Posts
Monday Night at the Movies
Nov 3 – The Bicycle Thieves (1948)
Nov 10 – Umberto D (1952)
Nov 17 – Ordet (1955)
Nov 24 – Mouchette (1967)
Umberto D (1952) is a poignant neorealist film about dignity, poverty, and companionship; its Catholic lessons center on mercy, solidarity, and the sacredness of life amid suffering.
🎬 Film Summary: Umberto D. (1952)
Directed by Vittorio De Sica, Umberto D. follows Umberto Domenico Ferrari, a retired civil servant in postwar Rome, as he struggles to maintain dignity while facing eviction, illness, and isolation:
- Opening protest: Umberto joins elderly pensioners demanding better support, revealing his precarious financial state.
- Eviction threat: His landlady rents his room to couples and demands full payment of overdue rent, refusing partial offers.
- Companionship: His only true friend is his dog Flike, and he shares quiet solidarity with Maria, a pregnant maid unsure of her child’s father.
- Hospital stay: Umberto feigns illness to escape his situation temporarily, entrusting Flike to Maria.
- Despair and hope: After failed attempts to find help or rehome Flike, Umberto contemplates suicide. Yet Flike’s loyalty and playful spirit draw him back from the brink.
- Final scene: The film ends with Umberto and Flike playing in a park, a quiet gesture of resilience and grace.
✝️ Catholic Lessons and Symbolic Themes
Though not overtly religious, Umberto D. resonates deeply with Catholic social teaching and spiritual reflection:
1. Dignity of the Human Person
- Umberto’s refusal to beg, even when desperate, reflects the Catholic belief that every person possesses inherent dignity, regardless of status or age.
- His quiet suffering and moral resolve echo Christ-like endurance.
2. Preferential Option for the Poor
- The film critiques societal neglect of the elderly and poor, aligning with Catholic calls to prioritize the vulnerable.
- Maria’s kindness and Umberto’s care for Flike embody mercy amid systemic indifference.
3. Sacrament of Presence
- Flike becomes a Eucharistic symbol—faithful, comforting, and life-giving. Their bond mirrors divine companionship in desolation.
- The nun at the hospital offers a glimpse of spiritual solace, a gentle reminder of grace in institutional spaces.
4. Solidarity and Communion
- Umberto and Maria’s shared burdens reflect communal suffering and the need for relational healing.
- The final park scene evokes resurrection imagery: from despair to playful joy, from isolation to communion.
5. Sanctity of Life
- Umberto’s near-suicide and Flike’s intervention dramatize the Catholic affirmation that life, even in suffering, is sacred.
- The film’s restraint and realism invite viewers to see holiness in the ordinary and broken.
Christopher’s Corner
· Eat waffles and Pray for the assistance of the Angels
· Spirit Hour: Dark and Stormy
· Foodie-Catholic Recipe: Roast with Vegetables
· Monday: Litany of Humility
strange stuff discovered 1974
· How to celebrate Nov 10th
o Start your day by honoring traditions with a delicious Argentinian breakfast. Head to a local bakery to grab some medialunas, a sweet and flaky croissant-like pastry, and pair it with a strong cup of café con leche. Embrace the spirit of National Tradition Day in Argentina by savoring each bite and taking a moment to appreciate the flavors.
o As you move through the day, satisfy your taste buds with pupusas
, a traditional Salvadoran dish, to celebrate National Pupusa Day. These thick corn tortillas stuffed with cheese, beans, and meat are sure to be a crowd-pleaser. Don’t worry if you’re not in El Salvador; you can easily find frozen pupusas at a Latin American grocery store or attempt to make them at home with simple ingredients.
o End your day by indulging in a sweet treat for National Vanilla Cupcake Day. Bake a batch of homemade vanilla cupcakes or pick some up from a local bakery. Invite friends over for a cupcake decorating party, complete with colorful frosting and sprinkles. It’s a delightful way to end the day on a sweet note.
o Show appreciation for the Marines in your life on US Marine Corps Birthday. Consider reaching out to a veteran or active-duty member to thank them for their service. You can also donate to organizations that support military personnel and their families as a way to give back.
o As you wind down for the day, take a moment of silence to honor the lives lost in war on Remembrance Sunday. Visit a local memorial or participate in a remembrance ceremony to pay your respects. Reflect on the sacrifices made by servicemen and women around the world and the importance of peace and unity.
Here’s your USA 70-Degree Year Journey itinerary (Nov 10–17, 2025)
🌾 Bucket List Trip [3] – Part 3: USA 70-Degree Year Journey
Dates: November 10–17, 2025
Theme: Harvest and Homecoming
Route: Tucson
→ Bisbee → Portal → Truth or Consequences → Verde Valley
Style: Monastic retreat, desert healing, and Eucharistic return
Climate Alignment: Daily highs 68–72°F
💰 Estimated Cost Overview (Nov 10–17)
| Category | Estimated Cost | |--------------------|----------------| | Lodging (7 nights) | $520 | | Food (daily meals) | $210 | | Fuel (~700 miles) | $110 | | Symbolic extras | $60 | | Total Estimate | $900 |
🏛️ Day 1 – Monday, November 10
Route: Tucson → Bisbee (100 miles)
Symbol: Chamber of Echoes
Ritual Prompt: “The past echoes in stone—listen, and remember.”
• Drive southeast via AZ-80
• Explore Copper Queen Mine and Bisbee’s historic district
• 🛏️ Stay: Letson Loft Hotel ($90)
• 🍷 Foodie Stop: Café Roka – slow food and wine (~$30)
🦉 Day 2 – Tuesday, November 11
Location: Bisbee
Symbol: Hidden Wisdom
Ritual Prompt: “Wisdom hides in small places—in owls, in alleys, in silence.”
• Visit Bisbee’s art galleries and hillside chapels
• Write reflection: “What small wisdoms have I overlooked?”
• 🛏️ Stay: Letson Loft Hotel ($90)
• 🥘 Foodie Stop: Screaming Banshee Pizza – wood-fired fare ($20)
🌲 Day 3 – Wednesday, November 12
Route: Bisbee
→ Portal (120 miles)
Symbol: Sanctuary of Stillness
Ritual Prompt: “Stillness is a sanctuary—entered with breath, kept with grace.”
• Drive east via AZ-80 and Portal Road
• Visit Cave Creek Canyon and Southwestern Research Station
• 🛏️ Stay: Portal Peak Lodge ($85)
• 🧺 Foodie Stop: Simple picnic with bread, cheese, and fruit (~$15)
💧 Day 4 – Thursday, November 13
Route: Portal → Truth or Consequences (200 miles)
Symbol: Waters of Mercy
Ritual Prompt: “Mercy flows like water—healing, unhurried, whole.”
• Drive northeast via I-10 and NM-152
• Soak at Riverbend Hot Springs
• 🛏️ Stay: Riverbend Hot Springs ($110)
• 🍲 Foodie Stop: Passion Pie Café – comfort and pie (~$20)
🔥 Day 5 – Friday, November 14
Location: Truth or Consequences
Symbol: Ember of Healing
Ritual Prompt: “Healing begins with warmth—shared, not forced.”
• Morning soak and silent prayer
• Write reflection: “What warmth do I carry forward?”
• 🛏️ Stay: Riverbend Hot Springs ($110)
• 🍽️ Foodie Stop: Latitude 33 – global fusion fare ($25)
🏞️ Day 6 – Saturday, November 15
Route: Truth or Consequences
→ Verde Valley (270 miles)
Symbol: Return to the Vine
Ritual Prompt: “The vine remembers the soil—rooted, returning, renewed.”
• Drive west via US-60 and AZ-260
• Pause at Sanctuary sites in Globe or Payson
• 🛏️ Stay: Cozy Verde Valley casita ($90)
• 🍷 Foodie Stop: Vineyard-style meal with red wine (~$25)
🌿 Day 7 – Sunday, November 16
Location: Verde Valley
Symbol: Benediction of the Table
Ritual Prompt: “The table is where the journey ends—with blessing, bread, and beloved company.”
• Host a Eucharistic meal or vineyard gathering
• Share final blog post: “Harvest of the Borderlands”
• 🛏️ Stay: Cozy Verde Valley casita ($90)
• 🧺 Foodie Stop: Shared feast with local produce ($25)
🧳 Day 8 – Monday, November 17
Departure Day
Symbol: Pilgrim’s Rest
Ritual Prompt: “Rest is holy—received, not earned.”
• Morning walk or vineyard prayer
• Pack symbolic items: stone, salt, candle, journal
• Close with a toast: “To memory, mercy, and the road ahead.”
🥂 1. Amuse-Bouche: Echoes of the Mine
Dish: Smoked mushroom crostini
with beet purée
Symbol: Chamber of Echoes
Prompt: “The past echoes in stone—listen, and remember.”
Prep Notes: Use smoked paprika or a stovetop smoker for mushrooms; roast beets with thyme for depth.
🥣 2. Soup: Owl’s Whisper
Dish: Roasted butternut squash bisque with sage and pepitas
Symbol: Hidden Wisdom
Prompt: “Wisdom hides in small places—in owls, in alleys, in silence.”
Prep Notes: Toast pepitas with sea salt; blend soup until velvety.
🥗 3. Salad: Stillness in the Canyon
Dish: Foraged greens salad with goat cheese, pomegranate, and pine nuts
Symbol: Sanctuary of Stillness
Prompt: “Stillness is a sanctuary—entered with breath, kept with grace.”
Prep Notes: Use arugula, dandelion, or local greens; dress lightly with lemon and olive oil.
🐟 4. Fish Course: Waters of Mercy
Dish: Poached trout with lemon verbena and desert herbs
Symbol: Waters of Mercy
Prompt: “Mercy flows like water—healing, unhurried, whole.”
Prep Notes: Poach gently in white wine and herbs; garnish with fresh lemon verbena if available.
🍖 5. Main Course: Ember of Healing
Dish: Mesquite-grilled lamb
with ember-roasted root vegetables
Symbol: Ember of Healing
Prompt: “Healing begins with warmth—shared, not forced.”
Prep Notes: Use a mesquite wood fire or mesquite seasoning; roast beets, carrots, and parsnips in foil.
🧀 6. Cheese Course: Return to the Vine
Dish: Arizona goat cheese trio with vineyard preserves and walnut bread
Symbol: Return to the Vine
Prompt: “The vine remembers the soil—rooted, returning, renewed.”
Prep Notes: Serve cheeses at room temp; pair with fig, peach, or wine-infused preserves.
🍇 7. Dessert: Benediction of the Table
Dish: Fig and olive oil cake with red wine reduction and rosemary
Symbol: Benediction of the Table
Prompt: “The table is where the journey ends—with blessing, bread, and beloved company.”
Prep Notes: Use fresh or dried figs; reduce wine with honey and rosemary for a fragrant drizzle.
NOVEMBER 10 Monday-Saint Leo the Great, Pope
John, Chapter 13, Verse 23
One of his disciples, the one whom Jesus LOVED, was reclining at
Jesus’ side.
Lean on Him!
Can, we say, “His mercy endures forever!” It is when we have received it (mercy) and have given it away that we find Him. Everybody needs to forgive somebody.
Forgiveness will unleash a power in your life that is underrated and often ignored. It is underrated mainly because it is underused. We fail to capture the power of forgiveness because we are afraid of it, because we have grown comfortable in our familiar wounds, or because we are sinfully stubborn. But the power is there waiting for us.[1]
Allen
R. Hunt outlines there are three parts to forgiveness:
1) Receiving
Forgiveness which involves experiencing God and forgiving yourself.
2) Deciding
to Forgive.
3) Sharing
Forgiveness.
Copilot’s Take
St. Leo’s feast invites a fearless mercy that leans into Christ’s side—not to escape fear, but to transfigure it. His legacy affirms that forgiveness is not weakness but spiritual strength, a power often ignored because we’ve grown comfortable in our wounds. The threefold movement—receiving, deciding, sharing—mirrors Leo’s own journey: trembling at his call, confronting heresy and violence, and extending mercy to Rome’s enemies. To forgive is to rise from the familiar ache and become a vessel of divine endurance. On this Monday, let mercy be your strength, and fear your invitation to lean closer.
St. Leo the Great, Pope from 440 to 461 AD, embodied fearless leadership during a time of theological conflict and political upheaval. He defended the orthodox understanding of Christ’s dual nature—fully divine and fully human—against heresies that threatened the Church’s unity. His writings reveal that fear is not a weakness but a crucible for virtue, declaring that “virtue is nothing without the trial of temptation.” Leo taught that fear must be met with watchfulness, spiritual combat, and trust in divine strength. His encounter with Attila the Hun, where he persuaded the invader to spare Rome, stands as a testament to courage rooted in mercy and faith. For those navigating personal or communal trials, Leo’s legacy offers a path of bold humility: to tremble before one’s calling, yet rise with conviction, knowing that fear can be transformed into a gateway for grace.
Today is the Feast of Leo the Great who faced down Attila the Hun and penned of Christ who was a warrior for our cause:
Lowliness is assured by majesty, weakness by power, mortality by eternity. To pay the debt of our sinful state, a nature that was incapable of suffering was joined to one that could suffer. Thus, in keeping with the healing that we needed, one and the same mediator between God and men, the man Jesus Christ, was able to die in one nature, and unable to die in the other.
THE VIRTUES OF A SOLDIER OF CHRIST
Another way to illustrate the virtues of a genuine man* of God is by reference to a good soldier. The relation between a man of God and a soldier will seem either somewhat obvious or a stretch depending upon your larger views of the military and military interventions. If you do not see the connection at this point, I ask you to bear with me briefly, because I think its relevance will soon become apparent.
A good soldier,
especially one fit for battle, generally has the following ten traits, among
others:
1.
He
is willing to give his life to protect others.
2.
He
is task-oriented, and lets his actions speak for themselves.
3.
He
does his duty, even when it is unappreciated.
4.
He
is a man of honor, who is loyal to others and to his principles.
5.
He
is rooted in discipline and strength.
6.
He
may be tender and compassionate but never soft.
7.
He
sees himself as part of a unit, a band of brothers, greater than himself.
8.
He
follows the chain of command, without considering it demeaning.
9.
He
is courageous, even and especially when heroism is required.
10.
He
sees sacrifice as an opportunity to show his character and demonstrate love.
The practical and
theological relevance of these observations for our discussion can be seen very
readily in the fact that all ten of these traits can be said, without a
stretch, about the God-man Jesus Christ.
·
He
was willing to give his life to protect others – Jesus willingly gave his life
to save us. He is the Good Shepherd who made good on his promise to give his
life for his sheep (John 10:11). Even in the Garden of Gethsemane, as he handed
himself over, he demanded that his disciples be let go (John 18:8).
·
He
was task-oriented, and let his actions speak for themselves – from his earliest
days, when he announced he was “about the Father’s business” (Luke 2:49), his
whole life was dedicated to accomplishing that mission. He lived by the same
principles he taught, not to be distracted from his purpose (Luke 10:4), which
not even the devil could do by promising him all the power of the world
(Matthew 4:9). He let his actions also speak more loudly than his words. As he
said once when challenged by the Pharisees, “Even if you do not believe me,
believe the works” (John 10:25, 37; 14:10). He backed up each of his discourses
with miracles that testified to his power, the greatest miracle and message of
all being what he said from the pulpits of the Cross and the empty tomb.
·
He
did his duty, even when it was unappreciated – Jesus fulfilled his mission even
when one of his apostles thought he was less valuable than 30 silver pieces,
when the rest of his hand-picked men ran away, when he was hammered to wood by
those for whom he was dying, when he was mocked by four different groups as he
agonizingly hung from the Cross, wondering all the while, “When the Son of man
comes, will he find faith on earth?” (Luke 18:8). He was the “grain of wheat”
that fell to the ground and died, knowing that that seed would hit hardened,
rocky, weedy soil in addition to good, but he did it anyway (John 12:24; Luke
8:5ff). Yet, at the end of it all, he cried out in triumph, “It is finished!”
(John 19:30) which was the equivalent of “mission accomplished.”
·
He
was a man of honor, who was loyal to others and to his principles – Jesus kept
his dignity, even when being tempted by the devil, tested by the hypocritical
Pharisees, beaten by the brutal guards, and mocked by thieves and passersby. He
was loyal to his disciples, never abandoning them though they abandoned him; to
Israelites, despite the many times they broke God’s covenant; to sinners, no
matter what their sin. He was knightly in his protection and care for women in
need and danger, like the woman caught in adultery, the woman at the well in
Samaria, and the woman who washed his feet with her tears in the house of Simon
the Pharisee.
·
He
was rooted in discipline and strength – He called himself the “stronger man”
who would overpower the devil and divide his spoils (Luke 11:22), who could
calm even the winds and the sea (Matthew 8:27), who would repeatedly say to his
frightened followers, “Do not be afraid. It is I!” (Matthew 14:27). His
strength was shown most when out of discipline he did not use it, when tempted
in the desert or on the Cross. His power was always used not for his own
benefit but for others, to teach them the discipline that makes disciples.
·
He
was tender and compassionate but never soft – He who was “meek and humble of
heart,” who cared compassionately for parents and widows, for the woman caught
in adultery, for the crowds who were like sheep without a shepherd (Matthew
11:29; Luke 7:12; John 8:3; Mark 6:34), was also capable of driving the
money changers from the temple with a whip, calling the Pharisees “whitewashed
sepulchers” and telling forgiven sinners to “go and sin no more” (John 2:14;
Matthew 23:27; John 8:11).
·
He
saw himself as part of a unit, a band of brothers – Jesus came from heaven to
earth to form a family with the same Father in heaven (Matthew 12:50). To that
family, the Church, he gave his whole mission. To the twelve whom he associated
most intimately in this task, he gave his own power to turn bread and wine into
his Body and Blood and to forgive sins in his name (Luke 22:19-20; Matthew
16:19; John 20:19-23). To the Church he gave his whole message (Matthew
28:18-20). He said that all members of the Church were a part of him, as
branches on the vine (John 15:5).
·
He
followed the chain of command, without considering it a threat – Jesus said
simply, “I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me,” “I do nothing
on my own authority but speak thus as the Father taught me” and “not my will,
but thine, be done” (John 5:30; John 8:28; Luke 22:42).
·
He
was courageous, even and especially when heroism was required – Courage is
doing what ought to be done in spite of one’s fears, a virtue Jesus showed us
time and again, but especially during his agony and on Good Friday. Despite
asking for the cup of suffering to pass from him, he drank it to the dregs,
sweating blood-filled perspiration, being beaten, scourged and crucified for
our sake (Matthew 26:39).
·
He
saw sacrifice as an opportunity to show his character and demonstrate love –
“Greater love has no man than this,” he said, “that a man lay down his life for
his friends” (John 15:13) and he evinced that love in hundreds of little ways
and unforgettably through his supreme sacrifice. The real Christian man will
seek to embody these same virtues. They will help him to become a real soldier
of Christ. They will help form him to be another Christ and train him to love
others as Christ loves.
Bible in a Year Day 128 Mighty Men of Valor
As we continue to read about how
King David expands his kingdom, Fr. Mike points out the mighty men of valor,
who were men of great courage, honor and excellence that fought in Israel's
battles. Today's readings are 2 Samuel 10, 1 Chronicles 13, and Psalm 31.
Daily Devotions
·
Today's
Fast: Unite in the work of the Porters
of St. Joseph by joining them in fasting: Today's Fast: Restoring the
Constitution.
·
Litany of the Most Precious
Blood of Jesus
·
Offering to
the sacred heart of Jesus
·
Rosary
[1]
Allen R. Hunt, Everybody needs to forgive somebody.
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