Saturday, June 20, 2026
Half a glass of wine for steadiness.
A cheap cigar for honesty.
Maria d’Oignies for the flame that purifies.
She teaches that holiness is built from small, steady offerings — the kind a man can make in the quiet of his own evening. Let the wine remind you of restraint, the cigar of simplicity, and her life of the fire God can kindle in an ordinary heart.
Reflection Question:
June 20 Saturday Third Week after Pentecost
Kouign Amann
2 Chronicles, Chapter 19, Verse 9
Via the Gospel, the Lord Jesus gives a penetrating analysis of the state of the sinner and some very sobering advice to us would-be saints on maintaining an undivided heart.
Delusion,
Dissipation, Death[1]
We look first to the description of a
sinner. Jesus said to his disciples, “A rich man had a steward …” Notice that
he is referred to as a steward rather than an owner. God is the owner of
everything; we are but stewards. A steward must deal with the goods of another
according to the will of the other. Before God, we own nothing. Part of the
essence of sin is behaving as though we were the owner. “… who was reported to
him for squandering his property.” We, too, can waste the gifts we have
received or use them for sinful ends. For example, in greed, we hoard the gifts
that he gave us for the purpose of helping others. In gossip, lying and
cursing, we misuse the gift of speech; in laziness, we misuse the gift of time;
in all sin, we abuse and squander the gift of our freedom. This is dissipation,
the squandering of God’s goods. “He summoned him and said, ‘What is this I hear
about you? Prepare a full account of your stewardship, because you can no
longer be my steward.’” Someday our stewardship will end, and we will all be
called to account.
Principles
of Saints-to-Be
After analyzing the sinner, the Lord
has some principles for those of us who want to be saints: intensity,
investment, increase and indivisibility. The text says that the steward called
in his master’s debtors one by one and cut their debt to the master in various
proportions. And, strangely, the master commended that dishonest steward for
acting shrewdly! In earning money and holding down a job, many display great
discipline: getting up early to go to work and going the extra mile to please
the boss. They will expend effort to please the boss, to please man, but not to
please God. The spiritually minded ought to show the same intensity,
organization, dedication and craftiness that the worldly show in their
pursuits. Jesus says, “I tell you, make friends for yourselves with dishonest
wealth, so that when it fails, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.”
The Lord tells of how the dishonest steward made use of the money at his
disposal to make friends who would help him in the next stage of his life.
How about us?
Are we willing to use our money and
resources to bless and make friends of others (especially the poor, who can
bless us in the next stage of our life)?
On the day of your judgment, will the
poor and needy be able to speak up on your behalf?
The Lord says
that the person who is trustworthy in very small matters is also trustworthy in
great ones; and the person who is dishonest in very small matters is also
dishonest in great ones.
The small matter is money. You want
more?
Then use well what you’ve already received. Jesus says, “No servant can serve two masters. ... You cannot serve God and mammon.” Most people obey money and affluence; they worship a high standard of living before they obey God.
They meet their worldly obligations first and then give God what is left over. But we are called to have an undivided heart. You cannot obey the world (money) and think you’re also going to obey God.
Copilot’s Take
The Catechism teaches that fear of the Lord is not dread
but the reverent awe of a son who refuses to wound the Father who loves him. It
is the beginning of wisdom because it restores reality: God is the Owner, and
we are stewards. Sin begins when the steward starts acting like the master,
when the heart divides and claims territory that belongs to God alone. CCC
2084–2094 warns that the first battlefield of idolatry is not the temple but
the interior life, where comfort, wealth, and self‑rule quietly demand worship.
Christ’s parable exposes the sinner with surgical
clarity. The steward’s dissipation mirrors our own: the misuse of time, speech,
freedom, and resources entrusted to us for mission. Yet the Lord also praises
the steward’s sudden intensity once judgment is announced. The point is not his
dishonesty but his urgency. The world is disciplined in its pursuit of sin; the
saint must be more disciplined in his pursuit of God. Evil is not defeated by
vague goodwill but by decisive, organized, sacrificial obedience.
This is where the undivided heart becomes a weapon.
Christ insists that fidelity in small things—especially money—reveals the true
allegiance of the soul. Mammon is not merely currency; it is a rival master.
Most men obey it first and offer God the leftovers. But the undivided heart
reverses the order: God first, mission first, generosity first. The poor become
intercessors, not burdens. Stewardship becomes preparation for judgment, not an
afterthought.
June 20 marks the birth of Audie Murphy, a man whose
life embodies this undivided courage. Small in stature, immense in resolve, he
confronted evil not because he felt strong but because he refused to abandon
his post. His stand atop a burning tank destroyer—alone, holding back an entire
German force—is a modern icon of what fidelity under fire looks like. His own
words summarize the Gospel’s call: Bravery is just determination to do a job
that you know has to be done. That is the spiritual life. That is stewardship.
That is the undivided heart.
Bible
in a year Day 350
Fr.
Mike provides the context and background of the letter of James. Fr. Mike
unpacks the beautiful truths contained in the letter of James, including a
discussion of faith and works and addressing the importance of demonstrating
our intrinsic belonging to the Lord through our actions. Today’s readings are
James 1-2, Philippians 3-4, and Proverbs 30:1-6.
Around the Corner
Bless the
LORD, my soul; and do not forget all his gifts, Who pardons all your sins, and
heals all your ills, Who redeems your life from the pit, and crowns you with
mercy and compassion, Who fills your days with good things, so your youth is
renewed like the eagle’s. (Psalm
105: 2-5)
Bucket List trip: Rich vs Poor Tour: 2-Singapore
vs. 221-Central African Republic
Singapore: Singapore ranks among the
top countries globally in GDP per capita, reaching about $84,734 in
2023. This impressive figure reflects its small population combined with a
highly developed, innovation-driven economy. Strategic trade location,
efficient governance, and a strong emphasis on education and technology all
contribute to its economic success.
Central
African Republic-The Central African Republic ranks 221st in GDP per
capita—about $496 in 2023—due to decades of conflict, weak institutions, poor
infrastructure, and limited access to education and healthcare. Despite rich
natural resources, instability and underdevelopment have kept most of the
population in poverty.
My son was an
Eagle Scout before they WOKE the Scouts
Saturday
Litany of the Hours Invoking the Aid of Mother Mary
Bucket Item
trip: Pilgrimage-Jakobswege in
Brandenburg
Enthrone
the Sacred Heart in your home.
it’s National Kouign
Amann Day
Foodie: Wagyu on German Grill
Daily
Devotions
Unite in the work of the Porters of St. Joseph by joining them
in fasting: Reparations
for offenses and blasphemies against God and the Blessed Virgin Mary
Litany
of the Most Precious
Blood of Jesus
Offering to
the sacred heart of Jesus
Rosary
NO WAY OUT (1950)
Richard Widmark • Linda Darnell • Sidney Poitier
Directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz
A hospital ward becomes a crucible,
and America’s racial sickness is dragged into the light.
No Way Out is not merely noir —
it is a wound filmed in stark black‑and‑white,
a story where hatred, fear, and conscience
collide in rooms too small to contain them.
Widmark’s venom, Darnell’s desperation,
and Poitier’s calm, disciplined dignity
turn the film into a moral battleground.
Every scene tightens the tension
between justice and vengeance,
between the man you are
and the man you pretend to be.
There is no glamour here —
only the raw exposure of prejudice,
the cost of courage,
and the terrible clarity that comes
when a man chooses to stand firm
in a world that wants him broken.
And then the reckoning —
not triumphant,
but honest —
the kind that leaves you silent
long after the credits fade.
1. Production & Historical Setting
A Film That Dared to Name the Wound
Released in 1950, at the edge of the Civil Rights era,
the film confronted racial hatred directly —
something Hollywood rarely touched.
Its violence is psychological,
its realism uncomfortable,
its message unmistakable.
Widmark: Hatred with a Human Face
He plays Ray Biddle with terrifying conviction —
a man whose identity is built on rage,
whose cruelty feels too real to dismiss.
Poitier: The New Moral Center
In his first film role, Poitier’s Dr. Luther Brooks
embodies restraint, intelligence, and integrity —
a man forced to prove his humanity
to those determined not to see it.
Darnell: The Fractured Witness
Linda Darnell’s Edie is caught between worlds —
torn by guilt, fear, and the slow realization
that hatred devours everyone it touches.
2. Story Summary
A Routine Case That Isn’t Routine
Two criminal brothers arrive at the hospital.
One dies under Dr. Brooks’ care.
Ray Biddle refuses to believe
a Black doctor could be innocent.
A Lie That Becomes a Riot
Ray’s accusation spreads like poison,
igniting violence in the streets
and forcing the hospital into lockdown.
A Woman Caught in the Middle
Edie, exhausted by guilt and fear,
becomes the hinge between truth and chaos.
A Confrontation That Strips Away Illusions
Brooks and Biddle finally meet
in a showdown that exposes
the cost of hatred
and the courage required to face it.
3. Spiritual & Moral Resonances
A. Hatred as a Disease
It spreads, infects, and destroys
even those who think they control it.
B. The Burden of Integrity
Brooks must be better than his accusers
simply to survive.
C. The Collapse of False Strength
Ray’s rage is revealed as cowardice.
D. The Power of Conscience
Edie’s awakening shows that guilt,
when faced honestly,
can become the beginning of redemption.
E. The Cost of Truth
Justice rarely arrives clean —
but it arrives.
4. Hospitality Pairing — A Hospital Night Vigil
Drink: Black coffee — bitter, bracing,
the taste of a man who refuses to look away.
Plate: Dry toast and a hard‑boiled egg —
the food of long nights and moral decisions.
Atmosphere: A single lamp,
sterile quiet,
the sense that something fragile
is being decided in the next room.
Symbol: A stethoscope on a metal tray —
the instrument of healing
in a world determined to wound.
5. Reflection Prompts
Where does prejudice still live in my assumptions.
Where am I called to stand firm with quiet courage.
What truth have I avoided because it will cost me.
Where has fear disguised itself as strength.
What wound in my world needs naming before it can heal.
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