Smoke in This Life Not the Next

Sun, Jul 19 — Eighth Sunday after Pentecost Virtue: Hospitality & Listening

Cigar: Corojo – balanced, warm

Bourbon: Woodford Reserve – classic, inviting

Reflection: “Who do I welcome in silence?”

Hospitality begins long before words are spoken. It begins in the quiet interior space where a man makes room for another — not to impress, not to instruct, but simply to receive. Tonight’s Corojo burns warm and balanced, the kind of leaf that invites rather than demands. Woodford Reserve follows with its classic, inviting profile, a bourbon that feels like an open door. Together they form a liturgy of welcome: steady, calm, attentive. Hospitality is not noise; it is presence.

The old cry from the departed soul pierces the evening’s gentleness. “Alas! alas! no one can believe with what severity God judges and punishes His creatures.” Not cruelty — severity, the exacting purity of divine holiness. Even our best actions, he says, carry imperfections that the Infinite Sanctity cannot ignore. Usque ad novissimum quadrantem — to the last farthing, every debt accounted, every stain revealed. The soul’s lament is not despair but truth: God sees clearly what we excuse, forget, or justify. His justice is precise because His love is perfect.

And yet hospitality teaches us something essential: the God who judges to the last farthing is the same God who welcomes the prodigal before he speaks a word. Listening becomes a form of mercy. Silence becomes a doorway through which grace enters. To welcome another — especially the difficult, the wounded, the inconvenient — is to imitate the God who receives us despite the imperfections He sees more clearly than we do.

Tonight’s question rises through the warm smoke: Who do I welcome in silence — without defense, without hurry, without judgment — offering the same patient listening that God has shown me, even to the last farthing.

JULY 19 Eighth Sunday after Pentecost

Tobit, Chapter 5, Verse 21

Tobit reassured her: “Do not worry! Our son will leave in good health and come back to us in good health. Your own eyes will see the day when he returns to you safe and sound. So, do not worry; do not FEAR for them, my sister.

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)

Tobit[1]

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.

Copilot’s Take

Fear is woven into Tobit’s story because fear is woven into every human life. The Catechism does not condemn fear; it recognizes it as a natural response to vulnerability. What it does condemn is fear that paralyzes the good. Fortitude (CCC 1808) is the virtue that allows a man to act rightly even when fear presses hard against him. Tobit embodies this fortitude. He does not deny danger; he simply refuses to let danger dictate his obedience. His wife trembles at the thought of losing her son, but Tobit steadies her with trust in God’s providence — the same trust that once led him to bury the dead even when it nearly cost him his life.

The Catechism is equally clear that evil must be confronted, not tolerated. Silence in the face of injustice becomes a form of cooperation with it (CCC 2475–2478). Tobit’s neighbors mocked him because his courage exposed their cowardice. Christ provoked fear in the Temple authorities because His truth exposed their corruption. Evil always fears the man who refuses to bend. The Church teaches that God’s justice is exact — usque ad novissimum quadrantem — every debt accounted, every act weighed. This precision is not cruelty but holiness: God sees clearly what we excuse, forget, or justify.

Most men will never face the dramatic terrors of Tobit or the political hostility Christ endured. Yet every man confronts evil in quieter ways: the temptation to remain silent, the temptation to avoid responsibility, the temptation to protect comfort rather than character. This is where John Wooden becomes a modern parable. His discipline, courtesy, and insistence on cooperation were not merely coaching techniques; they were moral confrontations. He resisted disorder by forming character. He confronted selfishness by teaching teamwork. He opposed disrespect by modeling dignity.

The Church’s teaching, Tobit’s courage, Christ’s truth, and Wooden’s quiet strength all converge on one point: confronting evil begins with confronting oneself. Fear must be acknowledged but not obeyed. Justice must be pursued even when inconvenient. Character must be formed in the small habits long before it is tested in the large trials. Evil is rarely defeated by dramatic heroism; it is defeated by daily fidelity — the steady, righteous, cooperative life that refuses to yield even an inch to darkness.

ON KEEPING THE LORD'S DAY HOLY[4]

CHAPTER III

DIES ECCLESIAE

The Eucharistic Assembly:
Heart of Sunday

The table of the Body of Christ

43. This "ascending" movement is inherent in every Eucharistic celebration and makes it a joyous event, overflowing with gratitude and hope. But it emerges particularly at Sunday Mass because of its special link with the commemoration of the Resurrection.

By contrast, this "Eucharistic" rejoicing which "lifts up our hearts" is the fruit of God's "descending" movement towards us, which remains forever etched in the essential sacrificial element of the Eucharist, the supreme expression and celebration of the mystery of the kenosis, the descent by which Christ "humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even death on a Cross" (Phil 2:8).

The Mass in fact truly makes present the sacrifice of the Cross. Under the species of bread and wine, upon which has been invoked the outpouring of the Spirit who works with absolutely unique power in the words of consecration, Christ offers himself to the Father in the same act of sacrifice by which he offered himself on the Cross. "In this divine sacrifice, which is accomplished in the Mass, the same Christ who offered himself once and for all in a bloody manner on the altar of the Cross is contained and is offered in an unbloody manner". To his sacrifice Christ unites the sacrifice of the Church: "In the Eucharist the sacrifice of Christ becomes also the sacrifice of the members of his Body. The lives of the faithful, their praise, sufferings, prayer and work, are united with those of Christ and with his total offering, and so acquire a new value". The truth that the whole community shares in Christ's sacrifice is especially evident in the Sunday gathering, which makes it possible to bring to the altar the week that has passed, with all its human burdens.

Eighth Sunday after Pentecost[5]

The importance of intelligent foresight and the fascinating passage on "the mammon of iniquity" (Lk. 16.9).

IN the Introit of the Mass the Church praises God, whose mercy and justice extend to the ends of the world. “We have received Thy mercy, O God, in the midst of Thy temple. According to Thy name, O God, so also is Thy praise unto the ends of the earth; Thy right hand is full of justice. Great is the Lord and exceedingly to be praised, in the city of our God, in His holy mountain”. (Ps. xlvii. 11, 1).

Prayer. Grant us, we beseech Thee, O Lord, at all times, the spirit of thinking and doing what is right, that we, who cannot exist without Thee, may be able to live according to Thy will.

EPISTLE. Rom. viii. 12-17.

Brethren, we are debtors not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh, you shall die but if by the spirit you mortify the deeds of the flesh, you shall live. For whosoever are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For you have not received the spirit of bondage again in fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption of sons, whereby we cry Abba (Father). For the Spirit Himself giveth testimony to our spirit, that we are the sons of God. And if sons, heirs also: heirs indeed of God, and joint heirs with Christ.

“The works of the flesh are,” according to St. Paul, “fornication, uncleanness, immodesty, luxury, idolatry, witchcrafts, enmities, contentions, emulations, wraths, quarrels, dissensions, sects, envies, murders, drunkenness, reviling’s, and such like” (Gal. v. 19, 20).

Those who practice such vices are not children of God, and will inherit, not heaven, but eternal death. Examine yourself, therefore, whether you are not living according to the flesh, and for the future resist sinful desires with God’s assistance, and you will gain a crown in heaven.

Aspiration. Grant me, Lord, Thy spirit, that I may always remember the happiness of Thy kingdom, may mortify the lusts of the flesh, and may walk as Thy child in holy chastity.

Luke xvi. 1-9.

At that time Jesus spoke to His disciples this parable: There was a certain rich man who had a steward: and the same was accused unto him, that he had wasted his goods. And he called him, and said to him: How is it that I hear this of thee? give an account of thy stewardship: for now, thou canst be steward no longer. And the steward said within himself: What shall I do, because my lord taketh away from me the steward ship? To dig I am not able, to beg I am ashamed. I know what I will do, that when I shall be removed from the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses. Therefore, calling together every one of his lord’s debtors, he said to the first: How much dost thou owe my lord? But he said: A hundred barrels of oil. And he said to him: Take thy bill and sit down quickly, and write fifty. Then he said to another: And how much dost thou owe? Who said: An hundred quarters of wheat. He said to him: Take thy bill and write eighty. And the lord commended the unjust steward, forasmuch as he had done wisely: for the children of this world are wiser in their generation than the children of light. And I say to you: Make unto you friends of the mammon of iniquity, that when you shall fail they may receive you into everlasting dwellings.

Who are meant by the rich man and his steward?

By the rich man is meant God; by the steward, man. The goods entrusted to the steward are the different goods and gifts of soul and body, of nature and of grace.

Why did Christ use this parable?

To teach us that God requires of every man a strict account of whatever has been given to him, to encourage us to be liberal to the poor, and to warn us against dissipation and injustice.

How are we to understand the direction “to make unto us friends of the mammon of iniquity”?

Riches are called the mammon of iniquity because they so easily lead us to injustice, avarice, excess, and dissipation. Jesus intended to say that we should, according to our ability, employ in doing good those worldly goods which so easily carry us into sin. But He is not to be understood as saying that we should steal, or cheat, or use goods otherwise unjustly obtained, to give alms.

What friends are we thus to make?

The friends are the good works which render us pleasing to God, and open to us heaven; the poor, the saints of God; the angels, who rejoice in our benevolence, and become our intercessors; and finally Christ, Who regards what is given to the poor as so much given to Himself (Matt. xxv. 40).

“The hands of the poor” says St. Chrysostom, “are the hands of Christ” through them we send our goods to heaven beforehand, and through their intercession we obtain the grace of salvation.

Aspiration. Grant me, O most just God and Judge, grace so to use the goods entrusted to me on earth, that with them I may make my self-friends to receive me, at the end of my life, into everlasting habitations.

INSTRUCTION ON CALUMNY

Is calumny a grievous sin?

When the occasion is important, and the slander is deliberately uttered, with evil intention, when one’s neighbor is thereby grievously injured, and his good name damaged, everyone may see how grievous and detestable, in such a case, this sin is. (Hmm…Fake News?)

Is it sinful to disclose the faults of our neighbor?

To make public the faults and sins of our neighbor uselessly, merely for the entertainment of idle persons, is always sinful. But if, after trying in vain to correct his faults and sins by brotherly admonition, we make them known to his parents or superiors, for his punishment and amendment, so far from being a sin, it is rather a good work and a duty of Christian charity.

Is it a sin also to listen willingly to calumny?

Yes, for thereby we furnish the calumniator an occasion for sin and give him encouragement. For which reason St. Bernard says: “Whether to calumniate be a greater sin than to listen to the calumniator I will not lightly decide.”

What ought to restrain us from calumny? The thought,

1 of the enormities of this sin.

2 of the number of sins occasioned thereby of which the calumniator, as the occasion of them, becomes partaker.

3 of the difficulty of correcting the harm done, since we cannot know the full extent of the injury, nor stop the tongues of people. Finally, we must think about the eternal punishment which follows this sin. The holy Fathers say that of young persons who are condemned the greater part is for impurity, but of the old, for calumny.

Novena of St. Ann[6]

Daily Prayer to Saint Ann

O glorious St. Ann, you are filled with compassion for those who invoke you and with love for those who suffer! Heavily burdened with the weight of my troubles, I cast myself at your feet and humbly beg of you to take the present intention which I recommend to you in your special care.

Please recommend it to your daughter, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and place it before the throne of Jesus, so that He may bring it to a happy issue. Continue to intercede for me until my request is granted. But, above all, obtain for me the grace one day to see my God face to face, and with you and Mary and all the saints to praise and bless Him for all eternity. Amen.

Our Father, . . . Hail Mary . . .

O Jesus, Holy Mary, St. Ann, help me now and at the hour of my death. Good St. Ann, intercede for me.

THIRD DAY

Hail, good St. Ann, who first responded to the needs of Mary, Mother of our Savior and Queen of Angels. Hail to you and to your husband St. Joachim, who watched over her infancy, presented her to the Lord in the temple and, according to your promise, consecrated her to the service of God.

Hail St. Ann, good mother! I rejoice in the marvels you continually perform, because they encourage all to seek your intercession.

Good St. Ann, by the great power that God has given you, show yourself my mother, my consoler, my advocate. Reconcile me to the God I have so deeply offended. Console me in my trials; strengthen me in my struggles. Deliver me from danger in my time of need. Help me at the hour of death and open to me the gates of paradise.

Around the Corner

Don’t be a miser

Let Freedom Ring Day 13 Freedom from Stinginess/Miserliness

Scrooge changed because the three ghosts forced him to examine his life. Let us force ourselves to do the same. After all, that is the whole point of the Examination of Conscience we are supposed to do before entering into the Sacrament of Reconciliation. In that examination, let us ask ourselves if we truly love God above all things, or whether we are stingy and miserly with any or many of the gifts God has given us, especially the gift of time. Let us not fear such an examination, but rather revel in the fact that we know transformative Grace will come to us through the Sacrament. Let us pray that through this transformation it may be said of us as it was said of Scrooge in some concluding words of A Christmas Carol: "And it was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said of us, and all of us!'

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff comfort me. Psalm 23:4

July 5-July 27 Tour de France[7]

Celebrate France’s biggest sporting event this month — the Tour de France. The official kick-off takes place on the island of Corsica then crosses onto France’s mainland. Cruise the French countryside as you follow the grand event. Or if you can’t make it abroad, head to one of America’s top bicycling cities.

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.

Foodie: Steak Frites

Lasagna Awareness Month

Catholic Recipe: Ancient Roman Fava Bean Dip

Spirit hour: St. Vincent Rum Punch In honor of St. Vincent

National Daiquiri Day

Bucket Item trip: Pilgrimage: Apt, France

Go to a vineyard

National Urban Beekeeping Day

International Karaoke Day

Daily Devotions

Unite in the work of the Porters of St. Joseph by joining them in fasting: Conversion of Sinners

Litany of the Most Precious Blood of Jesus

Offering to the sacred heart of Jesus

Drops of Christ’s Blood

Universal Man Plan

Operation Purity

Rosary

[1]http://www.biblewise.com/bible_study/characters/tobit-and-tobias.php

[2] McCain, John; Salter, Mark (2005-10-25). Character Is Destiny.

[3] http://www.coachwooden.com/pyramid-of-success

[4]https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?id=419

[5] Goffine’s Devout Instructions, 1896.

[6]Blessed Sacrament Fathers, ST. ANN’S SHRINE, Cleveland, Ohio

[7] https://www.letour.fr/en/

SERVICE DE LUXE (1938)

Constance Bennett • Vincent Price • Charles Ruggles • Helen Broderick Vincent Price’s film debut Directed by Rowland V. Lee

Service de Luxe is a buoyant, high‑style screwball comedy built around the tension between independence and intimacy. Constance Bennett’s portrayal of a woman who runs a high‑end “problem‑solving” agency is both glamorous and slyly subversive: she is competent, decisive, and professionally indispensable — yet personally adrift. The film’s charm lies in the way Bennett’s character, Helen Murphy, discovers that efficiency cannot replace affection, and that solving everyone else’s problems can become a way of avoiding her own.

Vincent Price, in his debut, arrives not as the gothic icon he would later become but as a gentle, idealistic inventor — earnest, slightly bewildered, and refreshingly sincere. His presence softens the film’s edges, grounding Bennett’s sophistication with genuine warmth. Charles Ruggles and Helen Broderick add the classic screwball counterpoint: bemused, eccentric, and always one step behind the chaos Bennett orchestrates.

Beneath the comedy lies a moral thread: control is not the same as security; competence can become a shield; and love often requires relinquishing the very habits that once kept us safe. In a world of telegrams, chauffeurs, and meticulously arranged solutions, Service de Luxe suggests that the heart thrives not in perfection but in shared imperfection.

1. Production & Cultural Setting

Late‑Depression Escapism

Released in 1938, the film reflects America’s desire for lightness — elegant comedies where problems are solved with charm rather than struggle.

Women’s Agency on Screen

Bennett’s character embodies a modern woman: professionally powerful, socially adept, yet searching for emotional reciprocity.

Vincent Price’s First Step

Price’s debut is notable for its gentleness — a reminder that actors often begin in roles far from the personas they later inhabit.

2. Story Summary

The Empire of Solutions

Helen Murphy runs a deluxe service agency that fixes everything: social mishaps, domestic crises, romantic entanglements — except her own life.

The Inventor Appears

Vincent Price’s character, Robert Wade, enters her orbit with sincerity and idealism, disrupting her carefully controlled world.

The Collision of Competence and Chaos

Helen’s instinct to manage everything clashes with Wade’s desire for authenticity and independence.

The Unmasking

As misunderstandings escalate, Helen realizes that her professional persona has become a barrier to genuine connection.

The Resolution

She chooses vulnerability over control, discovering that partnership requires presence, not perfection.

3. Moral & Emotional Resonances

A. Control Can Become a Cage

Helen’s mastery of logistics hides her fear of emotional unpredictability.

B. Sincerity Is Disarming

Wade’s earnestness reveals how refreshing authenticity can be in a world of polished façades.

C. Competence Cannot Replace Connection

Solving problems is not the same as sharing life.

D. Vulnerability Is a Form of Strength

Helen’s shift from manager to partner is a quiet act of courage.

E. Love Requires Space, Not Strategy

The heart cannot be scheduled, arranged, or optimized.

4. Hospitality Pairing — A Night of Elegant Lightness

Drink: Sparkling lemonade with a twist of mint — bright, refreshing, slightly mischievous. Plate: Tea sandwiches with cucumber and dill — refined simplicity, the taste of controlled elegance. Atmosphere: Afternoon sunlight, crisp linens, a tidy parlor with a vase of fresh flowers. Symbol: A small notebook — the reminder that not every moment needs to be planned.