"Seek the Lord, all you humble of the earth,
you who carry out what He commands. Seek righteousness, and seek humility, that you may find shelter
on the day of the Lord’s wrath.
But I will leave as a remnant in your midst,
a people humble and lowly, who shall take refuge in the name of the Lord —
the remnant of Israel. They shall do no wrong
and speak no lies; nor shall there be found in their mouths
a deceitful tongue. They shall pasture and lie down
with none to disturb them."
Zephaniah 2:3 3:12-13
"His instruments are poor and despised; the world hardly knows their names, or not at all. They are busied about what the world thinks petty actions, and no one minds them. They are apparently set on no great works; nothing is seen to come of what they do.
The world does not understand what our real power is, and where it lies. And until we put ourselves into power's hands of our own act, it can do nothing against us. Let all who labour for God in a dark time beware of any thing which ruffles, excites, and in any way withdraws them from the love of God and Christ, and a simple obedience to Him."
John Henry Newman, The Rule of Our Warfare, 13 June 1841
"Gentleness is everywhere in daily life, a sign that faith rules through ordinary things. Even in a time of elephantine vanity and greed, one never has to look far to see the campfires of gentle people. Lacking any other purpose in life, it would be good enough to live for their sake."
Garrison Keillor, A Prairie Home Companion
"The Beatitudes remain a paradox only for those who believe that God is other than how Christ reveals him. Those who expect the arrogant to always rule the earth are surprised by the Lord’s words. Those who are accustomed to thinking that happiness belongs to the rich may believe that Jesus is deluded. However, the delusion lies precisely in the lack of faith in Christ. He is the poor man who shares his life with everyone, the meek man who perseveres in suffering, the peacemaker persecuted to death on the cross."
Pope Leo XIV, Angelus Address, 1 February 2026
We are seeing a repeating pattern wherein the stock index futures get hammered overnight on Sunday, and then we see a steady short squeeze on Monday.
The Dollar gained back a little more into the 97 handle.
Gold and silver could not sustain a rebound but recovered well from their lows.
VIX fell sharply as Bessent and his minions poured the oil of liquidity and buy programs over the mispriced troubles of the risk markets.
We will be heading into a Non-Farm Payrolls report on Friday.
I think Donnie is reluctant to pull the trigger on his 'great armada' positioned near Iran, despite the ardent urging of his donor class and regional 'allies.'
The Congress, particularly the GOP but not excluding some of the Democratic leadership, are disgraceful in failing to uphold their oaths to the Constitution.
And the band played on.
We are assured that the gates of hell shall not prevail against the people of God.
But that does not mean we ought to do nothing.
"In the name of God, in the name of this suffering people whose cry rises to heaven more loudly each day, I implore you, I beg you, I order you: stop the repression. You can tell your people that if they succeed in killing me, that I forgive and bless those who do it. Hopefully, they will realize they are wasting their time. A bishop will die, but the church of God, which is the people, will never perish." Bishop Oscar Romero
I wish those who honor their conscience in the march for life would also march for the lives of those who are being shot, and abducted, and falsely imprisoned. This would be a true test of faith, to join those who are acting in faith, where God is moving among his people in the care of the least of these.
Have a pleasant evening.
