Tuesday, April 21, 2026
Smoke in This Life and Not the Next
Tue, Apr 21 – Holy Face Tuesday
Virtue: Witness & Clarity
Cigar: Bold, expressive (Habano Maduro)
Bourbon: High West Double Rye – spirited, daring
Reflection: “What gospel do I live aloud?”
The Ordered Fire of St. Frances of Rome
St. Frances of Rome saw Purgatory as the final architecture of mercy—a realm where God completes the purification we resisted or delayed in life. Her vision is striking for its structure: three ascending levels, each ordered, purposeful, and filled with the certainty of salvation. Nothing is chaotic. Nothing is wasted. Every flame is intelligent.
- The Lowest Region is a vast burning sea for souls who confessed grave sins but never fully atoned. Tradition speaks of “seven years per sin,” not as a stopwatch but as a symbol of the weight of forgiven guilt still needing purification.
- The Intermediate Region contains three crucibles: a dungeon of ice for coldness toward God, a boiling cauldron for sins of passion, and a molten-metal pond for greed and attachment.
- The Upper Region is quieter, a place of longing rather than torment, where the soul aches for the God it now loves without obstruction.
Angels descend into every level. They do not shorten the purification, but they steady the soul so it can endure the fire that frees it.
Witness and the Holy Face
A bold Habano Maduro and a spirited rye preach the same Tuesday sermon: your life is already a witness. The only question is what it witnesses to. Clarity is not merely speaking truth; it is living truth in a way that leaves no ambiguity about whom you serve.
Purgatory is the place where God removes every ambiguity we refused to surrender in life. The wise man clears it now.
The Holy Face confronts you with the unavoidable question:
What gospel does my life proclaim—without my words ever needing to speak?
Faith’s Corner
· Boston Marathon--April 21--Show your Boston pride and find something for everyone to enjoy. The annual Boston Marathon kicks off with a fitness expo featuring more than 200 exhibitors, followed by a 5K set to draw an estimated 10,000 participants as well as a relay challenge -- all topped by the grand celebration of city spirit.
· Start Total Consecration to Mary April 21 to end on May 24, the feast of Mary, Help of Christians
· Developmental Disability Awareness Month
· Monday: Litany of Humility
· Spirit Hour: Wodka
Today’s Menu
· Drink: April Rain Cocktail
· Soup: Minestrone
· Main dish: Tartiflette
· Dessert: Classic Strawberry Shortcake
APRIL 21 Tuesday of the Third Week of Easter
Psalm 34, verse 5-12
I sought the LORD, and he answered me, delivered me from all my FEARS. Look to him and be radiant, and your faces may not blush for shame. This poor one cried out and the LORD heard, and from all his distress he saved him. The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and he saves them. Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the stalwart one who takes refuge in him. Fear the LORD, you his holy ones; nothing is lacking to those who fear him. Come, children, listen to me; I will teach you fear of the LORD. The rich grow poor and go hungry but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing. Come, children, listen to me; I will teach you fear of the LORD.
While taking a prayer filled hike in the Round Lake, New York; I asked our Lord on the hike to communicate to me as we walked along the way. The Lord spoke to my heart and said that in this world there are two kinds of people those that give and those that get. He said amazingly those that get never get enough and those who give always get enough.
As we walked Christ pointed out to me the things that I should be giving to others.
As I started the hike, I noticed the sign with the map of the hike was reversed and if I did not study it closely I would be lost. Christ urged me to:
·
Give
good directions.
Walking along I met others walking or riding bikes coming from the opposite direction that looked rather glum and miserable. Christ urged me to greet them. As I did I noticed their expression changed from glum to happy.
· Give greetings.
Walking along I heard music from a tavern near the trail. Christ urged me to:
· Give music and song to gladding others hearts.
Walking along I met a small turtle that on seeing me tucked into his shell. Christ urged me to:
· Give others respect and privacy.
Walking
along I passed a stream and notice the path was shady. Christ urged me to:
· Give refreshment to others.
Finally, as I was walking along as the Lord answered me I noticed He had delivered me from all my fears.
Copilot’s Take
Confronting Evil Through Ordinary Obedience
The reflection also models a subtle but potent way of confronting evil. Evil is never named, yet every action Christ urges—giving direction, offering greetings, respecting privacy, providing refreshment—pushes back against the self‑absorption and spiritual numbness that mark a fallen world. The Catechism teaches that evil is a distortion of the good (CCC 309–314). The strength of the piece is that it counters distortion with restoration. Each small act becomes a quiet strike against the kingdom of fear. For readers, the critique is that this contrast could be sharpened: these gestures are not merely polite; they are spiritual resistance.
The Theology of Giving vs. Getting
The line revealed in prayer—there are those who give and those who get—resonates deeply with the CCC’s teaching on detachment and spiritual poverty (CCC 2544–2547). The reflection captures the paradox that those who grasp never have enough, while those who give always receive enough. This is classic Catholic anthropology. The critique for readers is that the piece could anchor this insight more explicitly in Christ’s own self‑gift. Without that grounding, the statement risks sounding like a moral observation rather than a participation in divine life.
Creation as Catechist
The encounters along the trail—a reversed map, a glum
passerby, a turtle, a shaded stream—function as a kind of sacramental pedagogy.
The Catechism affirms that creation instructs the human heart and reveals God’s
goodness (CCC 299). The reflection succeeds in showing how God uses ordinary
moments to train the soul in virtue. For the blog audience, the critique is
that the piece could emphasize that such moments are not random; they are part
of the Christian’s ongoing formation in holiness, especially in a world where
evil often hides in the ordinary.
The conclusion—that the Lord delivered him from all his fears—echoes Psalm 34 with precision. The CCC teaches that divine providence does not remove suffering but equips the believer to walk through it with confidence (CCC 305–314). The reflection captures this truth: deliverance is not psychological relief but the fruit of right relationship with God. For readers, the critique is that naming this explicitly would strengthen the theological clarity: fear is conquered not by escape but by communion.
THIS WE BELIEVE
PRAYERS AND TEACHINGS OF THE CATHOLIC
CHURCH
Memorare (in time
of need)[1]
**Litany of Trust Tuesday
of the Third Week of Easter**
From
the fear that the evil of the world makes Your victory uncertain, deliver me,
Jesus.
Reflection
April 21 sits inside the Easter
season, yet it carries the same tension the Catechism names as the “dramatic
struggle between good and evil” (CCC 409). The Resurrection proclaims Christ’s
unshakable triumph, but the world still bears the scars of human cruelty,
injustice, and spiritual blindness. This tension is not a contradiction; it is
the battlefield on which trust is forged. The fear that evil might somehow
weaken Christ’s victory is one of the enemy’s most persistent lies.
Gideon’s story exposes that lie.
He faced an enemy he could not defeat, yet God led him into the camp to
overhear what heaven already knew: evil is loud, but it is not sovereign. Fear
becomes ordered when it is placed under obedience to God. The Catechism teaches
that holy fear is a gift of the Spirit (CCC 1831)—not terror, but alignment.
Gideon’s courage did not come from self‑confidence; it came from hearing the
truth about God’s dominion.
The memory of the Shoah
confronts the world with the consequences of forgetting the dignity of the
human person. The Church insists that every human being bears the image of God
(CCC 1700), and when this truth is denied, cruelty becomes efficient. Remembering
the Shoah is not an exercise in despair but a moral obligation: a refusal to
drift toward indifference, tribalism, or the quiet justifications that make
evil possible. The Resurrection does not erase this memory; it interprets it.
Darkness is real, but it is not final.
The Easter season insists that
Christ’s victory is not symbolic. By His death and resurrection, He has
conquered sin and death (CCC 654), and this triumph is made present in every
Eucharist (CCC 1323). John Paul II’s insistence that good must overcome evil is
not idealism; it is the logic of the Gospel. The Church teaches that peace is
the work of justice and the effect of charity (CCC 2304), and that legitimate
defense must never become dehumanization (CCC 2308). Evil must be resisted, but
never with its own weapons.
This is why the Litany of Trust
matters on a day like this. It trains the heart to reject the lie that
suffering is stronger than grace. It teaches that mercy is not fragile, not
overwhelmed by the scale of human cruelty, and not threatened by the instability
of the world. Christ heals in ordered movement—heart, home, Church, world—just
as the Divine Mercy Novena expands outward in widening circles. Where sin
scatters, Christ gathers. Where hatred fractures, Christ restores. Where fear
paralyzes, Christ strengthens.
The Eucharist forms the
community capable of confronting evil without becoming it. In the one bread and
one cup, believers become God’s family, reconciled across every boundary of
language, nationality, and culture (CCC 1396). This communion is the antidote
to the divisions that fuel violence. It is the place where courage is born,
where fear is reordered, and where the world’s darkness is met by a love that
does not retreat.
Scripture
“He heals the brokenhearted and
binds up their wounds.”
— Psalm 147:3
Prayer
Jesus, steady my heart when the
world’s cruelty feels overwhelming. Anchor me in the certainty that Your
victory is not fragile and Your mercy is not diminished by the scale of human
suffering. Form in me the courage that listens, descends, and obeys. Let me
live from the truth that Your Resurrection is not only a triumph—it is a
mission unfolding through every act of trust.
Reflection Question
Where does the world’s
brokenness tempt you to lose confidence in Christ’s victory—and how might He be
inviting you to trust the strength of His mercy in that place?
Tuesday’s Prayer
Lord Jesus Christ, we beg Thee for the grace to remain guarded beneath the protective mantle of Mary, surrounded by the holy briar from which was taken the Holy Crown of Thorns, and saturated with Thy Precious Blood in the power of the Holy Spirit, with our Guardian Angels, for the greater glory of the Father. Amen.
Daily Devotions
·
Unite in the work of the Porters of St. Joseph by joining them
in fasting: Today's Fast: The
sanctification of the Church Militant
·
Litany of the Most Precious
Blood of Jesus
·
Offering to
the sacred heart of Jesus
·
Make
reparations to the Holy Face
[2] Schultz, Patricia. 1,000 Places to See Before You
Die: A Traveler's Life List Workman Publishing Company. Kindle Edition.
[3] Sheraton, Mimi. 1,000 Foods To Eat Before You Die: A
Food Lover's Life List (p. 800). Workman Publishing Company. Kindle Edition.
THIS IS THE NIGHT (1932)
Cary Grant, Thelma Todd & Roland Young
A Paris‑to‑Venice pre‑Code farce of jealousy, invented lovers, and the fragile male ego—sparkling, mischievous, and quietly revealing about the masks people wear.
Sources: imdb.com imdb.com
1. Production & Historical Setting
Released in 1932 and directed by Frank Tuttle, the film belongs to Paramount’s polished pre‑Code cycle, where marital deception and sexual innuendo were treated with breezy sophistication. Cary Grant appears in his screen debut—not yet the urbane figure he would become, but a jealous, hot‑blooded javelin thrower whose insecurity fuels the plot. imdb.com
Thelma Todd, at the height of her comic allure, plays the wife caught between affection and fear of confrontation. Roland Young, with his dry, hesitant charm, becomes the accidental moral center of the story. The film’s Paris‑and‑Venice settings, elegant interiors, and light orchestral scoring give it the feel of a continental holiday where everyone is pretending to be someone else.
2. Story Summary
When Olympic athlete Stephen (Cary Grant) returns home early and suspects his wife Claire (Thelma Todd) of infidelity, her friends scramble to protect her reputation. They invent a fictitious lover and recruit the mild‑mannered Gerald (Roland Young) to play the part.
The lie expands as the group travels to Venice, where:
- Gerald’s awkward decency makes him more believable than intended.
- Claire’s guilt and fear of Stephen’s temper deepen the tension.
- Stephen’s jealousy grows, revealing his insecurity rather than strength.
- The glamorous Colette (Lili Damita) complicates the charade with her own flirtations.
The farce unravels in a cascade of misunderstandings until the truth emerges—not through moral heroism but through the collapse of everyone’s carefully maintained illusions.
3. Spiritual & Moral Resonances
A. Jealousy as a Distorting Force
Stephen’s suspicion shows how jealousy warps perception, turning love into surveillance and affection into fear. His strength as an athlete contrasts with his weakness of character.
B. The Fragility of Appearances
The entire plot depends on maintaining a fiction. Each character participates in the lie to avoid discomfort, revealing how easily people choose illusion over truth when the truth threatens their pride.
C. Grace Through Embarrassment
The film’s comedy becomes a gentle moral teacher: truth often enters not through solemn revelation but through humiliation, exposure, and the collapse of our self‑protective stories.
4. Hospitality Pairing
Continental Mischief Table
- A French 75—effervescent, elegant, and slightly dangerous, matching the film’s flirtatious tone.
- Gougères or light cheese puffs—airy, insubstantial, delightful, like the plot’s comic deceptions.
- A small travel token on the table (a postcard, a luggage tag) to echo the Paris‑to‑Venice escapade.
- Soft lamplight to evoke the film’s blend of glamour and secrecy.
A setting for evenings when life feels tangled and you need levity without losing honesty.
5. Reflection Prompts
- Where am I tempted to maintain a fiction rather than face a difficult truth?
- How does jealousy—mine or another’s—distort what I believe about people I love?
- What masks do I wear to avoid embarrassment or conflict?
- When truth threatens my pride, do I reach for clarity or for another layer of disguise?
- What would it look like to let truth enter gently, even if it unsettles the story I prefer?
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