St. Joseph, who worked for his bread | Catholic Daily No. 119

A man asks Jesus to divide an inheritance. Jesus answers with a barn. Monday belongs to Saint Joseph, who built things for a living.

Monday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time · Memorial of Saints John de Brébeuf and Isaac Jogues, Priests, and Companions, Martyrs

Gospel: "And one of the multitude said to him: Master, speak to my brother that he divide the inheritance with me. But he said to him: Man, who hath appointed me judge, or divider, over you? And he said to them: Take heed and beware of all covetousness; for a man's life doth not consist in the abundance of things which he possesseth. And he spoke a similitude to them, saying: The land of a certain rich man brought forth plenty of fruits. And he thought within himself, saying: What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? And he said: This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and will build greater; and into them will I gather all things that are grown to me, and my goods. And I will say to my soul: Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years take thy rest; eat, drink, make good cheer. But God said to him: Thou fool, this night do they require thy soul of thee: and whose shall those things be which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich towards God." — Luke 12:13-21

The Latin of the center line is Dixit autem illi Deus: Stulte, hac nocte animam tuam repetunt a te: quae autem parasti, cujus erunt?

In the Catena Aurea, Bede says why the Lord answered with a parable: "He takes occasion from this foolish petitioner to fortify both the multitudes and His disciples alike by precept and example against the plague of covetousness." Theophylact says what the covetous are doing: "This our Lord says to rebuke the motives of the covetous, who seem to heap up riches as if they were going to live for a long time." And Basil, on the man with the barns: "He remembered not his fellow-creatures, nor deemed that he ought to give of his superfluities to the needy."

Pope Francis gave one section of Patris Corde (6) to Joseph's work: "Saint Joseph was a carpenter who earned an honest living to provide for his family. From him, Jesus learned the value, the dignity and the joy of what it means to eat bread that is the fruit of one's own labour."

He goes on to say what work is: "Working persons, whatever their job may be, are cooperating with God himself, and in some way become creators of the world around us."

The rich man in the parable has a full harvest and plans for it, and the Gospel records him saying only things to himself: "I will pull down my barns… I will say to my soul." Joseph, in all of Scripture, has no recorded words; Matthew records only what he did.

Catechism* 2536 names the thing the Lord warns against: "The tenth commandment forbids greed and the desire to amass earthly goods without limit. It forbids avarice arising from a passion for riches and their attendant power." And it quotes Scripture: *"He who loves money never has money enough."

Friday's close: SPY $763.34, −1.1% · Nasdaq 100 −2.5% · Russell 2000 −1.7% · tape BULL, regime correction · new longs still paused by the two-loss warning

Stocks are closed on Sunday, so the last close is Friday's. The Nasdaq 100 fund opened at $725.52, sold off to a low of $707.27 and closed at $709.82, down 2.5%. The S&P 500 fund fell 1.1% to $763.34, between a low of $760.65 and a high of $773.18, and closed 2.0% below the six-month closing high of $779.10 set October 6. The Russell 2000 fund fell 1.7% and the equal-weight S&P 500 fund 0.4%. Technology carried the weight: the technology sector fund fell 3.0%. Energy (+2.5%), utilities (+1.4%) and consumer staples (+1.1%) were among the six sector funds that rose; five fell.

The two-loss warning is still on: the system takes no new long until SPY closes above $779.37, and Friday's close was $16.04 short of it, 2.1% below. The tape turns, and the system sells every long, only on a SPY close below $629.29; Friday's close is 21% above that line. By our own count, 8 of the last 25 sessions are distribution days for the S&P 500 fund and 8 for the Nasdaq 100 fund. The scanner's list holds twenty-seven names at or near their 52-week pivots, and none triggered.

The house account holds no stock positions: CrowdStrike was sold on Wednesday and AMD on Thursday, each at its stop. The seven puts cost $18,426 and were worth $23,295 on Alpaca's marks. The idle-cash sleeve is in commodities (DBC) and short-term Treasuries (SHY), and the account's equity closed Friday at $992,004.

What is in store this week. The Bureau of Labor Statistics has no Consumer Price Index, Producer Price Index or jobs report on its calendar this week. The releases listed are State Employment and Unemployment on Tuesday, October 20, and Usual Weekly Earnings for the third quarter on Wednesday, October 21, both at 10:00 AM ET. The Federal Open Market Committee meets October 27-28, and the Employment Cost Index for the third quarter comes out Friday, October 30. The levels do not change: SPY above $779.37 lifts the warning, and SPY below $629.29 turns the tape.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us.

In Christ,

Jonathan Simmons

Enoch Capital LLC

Catholic Daily goes out Monday through Saturday.

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