thou hast done in true judgment,
because we have sinned against Thee, and we have not obeyed Thy commandments;
but give glory to Thy name, and deal with us according to the multitude of Thy
mercy (Dan. iii.). “Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law
of the Lord.”
Prayer.
Be appeased, O Lord, we
beseech Thee, and grant to Thy faithful pardon and peace, that they may be
cleansed from all their offences, and serve Thee with secure mind.
EPISTLE. Eph. v. 15-21.
See,
brethren, how you walk circumspectly: not as unwise, but as wise: redeeming the
time, because the days are evil. Wherefore become not unwise but understanding
what is the will of God. And be not drunk with wine, wherein is luxury, but be
ye filled with the Holy Spirit. Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns, and
spiritual canticles, singing and making melody in your hearts to the Lord:
giving thanks always for all things in the name of Our Lord Jesus Christ, to
God and the Father: being subject one to another in the fear of Christ.
GOSPEL. John vi. 46-53
At
that time there was a certain ruler whose son was sick at Capharnaum. He having
heard that Jesus was - come from Judea into Galilee, went to Him, and prayed
Him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. Jesus
therefore said to him: Unless you see signs and wonders, you believe not. The
ruler saith to him: Lord, come down before that my son dies. Jesus saith to
him: Go thy way, thy son liveth. The man believed the word which Jesus said to
him and went his way. And as he was going down, his servants met him: and they
brought word, saying that his son lived. He asked therefore of them the hour
wherein he grew better. And they said to him: Yesterday at the seventh hour the
fever left him. The father therefore knew that it was at the same hour that
Jesus said to him, thy son liveth; and himself believed, and his whole house.
Consolation in Sickness
To
console ourselves in sickness, let us bethink ourselves that God has sent us
sickness for the good of our souls; that we may thereby attain a knowledge of
our sins, and make satisfaction for them; or, if we suffer innocently, we may
exercise ourselves in patience, charity, humility, and such like virtues, and
so increase our merits. When ill let us employ a competent physician and use
the remedies he may prescribe. But before all else, let us betake ourselves to
God, give ourselves up unreservedly to His will, pray Him to enlighten the
physician, and bless the means employed for our recovery, and subdue our
inclinations if the prescription of the physician does violence to our former
habits. For how otherwise should medicine have its proper effect?
O Lord, here burn, here wound, only spare me in eternity!
St. Augustine
ON THE CARE OF THE SICK
All
who have charge of the sick should before all think of the soul, and to that
end call upon Jesus to come in the Blessed Sacrament, before the sick person is
past the point of receiving Him with devotion. Therefore, parents, children,
relatives, and friends, if they truly love the sick, should seek to induce him
to receive the Blessed Sacrament in time. At the beginning, and during the
progress of the sickness, we should endeavor to encourage the patient to
resignation and childlike confidence in God; should place before him the
Savior, suffering and glorified, as a pattern and consolation, should pray with
him, to strengthen him against desponding thoughts and the temptations of the
devil; should sign him with the sign of the cross, sprinkle him with holy
water, and, before all, pray for a happy death. But in caring for the soul the
body is not to be neglected. We must call in time a skillful physician, give
the sick person his medicines at the appointed times, keep everything clean,
observe particularly the prescribed limit as to eating and drinking, and not
permit the patient to have his own will, for he might often desire what would
be hurtful to him. In general, we should do what, in like case, we would wish
to have done for ourselves, for there is no greater work of charity than to
attend a sick person, and particularly to assist him to a happy death.
In today's readings, we learn how Doeg the Edomite betrayed David, the priests,
and the Lord. Fr. Mike explains that betrayal is painful because our hearts are
deeply wounded when trust is broken. Today we read 1 Samuel 21-22 and Psalm 52.
There’s one thing
that represents October more than anything else, and it’s not Halloween (though
it’s involved). That thing? The pumpkin. It starts appearing on shelves and
farmers market’s stands on the last week or two of September and is the herald
that lets you know that Pumpkin Pies, Jack-o-Lanterns, and all the joys of fall
are just around the corner. Pumpkin Day celebrates these noble squashes, and
the history and tradition tied up in their iconic orangeness.
History of Pumpkin Day
Often when people think of Halloween, they think of Jack-o-Lanterns and
pumpkins, and even when you’re looking at that ‘false medieval’ imagery that’s
present in most fantasy games, you’ll regularly see pumpkins being present,
especially during Halloween events. What many people don’t know is that the
pumpkin is actually a plant from the new world, like all squash, so the image
of pumpkin jack-o-lanterns in front of ancient medieval homes is just plain
wrong. These are an all American (And South American) plant, and the
jack-o-lantern at Halloween is a distinctly New World thing. So, let’s learn a
little bit about the Pumpkin in honor of Pumpkin Day, starting with what the
word pumpkin means. It’s pretty simple, as it comes from the Greek word pepon,
or ‘Large Melon’, but it didn’t go straight to pumpkin. First it was pompon to
the French, and then pumpion to the British. It was the Americans that finally
changed the word to its present Pumpkin, and so it’s been ever since! Pumpkin
Day is a great opportunity to add this delicious squash to your diet, whether
in the form of a traditional pumpkin pie, or a rich and savory pumpkin soup.
The first step to celebrating Pumpkin Day is simple, get out there and get yourself a bunch of pumpkins! Alright, maybe that’s a bit much, maybe instead you could just stop off at your favorite grocery store or restaurant and order yourself up a great big slice of pumpkin pie. Not in the mood for pie? Pumpkin Spice lattes are going to be hitting the shelves at your local coffee shops (Starbucks is particular fond of trotting them out this time of year). If you’re feeling really inventive, go back to square one and buy a bunch of pumpkins, roast them, and make yourself an all-pumpkin meal! Pumpkin Soup, Pumpkin Bread, Pumpkin Cake, Pumpkin Muffins, and a warm cup of Pumpkin Spice Coffee for dessert!
Daily Devotions
·
Unite
in the work of the Porters of St. Joseph by joining them in fasting:
Today's Fast: Growth of Catholic Families and
Households
·
Religion in the Home for Preschool:
October
·
Litany
of the Most Precious Blood of Jesus
·
Offering to the sacred heart of Jesus
·
Rosary
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